Germany is no longer the number-one destination for asylum seekers in the EU after the end of the Assad regime led to a drop in Syrians applying for protection in the bloc, a report confirms.

The EU’s asylum system is undergoing a “significant shift” following the fall of Syria’s former president Bashar al-Assad from power in December, according to an unpublished report by the EU Agency for Asylum seen by the Financial Times.

The Malta-based agency recorded 64,000 asylum claims in the EU in May — the latest period available — marking a decline of nearly a quarter compared with the same month in 2024. This was led by an “extremely abrupt” drop in Syrian applications, which fell from roughly 16,000 in October last year to just 3,100 in May, the EUAA found.