Bangladeshis Set Record Asylum Requests In EU; 96pc Rejected

A record number of Bangladeshis applied for asylum in various European countries last year. However, 96% of these applications were rejected, according to a European Union (EU) report.

According to the latest Asylum Trend 2024 report published by the European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA) yesterday (March 3), 43,236 Bangladeshis sought asylum in 2024.

This marks the highest number of asylum applications by Bangladeshis to date. "EU+" refers to the 27 EU member states along with Norway and Switzerland.

Bangladesh ranks sixth among the countries with the highest asylum applications in the region. According to the report, 23,003 Bangladeshis applied for asylum between January and June last year, while 20,233 applied between July and December.

In 2023, a total of 40,332 Bangladeshis applied for asylum. This marks a 7.2% increase compared to the previous year.

In 2024, the highest number of Bangladeshis in the past decade applied for asylum in EU+ countries. Italy was the top destination, with 33,455 Bangladeshis filing asylum requests—77% of the total applications. France and Ireland followed with the next highest numbers.

France received 15% of the total asylum applications from Bangladeshis, with 6,429 applicants. In Ireland, 1,006 Bangladeshis applied for asylum.

In 2024, 47,778 asylum applications from Bangladeshis were under process. Besides, 1,989 applicants withdrew their requests. The approval rate was only 3.9%.

Among South Asian countries, Afghans filed the most asylum applications last year, with 87,382 requests. Bangladesh ranked second, followed by Pakistan with 23,240 applications.

In 2024, the EU+ received nearly 1 million asylum applications for the third consecutive year, slightly fewer than in 2023. According to the EUAA report, nearly half (48%) of the total applications came from countries with low approval rates, including Bangladesh, Morocco, and Tunisia.