Nearly 81,000 Asylum applications were submitted to countries in the European Union in February 2023, according to a report by the EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA).

Based on the figures provided in the report, there’s a 33 per cent increase from the same period in 2022, although it remains less than the figures from January 2023 which stood at about 92,000 asylum applications.

Of the over 80,000 applications in February 2023, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, Venezuela and Colombia had the highest numbers while a sharp increase in applications from Russia was noticed, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine since last year.

While Syrian and Afghan applications are still the most of the pending cases at first instance, asylum seekers from both countries were granted refugee status by EU nations more often than other nationalities in the month in review.