Asylum applications in the EU surged to over one million last year, a seven-year high, with Syrians then Afghans remaining the top groups seeking protection, the bloc's asylum agency said Wednesday.
The data from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) means the number of asylum-seekers in 2023 neared a level last seen in 2015-2016, when hundreds of thousands of people -- many of them Syrians fleeing civil war -- sought refuge.
Immigration, including of asylum seekers, is a headline issue for Europe as it heads for elections in June.
Far-right nationalist parties arguing for tougher entry criteria are predicted to increase their representation in the European Parliament, AFP reported.
Germany, the EU country receiving the biggest number of asylum applications in 2023 -- around 29 percent of the total -- has been roiled by the issue.
Members of that country's far-right AfD party -- soaring in the polls -- last year met extremists to discuss expelling immigrants and "non-assimilated citizens" according to a report by investigative outlet Correctiv. That sparked big counter demonstrations in Berlin and elsewhere against racism.
According to the EUAA, a total 1.14 million asylum applications were registered last year across the 27-nation European Union plus its Schengen-associated nations Norway and Switzerland.
That was an 18 percent increase over 2022 and confirmed an upward trend evident since 2020, as the EU emerged from the coronavirus pandemic during which travel was curbed.
Germany's 334,000 asylum applications received was double that of France's 167,000, and also far above Italy's 136,000.
Across the EU, Syrians submitted 181,000 applications.
Afghans lodged 114,000 which, though they were the second-biggest group, was 11 percent lower than for 2022.
There were 101,000 applications from Turkish nationals -- an 82 percent rise over the previous year -- with most lodged in Germany.
Spain saw a third more applications from Venezuelans and Colombians, at more than 60,000 for each group. They are often able to enter Spain regularly, without needing visas.
Around half that number was recorded for Moroccans, applying mostly in Austria, and for Egyptians, most of them in Italy.
Smaller numbers of Guineans and Ivorians sought asylum, mostly in France.
While Germany received nearly one in three of lodged asylum bids, it was Cyprus, followed by Austria and Greece that had the highest proportion in relation to their much smaller populations.
The EUAA noted that Hungary -- whose nationalist government is opposed to an EU drive to share responsibilities for arriving asylum-seekers -- received a mere 30 asylum applications in 2023.
That was likely because Hungary requires asylum-seekers to make a "declaration of intent at a Hungarian embassy in a non-EU country before they can enter the country" to apply, it said.
Not all applications made across the EU are approved.
The EUAA said the overall recognition rate last year was 43 percent, which was the highest since 2016 -- but results are highly correlated to nationality.
Syrians and Afghans were often granted protection -- in 80 percent and 61 percent of cases, respectively -- though the status of that protection varied.
Syrians over the past few years have tended not be classed as refugees but rather given subsidiary protection, which allows them to stay but with more obstacles to acquiring citizenship or getting permanent residency.
For Afghans, refugee status was being generally approved, reflecting the persecution many face in their country since 2021 under Taliban rule.
For Turkish nationals, the recognition rate in the EU has "significantly" decreased since 2019, the EUAA said, with only a quarter of applications winning protection.
