In the first 4th of 2025, Germany overtook France for the first time in many years in terms of the number of asylum applications submitted in the European Union. According to data published by the German paper “Welt am Sonntag”, France received 40,871 specified applications, while Spain ranked second with 39,318 applications, and Germany fell 3rd with 37,387 applications.
This is simply a crucial change in European migration trends. Germany, which has been the main mark of refugees over the years, recorded a 41% decrease in the number of asylum applications compared to the same period of the erstwhile year. This decline is attributed to the end of the Syrian civilian War, where a crucial number of asylum seekers came from in Germany.
France recorded a 3% increase in asylum applications compared to the erstwhile year. Since president Emmanuel Macron took office in 2017, the number of first-year asylum applications has increased by 89%, indicating a more open migration policy of his administration. From 2017 to 1923, France registered 825,000 asylum applications, corresponding to the population of Marseille.
According to the Observatory on Immigration and Demography (OID), specified a large influx of immigrants stems from liberal criteria for granting asylum in France. The current government allows asylum seekers to experience sex or sexual orientation violence, which extends the conventional definition of refugees fleeing war or political persecution. It is estimated that around 580 million people worldwide meet the criteria for asylum in France, which represents about 8.5 times the current population of the country.
Unlike France, countries specified as Hungary and Slovakia have accepted importantly less asylum applications. Hungary has registered only 22 applications and Slovakia 37 since the beginning of the year, which is the consequence of their restrictive migration policy.
Across the European Union, the number of asylum applications decreased by 19% compared to the erstwhile year. However, any countries have seen an increase in the number of applications, indicating changing migration patterns in the region.
Nicolas Pouvreau-Monti, manager of OID, called on the French government to renegotiate immigration rules within the European Union, as Denmark and Ireland did. He besides proposed rejecting further requests from migrants who had already been rejected and making the asylum strategy little attractive to reduce the influx of migrants into the country.
These changes in asylum and migration policy in Europe have far-reaching consequences for the demographic and social future of the continent. France, accepting an expanding number of refugees, faces challenges related to integration and ensuring adequate conditions for fresh arrivals. Countries with more restrictive migration policies may experience another tensions with global commitments and force from human rights organisations.
