First-time asylum applications in EU surge in February

FILE PHOTO: Migrants from Syria walk close to the border with Hungary and Romania in the village of Majdan, Serbia, February 3, 2022. Picture taken February 3, 2022. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

(Reuters) - First-time asylum applications from people seeking international protection in European Union countries soared in February, driven largely by Syrians and Afghans, a report from the bloc's statistics agency Eurostat showed on Thursday.

The bloc received 76,505 first-time asylum requests from non-EU citizens applying for international protection, an increase of 41% compared to February 2022, with Syrians topping the ranking, followed by Afghans, Colombians and Venezuelans.