One year ago, the Taliban won back power in Afghanistan. This triggered a massive exodus of Afghans afraid that their lives would be worsened under the country’s new rulers.
What impact did the Afghanistan exodus make on Europe?
The number of Afghans seeking asylum within the European Union (EU), more then doubled in the first month following the Taliban takeover on August 15, 2021, as compared to July’s figures.
This is based on Eurostat data.
One month prior to the takeover, approximately 6,500 Afghans applied in July 2021 for asylum in the EU. This leapt to around 14,400 Afghans making applications in September.
Although the number applying for asylum in Afghanistan has been declining over the first month of 2022, it is still higher than that of spring 2017.
How does Afghan asylum claim compare with other years?
We can better understand the impact of the US withdrawal on Afghanistan’s migration to Europe and the Taliban power grab on that migration by comparing 2021/22 to previous years.
The number of Afghan nationals seeking asylum in Europe last year was more than twice that of the previous 12 months.
It is still far less than the applications in 2015 and 2016, when Afghans, despite ongoing instability at home, and a resurgent Taliban, joined hundreds of thousands more Syrians in coming to Europe. Over the two years, more then 360,000 Afghans have applied for asylum in Europe.
Where in Europe can Afghans settle?
It is instructive to look at the locations where this recent influx from Afghanistan has sought asylum in Europe.
There were more asylum applications in wealthy, western EU countries. Germany took approximately one-third of the total (23.940) between August last, when the Taliban took Kabul, and April. This is the latest month Eurostat has data.
France came in second place with 13,730 first-time application over the same period.
There are however some notable exceptions.
According to Eurostat, not a single Afghan asylum request was filed in Hungary, Malta, or Liechtenstein.
Which country receives most Afghan asylum requests per head?
A different picture is created when you adjust the above figures to the country’s total population.
Slovenia has received the largest number of Afghan asylum applications on this basis. It has had 128 applications for every 100,000 of the country’s population since the Taliban swept back to power last August.
Next is Austria with 107 people per 100,000, closely followed by Bulgaria (one of the poorest countries in the EU) with 105.
France and Germany? When adjusted to population size, Germany ranks ninth and France is smack bang in the middle of the leaderboard at 14th in the EU.
How many Afghan asylum requests are accepted?
In the immediate aftermath, the Taliban took over, the proportion of Afghan asylum requests was higher.
Compared to 57% for January and June, 67% of July-September decisions were positive.
The rate at which asylum requests were granted rose from October to Dezember to 88%. This was compared to the 81% that was granted in the first three months this year.
Catherine Woollard, director of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, said that there are “serious concern” for Afghan asylum seekers in Europe.
Alongside what she called an “asylum lottery”, with protection rates diverging significantly across the bloc, Woollard said “one long-standing problem” is that Afghans have to wait much longer for asylum compared to other nationalities.
According to Eurostat data, there were 97.960 asylum requests from Afghan nationals still pending as of April 2022.
Woollard also said that Afghans are “highly affected” by “violence at borders, pushbacks and the other efforts to deny access to EU territory,” preventing them from applying for asylum in the first place.
“As the response in Ukraine has shown, Europe can manage displacement crises, and support refugees when the decision’s taken,” she stated, adding that the number of Afghans who have come to Europe was “smaller.” [than Ukrainians]And manageable.”
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