About 358,300 people sought asylum in the European Union between July and September this year, up 17% over the previous three months, and only 0.1% of them sought asylum for Romania, according to data published by the European Union’s statistical office Eurostat.

During this period, the highest number of asylum seekers was recorded in Germany, namely almost 237,400, or 66% of the total number recorded in EU, followed by Italy, with 34,600 applicants, and France, with 20,000 asylum seekers.

Greece recorded 12,400 applications for asylum between these months whereas UK received 9,200 requests. Austria had 8,400 applicants.

In Romania, 445 people sought asylum for the first time in the third quarter of the year. Compared to the second quarter of this year, their number grew by 108%.

Romania was among the countries with the lowest number of asylum seekers, with 22 applicants per one million inhabitants. However, not even the few immigrants who file for asylum in Romania plan to remain in the country. In the past months, the Romanian border police found several groups of asylum seekers who were trying to leave the country illegally and pass into Hungary on their way to Western Europe.

editor@romania-insider.com