France registered a record number of applications for asylum in 2023, the third-highest number amongst EU countries, after Germany and Spain, according to the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OPFRA).
OPFRA data showed that France had 142,000 asylum applications in 2023, compared to 131,000 in 2022, which represents an increase of 8.6%. These include around 123,400 first-time asylum applications.
“Demand is thus returning to the trend seen before the health crisis linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a major impact on population movements,” the OPFRA said in a press release published on Tuesday 23 January.
Afghanistan was the top country of origin for French asylum applications for the sixth year in a row, with 17,500 first applications submitted. This was followed by Bangladesh (8,600), Turkey (8,500), the Democratic Republic of Congo (8,000) and the Republic of Guinea (7,000).
The protection rate, i.e. the proportion of applications accepted, was 33%, compared with 29% in 2022 and 26% in 2021, OPFRA added.
French Guiana is the region that has seen the strongest growth, with almost 5,200 first-time applications (an increase of 102%). Haitians accounted for 28% of first-time applications, Syrians 21% and Afghans 19%.
Even though this is the highest number of asylum applications ever recorded in France, Germany and Spain have higher numbers, according to the educational website Touteleurope.
In 2023, Germany recorded more than 350,000 applications, an increase of 51% compared to 2022, while Spain comes second in terms of the increase in asylum applications, with 163,000 applications, an increase of 37% compared to 2022.
According to a report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), published in October, conflicts are one of the main drivers of forced displacement in the first half of 2023.
In June, 110 million people had been forcibly displaced worldwide, 1.6 million more than at the end of 2022.
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[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
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Source: euractiv.com
