The EU authorities have revealed that the number of Turkish citizens who applied for asylum in the bloc since the beginning of this year continued to remain high, with more than 26,000 applications being submitted.
According o the authorities, such a high number of asylum applications filed last year places Türkiye in fifth place, following Syria, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and Colombia, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Apart from the EU official, the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) also just recently shared data on the number of applications filed by Turkish citizens in the EU+.
The most recent data shared by EUAA pertain to the month of March, with the Agency saying that the number of Turks applying for asylum significantly increased.
According to EUAA, in March 2023, citizens of Türkiye lodged 5,900 applications, which is more than twice the number of applications in March 2022, despite the recognition rate declining.
Of the total number of applications filed in March 2023, 5,447 of them were first-time applications, whereas the remaining part – 445 – were repeated applications.
On the other hand, in February 2023, the number of asylum applications filed by Turkish citizens was slightly lower, with the EU countries receiving 4,840 first-time applications and 326 applications.
As for January 2023, EUAA reveals that citizens of Türkiye filed a higher number of applications than in March – 5,959 first-time applications.
In addition to the above-mentioned, the Agency also said that the majority of asylum applications were lodged in Germany, with the latter having a high number of pending applications.
Regarding the recognition rate for Turks, it has been disclosed that it fell from 43 per cent in March 2022 to 28 per cent in March 2023, meaning that fewer people were granted asylum in the EU compared to the same period last year.
Apart from filing a high number of asylum applications, nationals of Türkiye also continue to file a high number of visa applications.
Despite facing Schengen visa-related problems, Türkiye has become the largest source of Schengen visa applications, with its citizens filing over 700,000 applications last year.
Data provided by Schengen Visa Statistics show that Türkiye has overcome Russia. The same show that the highest number of visa applications by Turks was made in German consulates, embassies, and visa centres – 223,699.
Germany is followed by Greece, which registered 164,829, and France, which registered 115,114 visa applications from Turkish citizens in 2022.