Coronavirus measures led to 12-year low in asylum requests in Europe: Report

COVID-19 related travel restrictions and health measures during past few months led to a dramatic cut in asylum applications in Europe, falling to lowest level since 2008, said EU's asylum coordination ncy on June 11. European Asylum Support Office (EASO) said in its special report that 0nly 8,730 asylum applications were registered in EU+ in April, a massive 87% decrease from pre-COVID-19 levels in January and February.

However, ncy highlighted that re were almost 10 times as many applications for asylum as detected illegal border crossings into EU+ in April. It said that despite temporary suspension of certain asylum activities in many EU+ countries, some countries did continue lodging applications.

ncy ted that applications from Latin American countries like Venezuela and Colombia, one of top countries of origin in recent years, were almost negligible. In case of Venezuelans, applicants dropped from 5,013 in January to 80 in April, while Colombians registered 5,272 applications in January and just 64 in April.

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Rise in application expected

EASO expects a rise in asylum applications as travel restrictions are beginning to ease and May has alrey witnessed a grual rise in number of applicants. ncy said that EU+ countries should be prepared for increases in asylum applications in medium term, amplified by repercussions of COVID-19 on low-income countries.

report highlighted COVID-19 effects on push and pull factors of asylum seekers, especially after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a global ceasefire to facilitate humanitarian access amid COVID-19 pandemic. It said that only a few countries with an ongoing conflict positively responded to appeal, and ceasefire initiatives have mainly taken form of temporary arrangements with detailed provisions or external monitoring.

“Those who crossed borders looking for refuge w have ditional problems because travel restrictions designed to slow transmission rates have disrupted tritional migration routes,” report said.

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(Representational Im: AP)