Asylum restrictions and humanitarian consequences in a world in conflict

With record numbers of displaced people worldwide, international human rights organizations are warning about the tightening of asylum policies, especially in Europe, and raising the alarm about the human and legal consequences.

A global trends report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) indicated that, by mid-2025, more than 122 million people worldwide had been forcibly displaced by armed conflict in their countries, violence or persecution. The figure confirms sustained growth over the past decade.

Amnesty International (AI) maintains that around the world there are millions of refugees and migrants who move to save their lives or seek a dignified future. Although governments often present this situation as a “crisis of numbers,” the real problem lies in the causes that force people to flee and the dehumanizing and ineffective responses of many States.

European countries are no exception. In December of last year, the European Union (EU) announced that it would drastically reduce asylum applications from seven nations in Africa, West Asia and Asia, considering them safe countries of origin. This sparked widespread outrage among human rights organizations.

Europe remains one of the main destinations for asylum seekers. In 2025, people from Venezuela topped first-time applications in the EU, with 8,140 cases registered, followed by Afghan applicants (5,920), Bangladeshis (3,400) and, finally, Syrians (2,915), according to official Eurostat data.

Reception was concentrated in a small number of countries. Spain registered 12,885 first-time asylum applications, followed by Italy (12,650), France (11,245) and Germany (8,815). This represented 74% of all applications submitted in the EU, according to official data.

The impact of these arrivals was not uniform. In October, the average was 13.8 first-time asylum seekers per hundred thousand. However, when the data are considered in relation to each country’s population, the highest rate was recorded in Greece (58.1), followed by Cyprus (33.9) and Spain (26.3).

Asylum restrictions in Europe

The reduction announced by the EU will take shape through a Pact on Migration and Asylum that will be in effect from June 2026. It means that people may be sent to countries considered safe, but not to those where they face a risk of physical harm or persecution.

According to the agreement reached by the European institutions, a country will be considered safe if it does not present “relevant circumstances,” such as indiscriminate violence in the context of an armed conflict. They also indicate that the list may be expanded in the future through an ordinary EU legislative procedure.

For her part, Amnesty International’s advocate to the European Union, Olivia Sundberg Diez, said this measure is a brazen attempt to circumvent international legal obligations and would endanger immigrants.

One of the most notable cases is that of Greece, where recent reforms tightened the asylum regime and rejected applicants can face prison sentences of 2 to 5 years if they remain after being refused. In addition, detention of undocumented migrants was extended to a maximum of 24 months.

Along similar lines is Hungary, where asylum applications have been virtually eliminated by only accepting applications at embassies outside its territory; it registered just 30 applications in 2024, despite higher European figures in previous years.

Migration and asylum

According to UNHCR, asylum is the protection that a State grants to people who are outside their country of origin or habitual residence in the face of persecution, violence, serious harm or other threats. Seeking asylum is an internationally recognized human right.

This right is enshrined in the 1951 Convention, which establishes that every person has the right to seek asylum if fleeing conflict, violence, persecution or other serious events that force them to leave their country.

The difference between an asylee and a migrant is that the latter decide to move for other reasons, such as seeking better work or educational opportunities or family reunification; in addition, they can return to their country of origin and remain under the protection of their State.

According to UNHCR projections, in 2025 the total number of forcibly displaced and stateless people could reach 139 million, taking into account projections for refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons and stateless people.

In this regard, Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, warned that States must redouble their efforts to pursue peace and find durable solutions for those forced to flee their homes, in a global context marked by protracted wars and deep human suffering.

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia