Around 996,000 asylum requests were registered in European countries in 2022, the highest level since 2016, according to the EU Asylum Agency’s (EUAA) annual report published on Tuesday, AFP and Agerpres reported.

These requests, which have been revised upward from previous figures published in February (966,000), add to the 4 million Ukrainians who have fled the Russian invasion and who benefit from special temporary protection status in the EU, the AUEE said, underscoring the “pressure” , which affects national reception systems.

These figures refer to the 27 member states of the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

They are published as the EU is currently negotiating a reform of its migration policy, a reform that would provide for a system of solidarity between member states for the reception of asylum seekers, as well as an accelerated border check procedure for applicants least likely to contribute to the expulsion of these migrants to their countries of origin or transit.

Asylum seekers, 71% male, come mainly from Syria (138,000 applicants), Afghanistan (132,000), Turkey (58,000), Venezuela (51,000) and Colombia (43,000).

Some applications are made by people who have arrived legally in the EU: usually visa-free Colombians or Venezuelans.

Where refugees and migrants arriving in Europe apply for asylum

In 2015-2016, the number of asylum seekers reached 1.3 million (in 2015) and 1.2 million (in 2016) due to the influx of refugees to Europe, caused, in particular, by the stalemate in the conflict in Syria.

In 2022, five countries accounted for 70% of asylum requests: Germany (244,000), France (156,000), Spain (118,000), Austria (109,000), and Italy (84,000). Around 39% of asylum applications received a positive response, the highest “recognition rate” since 2017.

Nationalities benefiting from the highest acceptance rates are Syrians (93%), Ukrainians (86%) and Eritreans (84%).

The number of pending decisions at the end of 2022 was 899,000. About 42,000 asylum applications were submitted by unaccompanied minors, two-thirds of whom were from Afghanistan and Syria.

Several European countries, including the UK and Denmark, announced measures last year to stem the flow of migrants reaching their territories, a dramatic paradigm shift for the Scandinavian country.

Sweden’s former government, led by social democrat Magdalena Andersson, in turn said that the integration of migrants had failed and led to the formation of “parallel societies” in the country.

Over the past two decades, the number of foreign residents in Sweden, a country known for its friendly policies towards refugees and migrants, has doubled to 2 million, or a fifth of the total population.