Asylum applications in the EU remain stable in 2009
On 4 May 2010 Eurostat published the 2009 statistics on asylum in the EU-27. According to the report, nearly 261,000 persons submitted an application for international protection or have been included in such application as a family member.
Asylum seekers came mainly from Afghanistan and Russia (both 8%), Somalia and Iraq (both 7%) and Kosovo (5%).
France registered the highest number of applicants (47,600), followed by Germany (31,800) and the UK (30 300).
When compared with the population of each Member State, the highest rates of applicants registered were recorded in Malta (5,800 applicants per million inhabitants), Cyprus (3,300) and Sweden (2,600).
Among the main trends, Eurostat’s report shows that the number of asylum applicants remains stable in general in 2009 compared to 2008, but there is a big drop of applications in Italy (13,000 fewer) and in Greece (4,000 fewer).
Since May 2009, migrants seized in international waters by Italy are pushed back to Libya without an assessment of their need for protection. According to UNHCR, in 2008 approximately 75% of the persons landing in Italy submitted an asylum claim and around 50% of them were granted protection. Libya is not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not have an asylum procedure or a system for refugee protection. In Libya, people seeking protection are often detained, sometimes for long periods of time, in deplorable conditions.
Download Eurostat report (pdf)
