EU Sees 23% Drop in Asylum Applications in First Half of the Year

The decline is attributed to the fact that significantly fewer Syrians sought protection, according to the asylum authority EUAA. Statistics from there show around 25,000 Syrian asylum applications to the EU and Norway and Switzerland (EU+), which is a decline of 66 percent compared to the first half of 2024.

The decline cannot be linked to EU policy, but is rather related to the fact that Syria's long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in December.