EU Hosting 4Mln Ukrainian Refugees As Migration Pressure Mounts

Many EU member states are under pressure to manage migration after 4 million Ukrainian refugees crossed into the European Union last year, the bloc's commissioner for home affairs said Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2023) Many EU member states are under pressure to manage migration after 4 million Ukrainian refugees crossed into the European Union last year, the bloc's commissioner for home affairs said Thursday.

"Many member states are under huge pressure, especially in terms of reception capacity and when it comes to the process of processing asylum applications," Ylva Johansson told reporters after an informal ministerial meeting in Stockholm.

The EU recorded a marked rise in irregular migration, with 330,000 people crossing into EU countries illegally last year. Simultaneously, the number of asylum applicants spiked to 924,000.

"On top of that, we are hosting 4 million Ukrainian refugees," Johansson added.

The commissioner argued that asylum applicants were "quite often" people who did not need international protection. These included Moroccans, Egyptians, Tunisians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Indians, and Cubans, Johansson said.

About 60% of those asylum bids will likely be rejected, she noted, adding that their bulk was "clogging up the system." She insisted that EU nations needed to move quicker to finalize a pact on easier re-admissions of migrants with third countries.