New shock figures show EU asylum seekers broke one million mark last year
The EU's number of pending asylum seekers continues to grow
Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2024/ Getty
The number of illegal migrants detected in EU countries and asylum applicants has soared past the one million mark.
Last week the EU Commission’s statistics agency revealed its latest data on the rate of first-time asylum applications in EU27 countries.
The new data shows that in the last five years, the annual number of EU asylum applicants jumped by two-thirds and the figure for last year broke the one million barrier.
This means there was a 66 per cent rise in the EU's number of first-time asylum seekers in the last five years.
This graph shows there has been a 66 per cent rise in the annual rate of the EU's first-time asylum applicants from 2019 to 2023
Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2024
A new report by the Facts4EU.Org think-tank showed that in 2019 the number of first-time asylum seekers stood at 631,285 and raised to 1,049,020 in 2023.
The figure dropped between 2019 and 2020 (from 631,285 to 417,070 respectively) amid the Covid pandemic but quickly rose again in 2021 (535,985).
The think tank also analysed the latest monthly figures for this year which showed that the situation is getting worse.
In April 2024, which was the last month figures were available, the number was 12 per cent higher than the same month last year and 42 per cent higher than in 2022.
This means there has been a 42 per cent rise in EU asylum applicants in just two years as figures rose from 54,115 in April 2022 to 76,695 in April 2024.
The EU's number of pending asylum applications also continues to grow and grow.
Latest figures show the bloc had 1,173,370 applications backed up in the system waiting for a decision.
At the European Political Community summit at Blenheim Palace last week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he wanted to go back to the "source" of the problem.
This graph shows there has been a 42 per cent increase in EU asylum applicants in two years
Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2024
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He said: "To stop illegal migration, we must also tackle it at source.
“Today I’m announcing £84 million of new funding for projects across Africa and the Middle East – that includes humanitarian and health support, skills training, help with job opportunities and access to education.”
However, the think-tank does not believe Starmer's actions will do more than "scratch the surface" of the problem.
They argue that the EU needs to secure its borders or else a huge number of migrants will come in and the number of boats crossing the English Channel will also continue to rise.