The number of Turkish citizens applying for asylum in the EU countries, Switzerland and Norway slowed in the first half of 2024, with Turks filing some 28,000 applications, according to a report from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA).
EUAA released its “Latest Asylum Trends – Mid-Year review 2024” report on Monday, which showed that a total of 513,000 asylum applications were filed in the EU countries, Switzerland and Norway in the first six months of 2024.
According to the report, Turkish citizens filed 28,224 applications in this period, ranking fifth among all nationalities. The highest number of applications from Turks was lodged by 16,088 people in Germany, where the Turkish diaspora already numbers some 3 million people.
France was the second most popular country for Turkish asylum seekers, with 4,382 people submitting applications, followed by Greece with 2,000.
There was a surge in the number of Turks seeking asylum in EU countries, Switzerland and Norway in October 2023, when Turkish citizens for the first time overtook the Afghans as the second largest group, following the Syrians, seeking refuge in Europe.
The monthly figure for Turkish applications was the largest figure ever recorded by the EUAA with 17,000 applications, which indicated a 126 percent year-on-year increase.
Most of the asylum applications at the time were again filed in Germany, but the surge in the number of asylum applications from Turks was short-lived, gradually decreasing in the following months.
Approval rate drops
In the meantime, the rate of approval of asylum applications filed by Turkish citizens continues to drop. While the approval rate of Turks’ asylum applications was 53 percent in 2019, it dropped to 18 percent in the first half of 2024. Forty-six percent of asylum applications from Turks, meanwhile, were approved.
EUAA statistics show a downward trend in the approval rate of asylum applications from Turkish citizens over the past years: 45 percent in 2020, 41 percent in 2021 and 37 percent in 2022.
Since 2015 the highest rate of approval of asylum applications from Turkish citizens in EU countries, Switzerland and Norway was in 2019, with 53 percent.
Following a failed coup in 2016 that led to a widespread crackdown on dissent by the Turkish government, the number of Turkish nationals seeking asylum in Germany and other Western European countries saw a significant increase.
An ongoing economic crisis caused by skyrocketing inflation, which stands at over 50 percent, and the constant depreciation of the Turkish lira is also prompting some Turks to look for ways to leave the country for a better life in Europe. Turks who seek asylum for economic reasons are rejected since economic problems are not a reason to be granted asylum, while the risk of political persecution is.