Only 39 Syrians were granted asylum in 2025.
Austria has seen a noticeable decline in the number of asylum applications, especially from Syrians, following recent political changes in Damascus and the suspension of processing asylum applications from Syria. In February, only 1,397 asylum applications were submitted, a decrease of 37% compared to February 2024, marking the lowest level since 2020.
The most significant decline was among Syrian asylum seekers, with only 315 applications recorded in February, compared to 618 applications in January and 1,308 applications in February of last year. Currently, asylum applications from Syrians are only processed in exceptional cases, which has also reflected on the number of those granted asylum; only 39 Syrians have been granted asylum since the beginning of this year, while 860 Afghans have been granted asylum status. In total, Austrian authorities granted asylum to 1,240 individuals during 2025, in addition to 444 residence permits either for subsidiary protection or for significant humanitarian reasons.
As for the distribution of asylum applications, Afghanistan topped the list of countries in terms of the number of applications in February, as was the case in January, with 568 applications submitted. It is worth noting that a large part of these applications is not new, but includes follow-up applications or applications for children born in Austria. This is partly attributed to a previous decision by the "EuGH" (European Court of Justice) stating that individual assessments of Afghan women's cases are not necessary, which prompted many women to submit asylum applications even if they had previously been granted subsidiary protection.
Throughout the current year, the total number of asylum applications reached 3,315, compared to 4,489 applications during the first two months of last year. Notably, nearly 52% of the applicants are under 18 years old. As for family reunification, it has seen a sharp decline, especially after the Austrian government temporarily halted its processing. In February of last year, approximately 1,000 entries to Austria for this purpose were recorded, while the number has shrunk to only 60 cases this year, partly due to the postponement of processing applications from Syrians.
In Europe, there was a 19% decrease in the number of asylum applications within the European Union by the end of February, with a total of 131,056 applications. According to the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, Austria ranks ninth in Europe in terms of the number of applications relative to its population.
Regarding the basic accommodation situation (Grundversorgung), conditions have started to improve gradually. Currently, care is being provided for about 66,000 people, a decrease of 1,500 people since the beginning of the year. Ukrainians make up about 55% of this group, which means that if Ukrainians are excluded, the numbers would return to the levels of 2020/2021, before the outbreak of the Russian war in Ukraine.