After falling by over half from January to February 2016, asylum applications again dropped last month to 103.
Although this number is still higher than those for the same month in 2013, 2014 and 2015, it is less than half the amount of applications received in March in 2012, which stood at 207. The number of asylum applications recorded so far in 2016 has now totalled 487, after the Immigration Directorate rectified January's figures to 265 rather than 245.
From February to March 2016, Kosovo remained the country from which the majority of European asylum applications came, and indeed more than doubled from 11 in February to 24 out of a total of 44 European applications in March. Asylum applications from African nations remained largely the same from February to March, decreasing amongst Algerians, Nigerians and Tunisians by one application in March to make a total of 32. Meanwhile, the amount of Iraqi, Syrian and Afghan asylum seekers continued on the downwards trajectory remarked in February 2016, with Afghanistan replacing Syria as the second most commonly-experienced asylum nationality from Asia. Iraq remained top of the list.
In March 2016, 56 applications, or 39.7%, resulted in being awarded refugee status, whilst 43, accounting for 34.9% of the total, were ruled out based on incompetence. 124 applications have so far been received in this way this year. 27 asylum applications were refused international protection in March, whilst 2 were granted subsidiary protection.
That same month, 29 individuals were relocated to Member States based on the Dublin regulation, whilst 8 people were transferred to Luxembourg from EU countries, in both cases the country being predominantly Germany. 47 asylum seekers in March 2016 returned to their home countries, of which all were voluntary.
