Nearly one million asylum requests made in the EU in 2022

After more than a decade of war and economic collapse in their country, Syrians continued to be the top nationality of asylum seekers in Europe, with more than 130,000 applications.

Migrants play basketball on the deck of Spanish NGO Open Arms lifeguard ship as they wait to get off the ship after docking at Messina port, in Sicily, Italy, in September (Petros Karadjias/AP)

Nearly one million people applied for international protection in the European Union in 2022, according to newly published data.

It brings the number of requests to a level not seen since the refugee crisis of 2015/16.