Asylum seekers from Afghanistan have been the top applicants to France in 2023, filing 16,550 requests. Despite being the top applicants, the number of Afghan asylum seekers has dropped by 26.5 per cent compared to 2022.
According to statistics by the French Interior Ministry, a total of 167,056 asylum applications have been filed to France in 2023. Compared to the previous year, application rates for asylum have increased by 7.2 per cent, Schengen.News reports.
Afghanistan, Guinea and Türkiye represent three main countries of origin for asylum seekers in 2022. In addition, the number of decisions granting protection status this year has increased.
France: These Are Top 10 Nationalities With Most Requests for Asylum in 2023
Authorities have granted protection status to 60,892 asylum applications, which is 36.4 per cent of the total applications. Compared to 2022, this number is up by 8.2 per cent.
These are the top ten nationalities with the most applications for asylum in France for 2023:
- Afghanis – 16,550
- Guinean – 10,512
- Turkish – 9,806
- Bangladeshi – 9,563
- Ivorian – 9,562
- Congolese (DRC) – 8,813
- Georgian – 6,121
- Sudanese – 5,617
- Russian – 4,158
- Sri Lankan – 3,564
The nationalities that filed increasingly more asylum requests are Sudanese, who filed 120.7 per cent more applications in 2023. Others to follow include Sri Lankans (79 per cent) and Guineans (70.2 per cent).
Georgian asylum seekers filed fewer requests this year than they did in 2022 – a 31 per cent decrease. Afghanis follow, with a difference of 26.5 per cent and Bangladeshis filed 9.3 per cent fewer asylum requests during the same period.
All ten nationalities represent 58.1 per cent of all asylum seekers in France. Compared to 2022, the share of the top ten nationalities with most applications for asylum is down by 2.5 percentage points.
Syrians & Afghans Are Top Asylum Seekers in EU
As of March 2024, Syrians have dominated all nationalities for the number of asylum seekers in 2023. A total of 10,470 first-time applicants from Syria were recorded, with Afghanis following second (5,735).
Germany (16,430), Italy (15,115), Spain (13,255) and France (10,540) were the main recipients, accounting for 75 per cent of all first-time asylum applications filed in the EU. The number of applicants in March 2024 decreased by three per cent compared to the previous month.
