First-time asylum seekers in EU drop by 17% in June, Eurostat says

(Reuters) - First-time applications from people seeking asylum in European Union countries declined in June, with Syrians, Venezuelans, and Afghans being the primary applicants, a report from the bloc's statistics agency Eurostat showed on Friday.

Eurostat reported 70,375 first-time asylum requests from non-EU citizens across the bloc's 27 countries, a decrease of 17% compared to June 2023.

Syrians remained the largest share of applicants, accounting for 12% in June, followed by Venezuelans and Afghans, accounting for 9% and 8% respectively.

Of those applications, more than three quarters were received by Germany, Spain, Italy, and France, while 2.9% were made by unaccompanied minors, Eurostat said.

However, applications submitted to Germany in June 2024 dropped by 27% to 16,770 compared with the same period last year. As the far-right continues to gain traction politically in Germany, the government is imposing stricter measures on immigration.

Earlier this month, Germany announced plans to impose tighter controls at the country's land borders for a period of six months starting from Sept. 16 and designing a scheme enabling authorities to reject more migrants directly at German borders.

The Dutch government closely followed with its own moratorium on all new asylum applications. The majority of migrants and asylum seekers come from conflict-ridden zones in the Middle Eastern region.

(Reporting by Anna Peverieri and Charlotte Bawol; Editing by Sharon Singleton)