Asylum applications registered in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland increased by 28% in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year, the EU’s Asylum Agency said on Tuesday, AFP reported.

About 519,000 asylum applications were submitted in those 29 countries between January and the end of June, the agency said, estimating that “based on current trends, the number of applications could exceed one million by the end of the year.”

The main applicants are Syrians, Afghans, Venezuelans, Turks and Colombians, accounting for 44% of applications.

Germany received the most applications, with 30% of the total, almost twice as many as Spain (17%) and France (16%).

The agency notes that due to this increase, many European countries are “under pressure to process applications” and that the number of pending cases has increased by 34% compared to 2022. About 41% of first-instance applications received a positive result. answer.

In addition, about 4 million Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion now enjoy temporary protection in the EU.

The number of applications in the first half of the year is at the highest level for this period since 2015-2016.

In 2015-2016, during the influx of refugees to Europe, caused mainly by the war in Syria, the number of asylum applications reached 1.3 million (in 2015) and 1.2 million (in 2016). In 2022, this indicator was 994,945 people.