EU: international protection to 295,000 persons in 2019, mostly from Syria and Venezuela. Most welcoming countries: Germany, France and Spain

In 2019, 295,800 persons were granted protection status in the EU, a figure down by 6% compared to 2018, and 21,200 refugees were resettled in the EU in 2019, according to the figures released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, today. The figures show in detail that of all the people who were granted protection, 141,100 were accepted as refugees (48% of all positive decisions), 82,100 were granted subsidiary protection (28% of decisions), and 72,700 were granted humanitarian protection (25% of decisions). As for the origins of those seeking asylum, 78,600 were Syrians (27%), 40,000 Afghans (14%), and 37,500 Venezuelans (13%). It should be noted that the number of Venezuelans rose by nearly 40 times in 2019 compared with 2018. 71% of all grants of protection status to Syrians were recorded in Germany as well as 41% of all grants of protection to Afghans, while 94% of Venezuelans were granted protection in Spain. 39% of all positive decisions in the EU were granted in Germany (116,200 persons), 14% in France (42,100 persons), followed by Spain (38,500 persons i.e. 13%) and Italy (31,000, i.e. 10%). 38% of asylum decisions were made at the first instance while 31% were made on appeal. The recognition rate for applications was 96% for citizens of Venezuela, 85% for Syrians, 81% for Eritreans, 54% for Afghans, and 52% for Turks.
Marco Calvarese