New asylum applications in Cyprus from countries outside the EU fell annually by 61% in May (compared to a 27% increase in the EU).
But Cyprus continues to be the first country in new asylum applications in relation to its population, according to data released by Eurostat.
In May 2023, there were 1,005 first-time asylum applicants in Cyprus, compared with 2,560 new applicants in May 2022, representing a 61% decrease.
In the EU, 80,375 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in May.
Compared with May 2022 (63,455), this represents a 27% increase.
There were also 5,325 subsequent applicants (that is, appeals or new applications by persons rejected in the past), corresponding to a 16% decrease compared with May 2022 (6,370).
Due to temporary derogations regarding the obligation to report data, there is no data on subsequent applicants in Cyprus (as well as in Denmark and Sweden).
Syrians
As in previous months, Syrians were the largest group seeking asylum (12,110 first-time applicants). They were followed by Afghans (7,210), ahead of Venezuelans (7,015) and Colombians (6,745).
Following Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, there was a significant increase in Ukrainian first-time asylum applicants (from 2,100 in February 2022 to 12 185 in March 2022), but the numbers have been decreasing monthly, down to 945 in May 2023.
This is also because people fleeing Ukraine benefit from temporary protection.
In May, the number of first-time asylum applicants with Russian citizenship ranked 14th among all citizenships, with 1,435 applications.
Population
The EU total of first-time asylum applicants in relation to its population was 179 per million people.
Compared with the population of each EU country (on 1 January 2023), the highest rate of registered first-time applicants in May was recorded in Cyprus (1,092 applicants per million people), ahead of Austria (448).
In contrast, the lowest rate was observed in Hungary (0.2).
In absolute numbers, Germany (23,235), Spain (17,405), Italy (11,045) and France (10,850) received the highest number of first-time asylum applicants, accounting for 78% of all first-time applicants in the EU.
Unaccompanied minors
In May, 3,065 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU, mostly from Afghanistan (985) and Syria (870).
The EU countries that received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors were Germany (1,200), followed by the Netherlands (410) and Austria (405).
Due to temporary derogations, data on unaccompanied minor asylum applicants for Cyprus and Poland are unavailable.
