Data shows 72,840 asylum requests came from citizens of Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina, 17 percent higher compared to 50,495 requests made by Syrians in 2013.
BRUSSELS, July 7 – The number of asylum seekers from Western Balkan countries was higher in 2013 than those coming from the civil war in Syria, according to a recent report.
The data from the European Asylum Report Office showed there were more people from six western Balkan countries asked for asylum in 2013 than did from Syria, from where thousands of refugees have tried to escape the brutal civil war.
EASO reported there were 72,840 asylum requests from the citizens coming from Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina. That is 17 percent higher compared to 50,495 requests made by Syrians.
That trend continued last year despite the fact that the vast majority of asylum requests were deemed unfounded and the average acceptance rate was very low 3.8 percent, except for Italy, where the rate of acceptance was 46 percent.
“This is a very serious issue that burdens the system,” said European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Cecilia Malmstroem, adding that could cause the most affected member states to activate a “safeguard clause” eliminating visa-free travel in the Schengen area.
Malmstroem said that no EU country has asked for the clause yet, but that possibility exists.
“It would be an unfortunate outcome, because it would hit the honest majority I mentioned,” she said.
The mechanism was adopted last year at the request of member countries precisely because of the surge of asylum seekers from the Western Balkans.
She said she continues to be in contact with the western Balkan countries’ governments to see how better to help and work with them, in order to give them better information and prevent abuses to the system of visa liberalization.
The commissioner said there were good campaigns and cooperation, but unfortunately insufficient results.
“We cooperate well with those countries and all of them are making efforts to decrease the number of asylum seekers, but unfortunately without much success,” said the commissioner.
Serbs, Macedonians, Montenegrins and Bosnians have aimed in particular for Germany, while Albanians have gone to France and the United Kingdom. The majority of the asylum requests to EU countries last year arrived from Serbs – more than 20,000 – followed by Kosovars, Macedonians, Albanians, Bosnians and Montenegrins. The Serb and Macedonian migrants were mainly of the Roma ethnicity, while the Kosovars were primarily ethnic Albanians.
