France has more than 547,000 refugees, with more than 56,000 asylum applications accepted in 2022

With 56,276 asylum applications accepted in 2022, France crossed the half-million mark of refugees hosted on its territory, i.e. a total of 547,102 people, according to the annual report of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and stateless persons (Ofpra), published Monday 3 July. In detail, 56,276 people “have been newly placed under protection” of France in 2022, whether after a first instance decision by the Ofpra or on appeal to the National Court for the Right of Asylum (CNDA), we can read in the document.

For the fifth consecutive year, Afghan nationals have applied for asylum in France the most, with 17,000 of the 131,254 applications filed. A trend that has further increased since the Taliban returned to power in the summer of 2021 (+37% between 2021 and 2022). Next come the Bangladeshis (8,611 first requests, +68%) and the Turks (8,463 first requests, +87%).

A rise in Ukrainian and Russian refugees

These figures could have exploded with the outbreak in February 2022 of the war in Ukraine, which generated the largest exodus of refugees in Europe since the Second World War. But the Ukrainians have benefited from a specific regime known as “temporary protection”. The latter exempted displaced Ukrainians in France (approximately 100,000 people) from applying for asylum, while benefiting from a right of residence and social assistance.

The conflict, however, had “repercussions” by ricochet, underlines the Ofpra. So, “the long-term nature and the hardening of the Russian regime have generated a greater flow of asylum applications from Russia (+75%) than in recent years”. In all, 2,617 Russians applied for asylum in 2022, making “from now on share their fears because of their political opinions of opposition to the war as well as their refusal of conscription or mobilization in the Russian armed forces”adds the Ofpra.