18 September 2015
During the second quarter of 2015 (from April to June 2015), 213,200 people applied for protection for the first time in the European Union, up by 15% compared with the first quarter of 2015 and by 85% compared with the second quarter of 2014, Eurostat announced today.
In particular, the number of Syrians and Afghans rose considerably to reach almost 44,000 and 27,000 respectively. They represent the two main citizenships of first time asylum applicants in the EU over the second quarter 2015, accounting for a third of all first time applicants.
More than one out of three applied for asylum in Germany, or 80,900 first time applicants, followed by Hungary (32,700, or 15%), Austria (17,400, or 8%), Italy (14,900, or 7%), France (14,700, or 7%) and Sweden (14,300, or 7%).
Compared with the previous quarter, the number of first time asylum applicants in the second quarter 2015 notably jumped in the Netherlands (+159%), Latvia (+123%), Austria (+79%), Finland (+67%) and Denmark (+66%).
At the end of June 2015, almost 600,000 persons had their application for asylum protection in the EU still under consideration by the responsible national authority. Last year, at the end of June 2014, there were nearly 365,000. With 305,800 pending applications at the end of June 2015 (or 52% of the EU total), Germany had by far the largest share in the EU.
This article appeared in the ECRE Weekly Bulletin of 18 September 2015. You can subscribe to the Weekly Bulletin here.