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EU Observer (11 September 2026)

Gaia NEIMAN

Declining rates of migration to Europe have hit a new landmark, as the EU’s asylum agency (EUAA) found asylum applications to have dropped to the lowest numbers since 2021.

Despite frequent references to a migration “invasion,” especially in the aftermath of a mass-arrival episode in Spain’s African enclave of Ceuta, asylum applications lodged in the first half of 2026 have dropped 17 percent from the same period in 2025.

According to an EUAA report, published on Thursday (10 September), EU countries, together with Norway and Switzerland, received 332,000 applications for international protection from January to June 2026.

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