August 15, 2013 - 15:02 AMT
Eurostat: 1355 asylum applicants from Armenia registered in Q1 2013

About 85,000 persons sought asylum in the EU-27 during the first quarter of 2013, which is 15,000 more compared to the same quarter of 2012, but significantly less than the fourth quarter of 2012.

Belgium registered 5,880 asylum applicants during the first quarter of 2013 (7% of the total number of asylum applicants in the EU-27). Only Germany (21,065), France (15,970), Sweden (9,720) and UK (7,155) registered more asylum applicants than Belgium. Germany and Sweden recorded the highest increases of asylum applicants in absolute terms, whereas Hungary and Bulgaria recorded by far the highest increases of asylum applicants in relative terms (nearly 4 times more), in Q1 2013 compared to Q1 2012. Belgium was to country with the biggest decrease in absolute terms in Q1 2013 compared to Q1 2012

In absolute numbers there was a high increase of asylum applicants from Syria (+6000) and Russia (+4000) in the EU-27 in Q1 2013.

During the reporting period, 2315 applicants from Georgia, 1355 applicants from Armenia and 650 applicants from Azerbaijan were registered, seeking asylum in France and Germany mostly.