Requests for asylum continued to rise to 142,500 requests in 2023 – including 124,000 first requests -, an increase of 8.6% in one year, according to the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA).
The data puts demand at record levels in 2023 and confirms a long-term upward trend. “Globally, forced displacement has reached historically high levelsUnderlines Ofpra’s General Director Julian Boucher. It is not surprising that this situation has echoes in Europe. »
According to the UN, by the middle of 2023, more than 110 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide, especially because of the war in Ukraine and Sudan, the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burma, drought, floods and insecurity in Somalia, or the protracted humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Developing countries host 75% of these refugees.
So the situation in France partially reflects this reality. because “The increase in asylum applications in Europe is expected to reach 15% to 20% in 2023”Mr. Boucher believes. “Unlike other countries, asylum requests in France are highly dispersed according to nationality and this characteristic helps to explain why the increase is significantly lower than what we can see at the European level”, It analyzes. The leading asylum seekers in France are Afghans, with 17,500 requests, followed by Bangladeshis (8,600), Turks (8,500), Congolese (8,000) and Guineans (7,000). Ivory Coast, Georgia, Syria, Sudan and Ukraine complete the top ten countries of origin table.
Defense decisions are increasing
“France is far behind Germany”, notes Mr. Boucher. In 2023, over 350,000 asylum applications were registered in Berlin, an increase of over 51% compared to the previous year and the highest level since 2016, when over 720,000 applications were received. The leading asylum seekers in Germany are Syrians (105,000), while they come eighth in France, particularly as a result of resettlement operations in France. From countries such as Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon are conducted by Ofpra.
Spain, for its part, recorded a 37% increase in its asylum requests compared to 2022 with more than 163,000 applicants, placing it in second place in Europe. The Venezuelans, Colombians and Peruvians alone represent about 80% of applicants.
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