From July to September, 166,400 first-time asylum seekers applied for protection within member states of the European Union, an increase of 12 percent compared to figures from the second quarter of 2019, a new study revealed on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th December, 2019) From July to September, 166,400 first-time asylum seekers applied for protection within member states of the European Union, an increase of 12 percent compared to figures from the second quarter of 2019, a new study revealed on Tuesday.According to the EU statistical office, Eurostat, applicants from Syria, Afghanistan and Venezuela comprised 27 percent of all first-time asylum applicants in the third quarter of 2019. Nearly 21,000 Syrians applied for asylum in EU countries between July and September.
Germany was the most desirable destination for asylum seekers, as 22 percent of applicants sought to reach Europe's largest economy. France (18 percent of applications) and Spain (16 percent of applications) were the second- and third-most popular choice for first-time asylum seekers.
According to the statistical office, 874,700 asylum applications are still being considered by EU member states.
On December 5, Nermina Cemalovic, the health minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina's border canton Una-Sana, told Sputnik that the number of migrants on the EU border between Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina could soon constitute a humanitarian crisis due to the ever-increasing numbers of people crowding in camps on the border.
Since 2015, Europe has been experiencing its worst migration crisis in recent history, and is struggling to accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants fleeing hostilities in the middle East and North Africa.
