In 2022, entry into the territory of EU member states was refused to over 141,000 people, including at external borders and airports, according to data from Eurostat. Poland leads EU countries in refusing entry to non-EU migrants, with over 23,000 refusals issued in 2022, followed by Hungary with almost 16,000 refusals.
Almost 29,000 Ukrainians were among those refused entry to the EU, mostly due to exceeding the three-month period for a visa-free stay in a six-month period. The next largest numbers were recorded for citizens of Albania (15,630) and Russia (10,860).
These statistics are part of the Eurostat report on migration in the European Union, which includes data on immigration decisions made by individual member states, such as orders to leave a country or refusal of entry.
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Last year, more than 422,000 people were ordered to leave EU member states, with France issuing the highest number of orders at over 135,500, and Croatia in second (40,500), followed by Greece (33,500). Additionally, more than 77,500 people were forcibly returned to their countries of origin.
The Eurostat report also reveals that over 1 million people lacked documents from any EU member state.
Hungary has the highest number of undocumented migrants in the EU, with over 222,500 citizens living without the necessary documents, despite its very restrictive immigration policy. There are over 198,000 such people in Germany and almost 138,500 in Italy.
Belgium also has migration issues, with almost 11,000 undocumented residents in 2022. The country has struggled to process applications and make asylum decisions, leading to the passing of a new law in March 2022 equipping authorities with better tools for “migration control,” according to The Brussels Times portal.
