High numbers of Western Balkan asylum applicants in the EU

The data contained in the latest report by EASO on asylum developments in 2013 are interesting for highlighting two issues:

1. The situation on the ground in Western Balkan states appears to continue to force a significant number of persons (primarily Roma) to migrate to the “west”:

When considered together, in 2013 applications from nationals of Western Balkans countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYROM, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia), once again represented the most signifi¬cant group of asylum applicants in the EU28, with 72 840 total asylum applicants (or 17 % of all applicants in the EU28) and a 36 % rise resulting from strong increases in the number of applicants from Kosovo and Albania, but also moderate growth of applicants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYROM and Serbia.

2. Applying for and being granted int’l protection in the EU continue to appear to be a “lottery” (far from the aim of a “common European asylum system”):

While at the overall EU28 level the recognition rate for applicants from Western Balkan countries remained very low, in a few MS it was relatively high. In Italy, the recognition rate was much higher than the EU28 average for each of the six WB countries, with an overall protection rate for the region of 46 %.

Report:

http://easo.europa.eu/wp-content/uploads/EASO-AR-final.pdf – Section 2.8.3

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