A migrant looks on as he stands inside a Moria detention center in Mytilene on April 15, 2016. ARIS MESSINIS AFP BRUSSELS The European Union received 648,000 applications last year for international protection, a third more than in 2020, according to the EUAA on Tuesday, with Syrians and Afghans the main groups of applicants.
The bloc received about 3.4 million requests for temporary protection from those fleeing conflict in Ukraine.
Some 6 million people ran from the Russian military operation for the EU, though many have since returned, according to the EUAA.
The numbers of applications by Syrians and Afghans were 117,000 and 102,000, followed by the nationals of Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Bangladesh, the agency said in a report. Half of the applicants were between 18 and 34 years old, while 70 percent were male. Nearly three in 10 applications came from minors, and four percent of all of the applications came from unaccompanied minors.
The EU granted about 185,000 people asylum or subsidy protection, with Eritreans securing the highest rate, at 81 percent, and Georgians the lowest, at 3 percent. Nearly 770,000 decisions were still pending, according to the agency.