The number of people applying for asylum in the European Union in 2017 dropped significantly for the first time since 2015. Germany still received the highest number of applications, but less than half were approved.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/arifoto UG/M. Reichel
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The European Union saw 50 percent fewer new asylum requests this year compared to last year, according to the latest Eurostat figures published Saturday.
Refugee family reunification
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A total of 479,650 first-time asylum applications were filed across the bloc between January and September in 2017, while 2016 saw 1.2 million people apply for asylum, the Funke Media Group reported, citing the EU statistics office.
This year's figure is even more dramatic when compared to the number of asylum applications filed at the height of refugee and migrant arrivals in 2015. That year, 1.25 million refugees requested asylum across the 28-member bloc.
Germany top destination country
The Eurostat data showed that Germany remained the top EU destination country for refugees fleeing war in the Middle East and conflicts and poverty in Africa and Asia.
Germany received almost a third of this year's first-time asylum applications, followed by Italy and Greece.
What life is like for refugees on the Greek mainland
DW and Infomigrants visited several refugee camps on the Greek mainland. Most of the people staying in the facilities arrived there from the Greek islands. They all want to go on to Central Europe.
Image: DW/D. Kyranoudi
An old factory on the outskirts of Thebes
At the premises of the old Sakiroglou textile factory, in an industrial area just outside Thebes, a new reception center for refugees and migrants with a capacity of 700 people was launched last spring. Thebes hosts mainly refugee families and unaccompanied minors who have come from the islands, primarily Lesbos. They live here in container facilities or small apartments.
Image: DW/D. Kyranoudi
The school year has started
On the day we visited the camp in Thebes, refugees and migrants were being registered for language and integration courses. Αpart from the UN refugee agency and the IOM, Greek NGOs such as ARSIS as well as international ones like Solidarity Now are active here. Doctors of the World provides primary health care. This refugee camp is also supported by the local government and the army.
Image: DW/D. Kyranoudi
Eleonas, a refugee village in Athens
After Thebes, our second stop was Eleonas in Attica, close to the center of Athens. This is the first open refugee hosting center, which began operating in 2015, when the refugee crisis reached its peak. Despite its problems, it was considered from the very beginning to be an exemplary center for Greece, unlike the first reception and accommodation centers on the Aegean islands.
Image: DW/D. Kyranoudi
Emphasis on education
Many of the refugees and migrants hosted in Eleona want to leave for Central and Northern Europe — mostly Germany. They are offered intensive English and German courses, as well as Greek courses for those who are considering staying in Greece or those who just want to feel a bit more integrated into Greek society.
Image: DW/D. Kyranoudi
Disturbing the calm waters of Kavala
The massive arrival of migrants last year at the port of Kavala rocked the quiet northern city. Many people rushed to see the newcomers. Most welcomed or simply accepted all those who fled from their homelands. This photo was taken by journalist Giorgos Karanikas.
Image: Giorgos Karanikas
Volunteers and municipal workers at Kavala's refugee camp
According to the volunteers and residents of the city, the majority of people have no problem with the refugees and migrants hosted in the former military camp, not far from the city center. Most people who work here want to help. Despina Tsolakidou and Evi Drakonti are two of them.
Image: DW/D. Kyranoudi
Ioannina: An old οrphanage turns into a refugee center
The former children's institution of Aghia Eleni, created shortly after the Second World War by Queen Frideriki, has been transformed into new accommodation for refugees and migrants. Mostly families are hosted here, waiting for their reunification applications to be processed. Until then, they are preparing for the cold winter.
Image: DW/D. Kyranoudi
The teacher from Aleppo
Every single person at the refugee camps has his or her own story, anxieties and journey through the war zones of Syria, the mountains of Turkey, or the turbulent waters of the Aegean. Amsa was a high school teacher from Aleppo. A bomb killed her daughter. She is stranded in Greece waiting for her family reunification application to be accepted. Meanwhile, she teaches Arabic to volunteers.
Image: DW/D. Kyranoudi
Konitsa, the small city that never forgets
Even Konitsa, at the Greek-Albanian border, offers accommodation to refugees mainly from Syria. Most of them told DW that they feel safe and welcome here. Konitsa Mayor Andreas Papaspyrou told us that the city itself has a refugee past. In the early 1920's, Greek Orthodox refugees from Asia Minor and Cappadocia found a new home here.
