The number of first asylum applications filed in the European Union (EU) by non-residents in the bloc increased in March to 73,850 due to the increase in applications from Ukrainian citizens, according to Eurostat.
The monthly increase in the first applications for international protection for Ukrainians (from 2,370 in February to 12,875 in March) is 443%.due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
According to data released this Monday by the EU statistics service, in total, the 73,850 new asylum applications filed in March compared to 34,310 in the same month of 2021 and February (54,565).
These numbers are, however, still far from the maximum of October 2015 (162,020) due to the war in Syria.
In March, Ukrainians were the largest group of first-time asylum seekers. (12,875), followed by Afghans (7,770), Syrians (7,320), Venezuelans (4,705), and Colombians (3,565).
The Russian military offensive in Ukraine since February 24 has already caused more than 15 million people to flee their homes, more than eight million internally displaced and more than 7.7 million to neighboring countries, according to the latest data from the UN.
Source: Observadora
