Accepted asylum applicants in France 2014-2024
During the third quarter of 2024, the number of accepted first-instance asylum applications in France was the highest since 2014. Over this period there were 13,455 accepted first-instance asylum applicants in the country. It appears that the number of accepted first-instance asylum applicants has become four times more important since 2014. During the first quarter of 2014, there were 3,380 accepted first-instance asylum applicants in France, compared to more than 13,455 at the end of 2024. These numbers increased sharply since the end of 2020. Since the beginning of the European migrant crisis in 2015, France has received more and more asylum applications.
The consequences of the refugee crisis in France
Since 2015, more than 268,000 illegal immigrants have taken the Western Mediterranean route to reach the European Union. Consequently, France has seen its total number of asylum applications rising since 2015. In 2023, there were a total of 142,496 asylum applications in the country, compared to 57,337 in 2011, a few years before the European migrant crisis. More than 41,660 refugees successfully qualified for asylum in France in 2021.
French public opinion on immigration and welcoming refugees
The European migrant crisis has been a sensitive political question not only in France but in all EU. In a survey from 2023, most French citizens declared that they did not think that their country could welcome more immigrants. However, they were also a majority to think that it was France’s responsibility to welcome migrants fleeing war and poverty.