JAKARTA - Children from Asian countries made up the largest regional group of minor first-time asylum applicants in the European Union in 2025, according to Eurostat data released on Wednesday, April 29.

Eurostat said 158,400 first-time asylum applicants registered in EU countries last year were minors, or people under 18. That was 23.7 percent of all first-time asylum applicants in the bloc. “In 2025, 39.0% of minors applying for asylum for the first time were from Asian countries,” Eurostat said.

Children from African countries made up 27.3 percent, followed by the Americas at 18.2 percent and non-EU European countries at 13.9 percent. Afghan children were the largest single citizenship group among minor asylum seekers, accounting for 16.9 percent of minor first-time applicants. Syrian children followed at 13 percent, while Venezuelan children made up 10.7 percent. 

Eurostat said 13.3 percent of minor first-time applicants were unaccompanied children. Among them, Afghans were again the largest citizenship group, at 12.3 percent, followed by Eritreans at 11.6 percent and Syrians at 11.5 percent. 

The child-asylum figures came as total first-time asylum claims in the EU fell sharply. Eurostat’s annual data showed 669,365 first-time asylum applicants in 2025, down 26.6 percent from 2024. The agency defines an unaccompanied minor as a person under 18 arriving in the EU without an adult responsible for them, including children who become unaccompanied after entering the bloc. 

Afghanistan remained the EU’s second-largest overall source country for first-time asylum applicants, with 63,830 applications, behind Venezuela. Bangladesh ranked fourth with 35,300, giving the trend a wider South Asian link beyond Afghan displacement. 

The figures were released weeks before EU countries begin using the new Migration and Asylum Pact rules on June 12, 2026, including faster checks for people arriving irregularly at the bloc’s external borders. The rules cover identity, security, health and vulnerability screening.

The European Commission says children travelling alone will receive separate treatment under the new border process. “Strong legal safeguards will apply, and unaccompanied minors will be exempt from the border procedure unless they pose a security threat,” the Commission said.