EASO releases Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the European Union

The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) has released its annual report on asylum in the European Union.

You can read the full report here and you can read EASO's press release below:

PRESS RELEASE

PR 07/2013
8 July 2013

EASO Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the European Union 2012

335,365 asylum applications in the EU; Applicants from Afghanistan continued to be the most numerous overall in the EU (28,005); Overall EU protection rate rises to 28 %; Highest recognition rates were noted for citizens of Syria, Eritrea, Mali and Somalia; Greece, Luxembourg, Sweden and Italy formally requested support from EASO in 2012;

Today EASO released its Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the European Union 2012. The Report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the situation of asylum in the EU, by looking at flows of applicants for international protection to the EU, analysing application and decision data, and focusing on some of the most important countries of origin of applicants for international protection in 2012. In particular, the report focuses on three asylum flows that underline the very different characteristics of asylum applicants in the EU: Afghanistan, Syria and Western Balkans countries.

In 2012 there were 335,365 asylum applications in the EU. This means that asylum applications in the EU increased by 11% (when compared to 2011). Of these, 260 575 were 'new' applicants for international protection (a 1 % increase compared to 256 945 in 2011) [1], which means that a significant proportion of the increase was determined by an increase in subsequent applications (i.e. those made by persons already having made an application for international protection in the EU).

Applicants from Afghanistan continued to be the most numerous overall in the EU (28,005) and included large numbers of unaccompanied minors. In 2012 EASO produced two expert reports on Afghanistan.

Syria showed the largest increase in applications (206% compared to 2011). This was due to the deteriorating security situation in Syria over the course of the year. In this context, EASO organized a network of experts with the EU Member States, to pool expertise and to be prepared for such an influx. In 2012, there were over 95% of applications from Syrian citizens being accepted by EU Member States.

The report underlines, however, that when summed together, applicants from the six Western Balkans countries [2], continued to represent the highest number of applications made in the EU for asylum (more than Afghanistan and Syria combined), despite the fact that Member States judged such applications to well-founded in only 4% of cases overall. EASO will publish a comprehensive report on the Western Balkans in the second half of this year.

Some 9 % more decisions in first instance were taken than in the previous year (260,425), and the overall protection rate at first instance rose to 28 % (71,700 positive decisions granting international or national protection status). The highest recognition rates were noted for citizens of Syria, Eritrea, Mali and Somalia.

The report also highlights major developments with regard to EU/national policy, legislative changes and jurisprudence (the acquis and their interpretation) and provides insight into the practical functioning of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) by observing developments relating to the different stages of the asylum procedure (from access to procedure to return). In this context, asylum reception and detention conditions and policy in Member States continued to be a challenging area.

In 2012, Member States experienced large variations in asylum flows to their country (when compared to the previous year): Nine Member States faced variations of greater than 45% (plus or minus) compared to the previous year in 2012. Such large variations make long-term planning difficult. Nevertheless, many Member States, made improvements to their asylum systems, instituting quality control systems, improved IT case management tools and better use of Country of Origin Information (COI) in decision-making.

In some cases, EASO received direct requests for assistance with various aspects of Member States' asylum systems: Four Member States (Greece, Luxembourg, Sweden and Italy) formally requested support from the Agency in 2012 in areas including training, COI and statistics.

The EASO Annual Report also serves as a useful tool for national and EU policy-makers helping to identify areas where improvement is most needed (and thus where EASO and other key stakeholders should focus their future efforts), in line with its declared purpose of improving the quality, consistency and effectiveness of the CEAS.

Any further information may be obtained from the European Asylum Support Office by contacting Mr Jean-Pierre Schembri on the following e-mail address: jean-pierre.schembri@easo.europa.eu

[1] These figures do not include AT, HU, IT and PT. A new applicant is one who has never previously made an application for international protection in the country of destination.

[2] Kosovo, FYROM, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia Herzegovina