31% fewer claims for asylum in EU+ countries compared to 2019.

According to the latest European Asylum Support Office (EASO) survey, over 40,000 foreigners filed asylum applications in European Union countries during August, marking a marginal decrease compared to July (around 43,000 applications) and a substantial decline of 40 percent compared to January (65,692 applications).

A total of 295,075 applications have been lodged in the countries of the European Union since the beginning of this year. However these figures mark a 31 percent decrease compared with the same time last year. The decline in the number of asylum applicants represents the effect of the current situation with respect to Coronavirus, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.

According to the EASO survey, people from Syria (5,394-13% of total) and Afghans (3,800-10% of total) continue to make the largest number of applications, followed by citizens of Venezuela (3,600-9% of total) and Colombia (3,300-7% of total).

Nationals from Pakistan, Somalia, Turkey, Bangladesh, Iraq and Nigeria have also reported a big increase in the number of applications. In terms of foreign security in the European Union, the number of Peruvians and Colombians has also risen compared to July levels.

As for the responses regarding the field applications, 26 per cent of applicants obtained a positive decision, during August, compared to July, when only 23 per cent of applicants earned international security. The rate of acknowledgment is 31 per cent, from January to August 2020.

Despite the challenges and due to the new working arrangements in place, EU+ asylum authorities have been able to issue more first-instance decisions (over 43 200 in August) than applications have been submitted, which means that the backlog is being reduced even in these difficult times," reads the statement."

Amount of Asylum Applicants in previous months

According to EASO, in June, in the countries of the European Union, the number of people who applied for asylum was 31,500.

"The numbers show that, compared to the months immediately before the Coronavirus outbreak, about half as many applications for international protection were lodged," the study stressed.

As for May the number of asylum applicants decreased by 84 per cent, compared with the pre-pandemic situation.

The EASO report highlighted that 10,200 applications were submitted in May, showing a small increase compared to April, but the decrease was deemed drastic compared to the level of January 2020.

In April, only 8,730 people applied for international security in the EU+ area, which is the lowest number of applications for asylum since at least 2008. The figure showed an 87 per cent decrease compared to January and February, EASO revealed.

The key factors that caused the decline in the number of asylum applications filed in Europe were travel restrictions and entry bans.

"In spite of the emergency measures, there were still nearly ten times as many asylum claims as illegal border crossings (900) detected in the EU+ in April. The discrepancy suggests that certain countries have continued to lodge applications despite the temporary suspension of some asylum operations in several EU+ countries,' the Special Report of the European Asylum Support Office reads.

In March, 34,737 people applied for asylum in countries of the European Union, a drop of 43 percent compared to February.

Compared to the statistics released in 2019, the number of people seeking foreign security in Europe had begun to rise before the coronavirus pandemic.

EASO previously announced that 65,300 applications were submitted in January 2020, while during February there were 61,100 applications for asylum in European countries.

Foreign security in European Union+ countries has risen by 11% to 738,425 over the course of 2019. According to the statistics released by the European Asylum Support Office, a total increase of 16 per cent was also reported during the first two months of 2020, compared to the same period one year earlier.

While the situation of the coronavirus pandemic led to an 87 percent decrease in the number of applications submitted, EASO announced back then that it planned to restart the growing trend.