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Over 120 thousand citizens forced to leave the EU in 2022, France with stricter measures

Over 120 thousand citizens forced to leave the EU in 2022, France with stricter

In the fourth quarter of 2022, a total of 123,865 third-country nationals were ordered to leave the European Union and 28,155 third-country nationals were returned to another country with a removal order, the bloc's official statistics office found , Eurostat. .

According to Eurostat, both the number of orders to leave the EU and the number of returns increased in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com .

The data shows that the number of non-EU nationals ordered to leave the bloc in the fourth quarter of 2022 rose by 11 percent compared to the third quarter, while the number of non-EU nationals who returned increased by nine percent.

"Compared to the same quarter in 2021, the number of non-EU citizens ordered to leave increased by 37 percent and the number of people returned increased by 22 percent," Eurostat added.

Among European Union member states, France reported the highest number of third-country nationals ordered to leave its territory in the last three months of 2022. The data shows that a total of 36,835 non-EU nationals were ordered to leave from France in the fourth quarter of last year, representing 30 percent of the total.

France was followed by Croatia, which ordered 19,795 non-EU nationals to leave its territory, Austria (8,985), Greece (8,510), Germany (7,450) and Italy (7,000).

Compared to the third quarter of 2022, Bulgaria has been found to have recorded the highest increase in the number of people ordered to leave (+537 percent), rising from 510 to 3,235. In the same period, the number of people ordered to leave Ireland also increased - almost trebling, from 145 to 415.

In terms of the nationality of people ordered to leave the EU, Eurostat revealed that Afghans topped the list. A total of 13,240 Afghan nationals were ordered to leave the bloc in the last quarter of 2022.

Afghans were followed by Moroccans (9,470), Algerians (8,510), as well as Pakistanis and Tunisians.

As for returns, it was revealed that France also reported the highest number of non-EU nationals returned to another country in the last three months of 2023. France returned 3,790 third-country nationals to another country and is followed by Germany with 3,545 returnees, Sweden with 2,625 returnees and the Czech Republic with 2,605 returnees.

Of all these countries, the Czech Republic recorded the highest increase in the number of returnees compared to the previous quarter (262 percent), while Syrians topped the list of non-EU nationals returning to another country.

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