Image: DW/D.Kyranoudi
'We want to go to Germany'
Konitsa's accommodation center hosts approximately 80 people who belong to so-called vulnerable groups. Most of them stay here temporarily, while others already have the green light to leave Greece. The Derwish family from Qamishli, Syria left their homeland in order to secure a peaceful future for their kids. They only have one destination in mind: Germany.
Image: DW/D.Kyranoudi
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There are some discrepancies between the EU data and the year-end figures recently provided by Germany's Interior Ministry. The EU registered 137,385 new asylum requests in Germany between January and September. Berlin put the number higher, at 207,157 asylum applicants; however, the ministry's data runs from January to November.
Forgotten people on Lesbos
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The Interior Ministry also noted that the number of new asylum requests was 71 percent less than last year's 723,027 applications. The figures, however, exceed German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere's prediction that the number of new asylum-seekers for this year would stay below 200,000.
On average, less than half of asylum applications in the EU are approved the first time around, according to Eurostat. In the last quarter of the year in Germany, only 48 percent of asylum applications were accepted.
The sharp fall in asylum applications is likely due to the closure of the so-called "Balkan route," as well as the EU's controversial refugee deal with Turkey. Meanwhile, Italian authorities, backed by Germany and the EU, have intensified efforts in the Mediterranean Sea to stop migrants reaching Italy from northern Africa.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's initially liberal refugee policies saw the arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees in 2015.
Living in the jungle: Refugees stranded at the Serbian-Croatian border
Hundreds of refugees are camped out at the Serbian-Croatian border, trying to cross the border to the EU using all means possible to get away from the terrible conditions. Dimitris Tosidis reports from Šid, Serbia.
Image: Dimitris Tosidis
Odd one out
Dragan (center), a Macedonian migrant, is hidden in the forests near the Serbian-Croatian border, as he tries to cross to central Europe with other migrants from Arab countries. Dragan, along with one Chinese migrant, is an oddity among the hundreds of Syrians and Afghans stranded in Šid, Serbia
Image: Dimitris Tosidis
Plotting their next move
Afghan asylum seekers on the roof of an old abandoned factory in Sid, which serves as a temporary abode, while away their time as they plot their next move to try and reach a western European country.
Image: Dimitris Tosidis
Risking their lives
Migrants walk on the railway tracks which connect Serbia and Croatia near the northern village of Sid, Serbia. According to reports, two people were hit by a train after they had fallen asleep on the tracks.
Image: Dimitris Tosidis
Living in the "Jungle"
More than 150 people are hidden in the so-called jungle — an area with dense bushes next to the train lines which connect Serbia and Croatia. Most have tried to cross to western Europe in different ways: either with the help of smugglers, alone or in groups, by jumping on trucks or hiding in freight train wagons.
Image: Dimitris Tosidis
Washing away the dirt
Ibrahim from Afghanistan washes himself in a cold stream under a bridge near the Serbian village of Sid. Hundreds of refugees and migrants live in untenable conditions, without basic facilities and amenities.
Image: Dimitris Tosidis
Breakfast on wheels
"No Name Kitchen" is run by a small group of volunteers who distribute breakfast and provide help to refugees and migrants stranded on the Serbian-Croatian border. The authorities have largely abandoned the refugees.
Image: Dimitris Tosidis
Maybe next time
Jadali, 22, from Afghanistan, had just returned to Sid following a failed attempt to reach western Europe. He was stuck in jail in Croatia for two days before being released by the authorities, who, as he claims, treated him roughly.
Image: Dimitris Tosidis
Food, glorious food
Two migrants cook dinner for those who gather in the abandoned factory during the evenings near the Serbian border village. Hundreds of asylum seekers face hunger, hardship, injuries and daily violence as they try to survive in the middle of nowhere.
Image: Dimitris Tosidis
Tracks of my tears
A migrant walks towards a freight train. Moments later he will try to hide in an abandoned wagon in an attempt to cross the Croatian border and eventually reach another European country.
Image: Dimitris Tosidis
Next stop western Europe?
Those who can afford more expensive smuggling methods choose to pay taxis to take them across Croatia. The price for a ride is around €1,200 ($1,400).
