Applications for asylum in the European Union in 2022 soared to nearly one million, the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) said on Tuesday,

The agency said there were 996,000 applications last year, 53% more than in 2021.

People from Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, Venezuela and Colombia were among the largest groups to have applied for asylum.

Germany received the largest number of applications at 244,000, followed by France, Spain, Austria and Italy. 

EU under 'acute pressure'

People who fled the war in Ukraine have been granted special temporary protection status. 

Some 4 million live in the European Union. They are not part of the nearly million asylum applications filed last year.

The agency said the number of asylum seekers was putting "acute pressure on already strained reception places in many countries."

New EU migration plan

The report comes as European Union leaders debate a new migration plan, especially for those who have reached European shores without a legal pathway.

The EU recently agreed to a plan allowing states to either accept a certain number of migrants or pay up to €20,000 ($21,000) for each person they refuse.

Hungary and Poland, however, have objected to the plan. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban told state television last week they would not implement it.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has expressed confidence in the plan, saying it presents member countries with several options.

The migration plan has been especially in focus after a migrant boatwreck, believed to be one of the most tragic disasters in the Mediterranean sea in recent times, shone a light on the refugee crisis.

rm/lo (Reuters, AP)