With more asylum seekers than ever asking for help from EU countries, fewer than ever are coming to Portugal.
In just one year’s time, there was an enormous 44% increase in applicants in the EU, reaching a peak of 626,000 people.
The number was pumped up by people from Syria who have had to flee. There were 123,000 Syrian applicants in 2014, up from just 50,000 in 2013.
In 2014, the highest number of applicants by far was registered in Germany – a full 32% of all asylum seekers. Sweden received the next highest number (13%) followed by Italy, France and Hungary.
Portugal had one of the lowest rates were observed along with Slovakia and Romania.
In a year when applications rose, Portugal’s acceptance rate fell by a full 12%. While in 2013, 500 applicants were registered, during 2014 the number dropped to 440.
This made Portugal’s share of the total number just 0.1%.
Although the British tabloids rant about the number of asylum applications, the UK’s share of the total was just 5%. This was well behind Germany’s 32%, Sweden’s 13%, and France and Italy which each had 10%.
Of Portugal’s 440 applicants, the majority (155) were from the Ukraine, followed by 25 from Pakistan and 25 from Morocco.
This was at odds with the overall picture where the majority (20%) were from Syria, followed by Afghanistan (7%) and Kosovo (6%).
Applicants in neighbouring Spain were predominately from Syria, Ukraine and Mali while the UK took in applicants mostly from Pakistan, Eritrea and Iran.
