A new report by the EUobserver’s Nikolaj Nielsen focuses on the latest figures issued by Eurostat, the European Union’s (EU) statistics office. The numbers show a rise in the number of asylum seekers seeking to gain entry to Europe. In 2012, the figure according to Eurostat stood at 330,000, up from the 2011 figure of 302,000. “Syrian nationals are now the second most common asylum seeker in Europe, with the war pushing over 1 million refugees into neighbouring countries. Afghans remain the top asylum applicants in the EU followed closely by Syrians, Russians, Pakistanis, and Serbs.”

Nielson writes that, “The United Nations agency for refugees (UNHCR) says nearly 22,000 Syrians applied for asylum in Europe last year. Last week, Germany announced it would accept some 5,000 Syrian refugees with the first arrivals expected in June. Every EU member state has reported an increase of Syrian applicants, except in Greece where poor asylum conditions deprive applicants of basic rights.” 

Additionally, “under the EU's so-called Dublin regulation, member states are entitled to send back any would-be refugee to the country where he first entered to claim asylum. The Dublin convention was introduced 15 years ago but vast divergences on the how it is applied remain.”