485,000 people claimed protection in 2020, compared with 716,000 the previous year.

The European Asylum Support Office of the European Union has reported a significant drop in asylum applications in 2020, which was mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions for travel, the agency said.

EASO, which is based in Valletta, Malta, detailed in its latest General Report that 485,000 applications were lodged in the 27 EU member states and the European Economic Area countries Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – one third less than in 2019. The figure of 485,000 applications marked a 32 percent decrease compared to 2019 (716,000 new claims) and a 64 drop in comparison with the year 2013.

For the first time since 2017, more decisions were issued than new applications for asylums received, EASO said. Consequently, the number of pending cases went down. However, it still stood at 773,600, while in 2019, 942,100 files were open.

The highest number of asylum applications was made in Germany (122,000), France (93,000) and Spain (89,000), representing around two thirds of all 31 countries. However, per capita and taking into consideration the economic situation of the host countries, Greece, Cyprus and Malta were at the top of the list of most affect European countries.

Most incoming migrants who applied for asylum were from the Middle East, in particular Afghanistan and Syria. There was also a sizeable influx from Venezuela and Colombia, mainly to Spain, and from Turkey.

Despite the drop in the overall number of applications, some countries did experience an increase. There were more arrivals along the Western African, Central Mediterranean and Western Balkan routes than in 2019. Romania registered a 138 percent increase in the number of applications, followed by Bulgaria (+64 percent).

224,000 positive decisions were issued (42 percent of all asylum seekers) in 2020. Of these, half of all accepted asylum seekers were granted refugee status, while 27 percent received humanitarian protection and 23 percent subsidiary protection. Nationals of Eritrea, Syria and Venezuela continued to receive positive decisions most frequently.

“Standstill” due to pandemic

According to EASO, several factors led to a faster turnaround rate for first decisions on asylum applications, notably the introduction of digital tools. However, other areas of the Common European Asylum System came to near standstill, the report pointed out.

For the first time in seven years, the EU’s resettlement programme, which provides a safe and structured pathway to protection, experienced a significant decrease (minus 58 percent compared with 2019) in the number of refugees transferred to Europe. By the end of the year, most countries had not met their national quotas and postponed their allocations to the following year. Moreover, an increasing number of rejected asylum applicants were not returned to their countries of origin due to the Covid-19 restrictions in place.

EASO to be reformed

Meanwhile, the European Parliament and the Council reached an agreement to transform EASO into a European Union Agency of Asylum. The aim of the new agency is to make asylum procedures in EU member states better, more uniform and faster. A pool of 500 experts, including interpreters, case handlers or reception specialists, are to be deployed as part of asylum support teams.

Agency experts will have the mandate to prepare the entire administrative asylum procedure for decision by national authorities and offer assistance during the appeal stage.

Read the EASO report by clicking on this link 

Author: Michael Thaidigsmann