The EU granted protection to 700,000 asylum seekers in 2016
The 28 Member States of the European Union (EU) granted protection status to 710,400 asylum seekers in 2016, more than double the number of 2015. In addition to these, the EU Member States received over 14 000 resettled refugees. The largest group of beneficiaries of protection status in the EU in 2016 remained citizens of Syria (405,600 persons, or 57% of the total number of persons granted protection status in the EU Member States).
