Almost a quarter fewer asylum applications in Germany this year

The European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA) recorded 24 percent fewer asylum applications in Germany between the beginning of January and the end of September. This was announced by “Welt am Sonntag” in an advance report on Saturday, citing previously unpublished figures from the EU Asylum Agency.

The figures are mentioned in a report from the EU Commission dated October 3, 2024, which is marked as confidential, on the situation of migration in the EU and in third countries (Integrated Situation Awareness and Analysis, Report No. 430). As a result, it comes to Germany almost one in three asylum seekers from Syria (30 percent). A particularly large number of people seeking protection come from this country also from Afghanistan (15 percent) and the Türkiye (13 percent).

In an EU comparison, Germany remains the leader in asylum applications (170,574), followed by Spain (122,096), Italy (117,042) and France (115,652). The fewest asylum applications were made in Hungary (21), Slovakia (121) and Lithuania (284). Austria recorded a particularly sharp decline in asylum applications (18,984), where the number of applications for protection more than halved (57 percent). A total of 739,735 asylum applications were submitted in the EU as well as Norway and Switzerland in the first nine months of this year (January 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024) – a decrease of 8.0 percent compared to the comparable period last year.

As the paper further reported, the EU Commission also warned in its confidential report of a wave of refugees from Lebanon to the EU. The document on the current migration situation in Europe states: “Against the background of the large number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon (almost 1.5 million) and the deteriorating humanitarian situation for the entire population in Lebanon, the number of those According to the EU report, as of September 29, 345,000 people were displaced domestically as a result of the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Around 100,000 people would have fled to Syria by the end of September. (Reuters)