Asylum seeker

In July 2024, 74,695 citizens from outside the European Union made asylum claims for the first time in EU countries, according to Eurostat data released on Monday (21/10).

The number is down 7.5% compared to July 2023 (80,735).

Citizens from Syria, Afghanistan, and Venezuela remain the largest groups of asylum seekers in the EU.

The recent Brussels summit, which had immigration as its main menu, may have ended without a result, but Kyriakos Mitsotakis does not appear pessimistic. Not only because he believes that progressively Europeans are coming closer to the Greek position, realizing that the root of the problem is how to discourage migrants from coming onto European soil.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed reservations about the Italy-Albania agreement to establish migrant reception centers outside Europe, questioning its viability at a European level. In an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday, Mitsotakis said, “Let’s be cautious here. This is a bilateral agreement. I’m not sure it can be applied across Europe.

The head of the UNHCR warned today that displacement crises in Lebanon and Sudan may worsen but stated that stricter border measures are not the solution, calling them ineffective and sometimes illegal.

EU countries on Thursday discussed "innovative" ways to increase deportations of irregular migrants and rejected asylum seekers, including controversial plans to set up dedicated return centers outside the bloc.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday called for new EU rules on handling irregular arrivals of asylum seekers and migrants to come into force in 2025, a year ahead of schedule.

His appeal comes as Spain is grappling with a surge in migrant arrivals in the Canary Islands and as Hungary and the Netherlands are seeking an opt-out from the bloc's rules on asylum.

Thousands of asylum seekers in Greece are facing a financial crisis, having not received their monthly assistance for over five months.

Europe's top human rights court has ruled that Cyprus violated the right of two Syrian nationals to seek asylum in the island nation after keeping them, and more than two dozen other people, aboard a boat at sea for two days before sending them back to Lebanon.

Austrian analyst and head of the European Stability Initiative Gerald Knaus stresses the need for Greece and other countries to pressure for changes in the European Union's refugee legislation.

Germany has introduced temporary border controls to ensure safe, orderly, and legal entry into the country, a move that will not impact the visa issuance process for Turkish citizens, as confirmed by Germany's Embassy in Türkiye on Monday.