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France not so generous as that in welcoming refugees

(B2) The publication by Eurostat of the latest statistics on asylum seekers registered in the European Union puts an end to certain preconceived ideas, in particular of France being the receptacle of all the misery in the world. It is the opposite, the “homeland” of human rights is one of the hardest towards the claimants and one of the least generous.

In one year, the number of asylum seekers registered in the European Union (EU) has jumped by almost half. About 191 people (+000%) applied for asylum in one of the 44 countries of the European Union, i.e. a record number of 28 applicants in 626, according to the European statistics office (Eurostat). France is one of the countries that experienced one of the largest decreases in the number of asylum seekers in 000 compared to 2014, with a decrease of 2014%. What twist the blow to certain ideas.

Germany and Sweden more generous

In absolute figures, Germany receives the most asylum applications. It receives almost a third of asylum applications (just over 200.000 applications out of a total of 626.000 applications), followed by Sweden (81), and Italy (200). France is in fourth position just behind Italy (with 64 applicants, or 600%) and Hungary (62).

In terms of the number of applications per inhabitant, Sweden is the favourite, receiving the most applications, far ahead of all the others (8,4 asylum seekers per thousand inhabitants). But in second place, Hungary (4,3 asylum seekers), Austria (3,3), Malta (3,2). France is just below the European average (1,2 asylum seekers per thousand inhabitants), with 1 asylum seeker per 1000 inhabitants.

A very strict France

If we look at the number of applications accepted – with the granting of applicant status – the situation is slightly different. The total number of refugees reaches 162.000 across Europe. A figure much lower than the number of requests, due to the sorting in the files and the time lag. Each file must be studied one by one and a decision rendered. But we always find the same top three (Germany, Sweden, Italy) for those who accept refugees.

What is obvious is that France is very strict, much stricter than most other countries in the European Union. It only granted refugee status to around 15.000 people. The homeland of human rights in fact only accepts slightly more than one out of five requests, whereas the Dutch accept two out of three requests and the British two out of five requests. There are only two or three countries to be even tougher: Luxembourg which accepts one application out of six, Croatia and Hungary which only grant refugee status in one case out of 10!

The Syrian civil war is causing an influx.

Most of the increase in requests is due to the Syrian conflict. The number of Syrian asylum applications has more than doubled, from 50 applicants in 000 to almost 2013 in 123. Naturally, the number of Syrians admitted to the EU with refugee status continues to grow. In 000, Germany granted refugee status to almost 2014 Syrians, Sweden to 2014 people and Bulgaria and the Netherlands to around 25.000. France, here again, lags behind in generosity, welcoming only 16.000 Syrians. Three times less than in Bulgaria and just twice as much as Cyprus, a very small state only.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

Asylum seekers in EU member states

Number of applicants Share in EU total (%) Number of applicants per thousand inhabitants*
2013 2014 Change 2014/2013 (in %) 2014 2014
UE 435 190 626 065 44% 100,0% 1,2
Belgium 21 030 22 710 8% 3,6% 2,1
Bulgaria 7 145 11 080 55% 1,8% 1,5
Rep. Czech 695 1 145 65% 0,2% 0,1
Denmark 7 170 14 680 105% 2,3% 2,6
Germany 126 705 202 645 60% 32,4% 2,5
Estonia 95 155 63% 0,0% 0,1
Ireland 945 1 450 53% 0,2% 0,3
Greece 8 225 9 430 15% 1,5% 0,9
Spain 4 485 5 615 25% 0,9% 0,1
France 66 265 62 735 -5% 10,0% 1,0
Croatia 1 075 450 -58% 0,1% 0,1
Italy 26 620 64 625 143% 10,3% 1,1
Cyprus 1 255 1 745 39% 0,3% 2,0
Latvia 195 375 92% 0,1% 0,2
Lithuania 400 440 10% 0,1% 0,2
Luxembourg 1 070 1 150 7% 0,2% 2,1
Hungary 18 895 42 775 126% 6,8% 4,3
Malta 2 245 1 350 -40% 0,2% 3,2
Netherlands 17 160 26 210 53% 4,2% 1,6
Austria 17 500 28 035 60% 4,5% 3,3
Poland 15 240 8 020 -47% 1,3% 0,2
Portugal 500 440 -12% 0,1% 0,0
Romania 1495 1 545 3% 0,2% 0,1
Slovenia 270 385 43% 0,1% 0,2
Slovakia 440 330 -25% 0,1% 0,1
Finland 3 210 3 620 13% 0,6% 0,7
Sweden 54 270 81 180 50% 13,0% 8,4
United Kingdom 30 585 31 745 4% 5,1% 0,5
Iceland 125 170 36% - 0,5
Liechtenstein 55 65 18% - 1,8
Norway 11 930 13 205 11% - 2,6
Switzerland 21 305 23 555 11% - 2,9

* The number of inhabitants refers to the resident population on January 1, 2014. The figures are rounded to the nearest multiple of 5.

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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