Number of Bangladeshis seeking asylum in EU up by 70% in 2022
Says EU asylum agency report
At least 34,000 Bangladeshis sought international protection in Europe last year, a much higher number than the previous year.
In 2021, the European Union received some 20,000 asylum applications from Bangladesh.
According to a new analysis of the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) released last week, a total of 9,66,000 foreigners applied to the EU+ countries for international protection, up more than 50 percent from 2021, and the most since 2016.
The largest asylum applicant groups were Syrians, Afghans and Turks, but applications were also high for a wide range of other nationalities, while the caseload of applications pending decision hit its highest level since 2017.
The around one million asylum seekers is a significant increase from 2021 and is owed in part to the removal of Covid-19-related restrictions and longer-term underlying trends such as conflicts and food insecurity in many regions of origin, resulting in strong push factors.
Furthermore, secondary movements within the EU and significant numbers of applications by nationals from visa-free countries who arrived legally, contributed as well.
It comes in addition to around 4 million people fleeing Ukraine who benefit from temporary protection. In activating the Temporary Protection Directive, the decision to offer a dedicated channel that does not require an individual examination of protection needs prevented the collapse of Europe's asylum systems.
However, the combined five million persons seeking protection in Europe have placed its national reception systems under considerable pressure, EUAA said in a statement.