Asylum Seekers in UE, 2016 – More than 700 000, over half Syrians

Asylum decisions in the EU EU Member States granted protection to more than 700 000 asylum seekers in 2016. Over half of the beneficiaries were Syrians.

The 28 Member States of the European Union (EU) granted protection status to 710 400 asylum seekers in 2016, more than double the number of 2015. In addition to these, the EU Member States received over 14 000 resettled refugees.
The largest group of beneficiaries of protection status in the EU in 2016 remained citizens of Syria (405 600 persons, or 57% of the total number of persons granted protection status in the EU Member States), followed by citizens of Iraq (65 800 or 9%) and those of Afghanistan (61 800 or 9%).
The number of decisions granting protection status to Syrians has more than doubled since 2015: they were the largest group granted protection status in nineteen Member States in 2016. Of the 405 600 Syrians granted protection status in the EU, more than 70% were recorded in Germany (294 700).

These data on the results of asylum decisions in the EU are released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Recognition rates differs greatly between citizenships

The rate of recognition, i.e. the share of positive decisions in the total number of decisions, was 61% for first instance decisions in the EU. For final decisions on appeal, the recognition rate was 17%.
The outcomes of decisions on asylum applications, and therefore the recognition rate, vary between countries of citizenship of asylum applicants. Among the twenty main citizenships of asylum applicants on which decisions were taken at first instance in 2016, recognition rates in the EU ranged from less than 5% for citizens of the Western Balkan countries to 98% for Syrians (see graph below).

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  EU Member States granted protection to more than 700 000 asylum seekers in 2016