site.btaFewer Asylum Seekers in Bulgaria in Q2 - Eurostat

Fewer Asylum Seekers in Bulgaria in Q2 - Eurostat

Brussels, September 22 (BTA correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - During the second quarter of 2016, asylum seekers who applied for protection in Bulgaria were 13 per cent fewer than in the first quarter, according to the latest Eurostat figures. A total of 305,700 first-time asylum seekers applied for international protection in the whole of the EU, up by 6 per cent from the first quarter of 2016.

While Syrians remained the main citizenship of people seeking international protection in the EU, the largest group of protection-seekers in Bulgaria were Afghans.

A total of 3,505 applied for protection in Bulgaria in the second quarter. Of them 2,080 were from Afghanistan, 490 from Syria and 465 from Iraq.

The number of asylum applications in Bulgaria made up 1.1 per cent of all applications in the EU.