BRUSSELS, Belgium — Asylum applications to the European Union fell by 23 percent in the first six months of 2025, driven by a massive drop in Syrians seeking protection, the EU’s asylum agency said Monday.
Data from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) showed Syrians lodged around 25,000 requests in the 27-nation bloc plus Switzerland and Norway (EU+), down 66 percent on the same period last year.
“This remarkable reduction is hardly due to policy changes in the EU+,” EUAA said in a report, crediting instead the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 by a coalition of Islamist-led rebels.
“With the new Syrian authorities advocating for stability and reconstruction, many displaced Syrians have evidently become more hopeful about returning to rebuild their communities,” the report added.
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