The European Union has made in a long time, to reform its regulatory framework for asylum and Migration. How necessary this is a clear illustration of the annual report of the EU Asylum office EASO for 2019, which was presented in Brussels on Thursday. Several developments give cause for concern. Thus, the number of people that applied in the EU and the four Schengen associated States in order to protect rose, for the first time since the refugee crisis in 2015. A total of almost 740,000 applications were registered, 11 percent more than in 2018. In addition, the influx is distributed very uneven between the member States. So half of the applications are attributable to just three countries: Germany, France and more recently Spain. Only forty per cent of first instance decisions in the EU were in favour of the applicants. “We need to manage Migration better,” said the EU Commissioner for Ylva Johansson, who is working on a Reform.
Thomas Gutschker
Political correspondent for the European Union, Nato and the Benelux countries, based in Brussels.
F. A. Z.
was The total number of applications in the previous year, more than five Times as high as the number of illegal border crossings, the EU’s border protection authority reported to Frontex (139.000). There are a number of reasons. Of course, Frontex, does not cover all persons who arrive irregularly in the EU. More important, however, is that migrants in many countries, you have to wait a long time for the asylum procedure, so previously entered. The member States still push more than 900,000 cases in which a decision is pending. Well a third of them in Germany, after all, the number steadily drops.
The other statistical effect: more and more people to apply for asylum, which are allowed to enter the country normally, without a visa, in the EU. A quarter of all applications, accounted for 2019 in this group. Here, the political crisis in Venezuela reflected: The number of applicants from there doubled to 46,000. From Colombia, with 32,000 people, a tripling came. Because these migrants went mainly to Spain, doubled the number of applications – which is why the country is now on place three of the countries with the most applications. Almost all the Venezuelans were given a temporary residence status, however, only seven per cent of the Columbian. Among those who were allowed to enter the country visa-free in the EU and then for asylum were also 36,000 people from the Western Balkans. The recognition rate is extremely low.
