THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
The number of asylum applications in Europe decreased significantly in 2024, according to news reports, quoting the German news agency dpa and newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
In the 27 EU member nations, along with Norway and Switzerland, approximately 1.008 million first-time asylum applications were filed last year compared to 1.14 million in 2023, a 12% drop. The figures are based on yet to be published data from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA).
Despite the decline, the figure still surpassed the one-million mark for the second consecutive year. This contrasts with the period from 2017 to 2022, when annual applications often fell well below a million.
Germany continues to receive the highest number of asylum applications among European countries. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) reported nearly 230,000 first-time applications for protection in 2024, marking a sharp 30% decrease from the previous year. The decline is largely attributed to the reintroduction of border controls, which have significantly reduced the number of applicants.
Other major destinations included Spain, with 165,398 applications, followed by France (158,512) and Italy (154,824). Meanwhile, Hungary recorded the lowest number of applications, with only 29 cases in 2024. Similarly, Slovakia (164) and Lithuania (361) registered minimal numbers.
The majority of asylum seekers in 2024 came from Syria, accounting for 15% of applications. Other notable countries of origin included Afghanistan (8.7%), Venezuela (7.3%) and Turkey (5.5%). These numbers underscore ongoing crises and political instability in these regions, driving people to seek refuge in Europe.
Adira Kallo
