(AP) Asylum applications in the European Union continued to rise in the first half of 2023 following a major hike last year, pressuring limited hosting capacities and moving the issue up the political agenda in many nations.
The European Union Agency for Asylum said applications in the 27-nation bloc plus Switzerland and Norway rose 28% in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year. In all of 2022, applications increased 53%.
“Based on current trends, applications could exceed 1 million by the end of 2023” in the region of about 460 million people, the agency said in a statement.
The numbers are in addition to people fleeing the war in Ukraine, who are estimated at about 4 million and are hosted under temporary protection provisions.
