MPI | 09.2917
By Susan Fratzke and Brian Salant
As European policymakers and advocates increasingly express interest in developing managed, legal alternatives to the dangerous, unauthorized journeys many refugees undertake when searching for protection, there is a pressing need to inform the debate with reliable and comprehensive data—both on how protection seekers currently enter Europe and how new pathways are likely to be used.
Yet as this report explains, it is „nearly impossible“ at present to obtain a clear picture of how protection seekers enter Europe and what legal channels are available to them. Still, while incomplete, data from EURODAC, Eurostat, Frontex, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and national databases, suggest several important trends:
- A plurality, and possibly a majority, of asylum seekers arrive in Europe via unauthorized channels.
- Refugees who receive protection after filing a spontaneous asylum claim outnumber those granted protection through resettlement or humanitarian admissions about ten to one.
- In Member States that make such data available, family reunification appears to be as important a channel for legal entry as asylum for individuals in need of protection.