Asylum applications in the European Union rose by 26 per cent in July

The increase "can be partially" explained by the fact that there were very few applications in June, EASO said. Still, applications for the January-to-July period are up by 11 per cent year-on-year.
The most common countries of origin of applicants were Syria, Afghanistan and Venezuela, who combined accounted for about a third of all asylum seekers.
EASO said European authorities processed 50,970 applications in July and turned down 65 per cent of asylum requests. Across the EU plus Norway and Switzerland, there were also 455,113 pending asylum cases.
Even if asylum demands are rising, the EU is still far from the peak reached in 2015-2016. In July 2016, there were almost 120,000 monthly applications.
EU governments have repeatedly failed to agree on common asylum and migration policies. The issue is on the agenda of a September 23 meeting in Malta.
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