Analytics, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Society

During the second quarter of 2015 (from April to June 2015), 213,200 first time asylum seekers applied for protection in the EU, up by 15% compared with the first quarter of 2015 and by 85% compared with the second quarter of 2014. 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. Kosovars, who were the top citizenship of first time asylum applicants in the first three months of 2015, have seen their number drop from almost 50,000 during the first quarter 2015 to just over 10,000 in the second quarter 2015.

During the second quarter 2015, the highest number of first time applicants was registered in Germany (80,900 first time applicants, or 38% of total first time applicants in the EU), 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%).

Compared with the population of each Member State, the highest rates of registered first time applicants during the second quarter 2015 were recorded in Hungary (3,317 first time applicants per million inhabitants), ahead of Austria (2,026) Sweden (1,467) and Germany (997). In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Slovakia (5 applicants per million inhabitants), Croatia (6), Romania (19), Slovenia (20), Lithuania (21), Portugal (24) and the Czech Republic (26). In the second quarter 2015, there were 420 first time asylum applicants per million inhabitants in the EU.

Syria (44,000 first time asylum applicants, or 21% of the total number of first time applicants in the EU) was during the second quarter of 2015 the main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU. Of the 44,000 Syrians who applied for the first time for asylum in the EU in the second quarter 2015, more than three quarters were registered in four Member States: Germany (16,300), Hungary (8,400), Austria (5,300) and Sweden (3,900). In total, Syrians represented the main citizenship of asylum seekers in ten EU Member States.

Afghanistan (27,000 first time asylum applicants, or 13% of the total number of first time applicants in the EU) represented the second main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU in the second quarter 2015. Of the 27,000 Afghans seeking asylum protection for the first time in the EU during the period April-June 2015, more than half (13,600) applied in Hungary.

With 17,700 first time applicants (or 8% of the EU total) during the second quarter 2015, Albania completed the top 3 citizenships of asylum seekers in the EU. Almost 90% of them applied in Germany (15,400).

The number of applications for asylum in Estonia remains far below the EU average, Public Broadcasting reports. Estonia received in the second quarter of this year 65 applications for asylum, or 48 applications per million inhabitants. The European Union average was 420 applications per million inhabitants.

Compared to Estonia were fewer applications for asylum in eight countries – 46 in Poland, 26 in the Czech Republic, 24 in Portugal, 21 in Lithuania, 20 in Slovenia, 19 in Romania, 6 in Croatia and 5 in Slovakia per a million inhabitants, Eurostat data show.