In 2025, the EU saw 669,400 first-time asylum requests and 178,000 irregular border crossings. The scale is putting pressure on the five member states along the Central Mediterranean route: Spain, Italy, France, Germany and Greece received 83% of all first-time asylum applications.
Frontline countries lack the physical capacity to shelter applicants, and processing can take years, leaving hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in legal limbo. Local budgets are also unable to provide adequate long-term healthcare, education and social assistance.
