The EU27 Member States granted protection to 76,300 asylum seekers in 2008, according to data issued today by the European Commission.
The largest groups of beneficiaries of protection were citizens of Iraq (16 600 persons or 22% of the total number of persons granted protection status), Somalia (9 500 or 12%), Russia (7 400 or 10%), Afghanistan (5 000 or 7%) and Eritrea (4 600 or 6%).
These data on the results of asylum applications in the EU27 are taken from a report issued by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities .
Nearly 30% of EU27 asylum decisions at the first instance resulted in protection status.
The Commission said that in 2008, 281,100 decisions on asylum applications were made in the EU27 , of which 209 200 were first instance decisions and 71 900 final decisions on appeal.
At the first instance 5 59 300 persons were granted protection status, and 17 000 received a final positive decision on appeal.
The rate of recognition of asylum applicants, i.e. the share of positive decisions in the total number of decisions, was 28% in the first instance and 24% for final decisions.
Of the 76 300 persons who were granted protection status, 40 000 persons were granted refugee status, 25 500 subsidiary protection and 10 800 granted authorisation to stay for humanitarian reasons.
Two thirds of all grants of protection status in the EU27 registered in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Sweden
In 2008, the highest number of persons granted protection status were registered in France (11,500), followed by Germany (10,700), the United Kingdom (10,200), Italy (9,700), Sweden (8,700), the Netherlands (6,100) and Austria (5,700).
The rate of recognition varied considerably among Member States. The highest rates in the first instance were recorded in Poland (65%), Lithuania and Portugal (both 64%), Austria (62%) and Denmark (58%), and the lowest in Greece (less than 1%), Slovenia (3%), Spain (5%), the Czech Republic , France and Romania (all 16%).
The highest rates of recognition for final decisions were registered in Finland (87%), the Netherlands (52%) and Sweden (49%). However, the Commission said, it should be kept in mind that the country of citizenship of applicants differs greatly between Member States.
Iraqis were the single largest group of persons granted protection status in ten EU27 Member States. Of the
16,600 Iraqis granted protection status in the EU27, 6,400 were registered in Germany, 4,000 in Sweden and
2,300 in the Netherlands.
Of the 9,500 Somalis granted protection, 3,500 were recorded in Italy and 1,500 each in Sweden and the Netherlands.
FIGURES FOR MALTA
Malta had 2,915 asylum applications and took 1,410 positive decisions. The EU statement defined Asylum applications as meaning applications for international protection including requests for refugee status or for subsidiary protection status, irrespective of whether the application was lodged on arrival at border, or from inside the country, and irrespective of whether the person entered the territory legally (e.g. as a tourist) or illegally.
The largest group granted protection in 2008 came from Somalia, (79.3%) , followed by arrivals from Eritrea and Sudan.