The US proposes new restrictions on asylum claims 1:46
(CNN) --
European Union (EU+) countries received nearly a million asylum applications in 2022, according to a press release from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) published Wednesday.
The EU+ includes the EU states plus Norway, the UK, Iceland and Israel.
According to the EUAA press release, EU+ countries received approximately 966,000 asylum applications in 2022, a 50% increase over the previous year and the highest rate since 2016.
The largest applicant groups were Syrians (132,000), Afghans (129,000) and Turks (55,000), but applications were also high for a wide range of other nationalities, according to the press release.
The EUAA estimates that the significant increase in asylum applications is partly due to the removal of restrictions related to covid-19, as well as "longer-term underlying trends" such as conflict and food insecurity in the countries of origin of the migrants, according to the press release.
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Secondary movements within the EU and a significant number of applications from visa-free nationals who arrived legally also contributed, according to the EUAA.
It joins the around four million people fleeing Ukraine who have benefited from temporary protection, according to the press release.
Venezuelans and Colombians submitted approximately three times as many applications as in 2021. Turks, Venezuelans, Colombians, Bangladeshis, and Georgians submitted the most applications on record.
At lower levels, registration applications were also filed by citizens of India, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Moldova and several others, according to the EUAA.
"By activating the Temporary Protection Directive, the decision to offer a dedicated channel that does not require an individual examination of protection needs prevented the collapse of Europe's asylum systems," the EUAA said.
"However, the combined five million people seeking protection in Europe have placed national reception systems under considerable pressure," he added.
The EU+ recognition rate, which refers to the forms of protection regulated by the EU (refugee status and subsidiary protection) in the first instance, was 40% in 2022. This was five percentage points more than in 2021 and the maximum in five years, according to the EEAA.
Recognition rates were especially high for Syrians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Eritreans, Yemenis and Malians, but low (ie less than 4%) for citizens of India, North Macedonia, Moldova, Vietnam, Tunisia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Nepal, among others, according to the EUAA press release.
From CNN's Eve Brennan in London
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