Turkey ranks third in first-time asylum applications to the EU in 2022

In 2022, Turkish citizens “jumped” to third place among asylum seekers applying for the first time in the European Union (EU), with almost 58.000 more than in the previous year. According to data published by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), in 2022, around 58.000 Turkish citizens arrived in the European Union (EU) and applied for asylum for the first time, making them the third highest number of asylum seekers in the EU.

In 2021, the number of Turkish citizens seeking asylum for the first time was 20.315. This represents a 150 percent increase in one year for Turkish citizens, who were in fifth place on the same list that year. In 2022, half of all Turkish citizens chose Germany as their first country of asylum, followed by France. According to the European Union Agency of Asylum (EUAA), pending cases of Turkish citizens seeking international protection in EU countries along with Norway and Switzerland increased 78 percent at the end of 2022 compared to the previous year. In addition, more than 26.000 Turkish citizens have applied for asylum in Europe since the beginning of 2023, an EU official told the ANKA news agency.

Analyzing the countries of origin of first-time asylum seekers, citizens of Syria (131.970) and Afghanistan (113.495) are in the first two places. The European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA) said that asylum applications in the EU reached 996.000 in 2022, the highest level in six years. Ukrainians fleeing the war were counted separately. Around 4 million of them live in the EU with a special temporary protection status. The EUAA report shows that 39 percent of all applications received a positive response.