New asylum claims drop 33% but still high

The number of first-time asylum applicants in August dropped 33% in Cyprus, but despite the drop, Cyprus still had the highest ratio of asylum applicants per population.

Meanwhile, according to monthly asylum data published by Eurostat, the trend increased by 19% in the EU.

In absolute numbers, there were 895 new applications recorded in Cyprus, while in August 2022 there were 1,340.

There were 91,735 first-time asylum applicants in the EU in August, compared to 77,145 last year.

There were also 5,660 subsequent applicants in the EU, an 8% decrease from August 2022 (6,165).

Due to temporary reporting derogations, data on subsequent applications in Cyprus (and Sweden) are unavailable.

Similarly to previous months, in August, Germany (29,110), Spain (12,075), France (11,495) and Italy (10,005) continued to receive the highest number of first-time asylum applicants, accounting for 68% of all first-time applicants in the bloc.

In August, the EU total of first-time asylum applicants was 20.5 per 100,000.

Compared with the population of each EU country, the highest rate of registered first-time applicants in August was recorded in Cyprus (97.0 applicants per 100,000), ahead of Austria (72.4).

By contrast, the lowest rate was observed in Hungary (0.0).

Also, in August, Syrians remained the largest group seeking asylum in the EU (18,170 first-time applicants).

They were followed by Afghans (9,785), ahead of Turks (7,970), Venezuelans (4,805) and Colombians (4,665).

Regarding unaccompanied minors applying for asylum, there were 4,465 new applications, mostly from Syria (1 540) and Afghanistan (1 420).

The EU countries which received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors in August were Germany (1,250), followed by Austria (795), and Bulgaria (735).

Due to temporary derogations, data on unaccompanied minor asylum applicants for Cyprus and Poland are unavailable.