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BRUSSELS: Asylum applications to the EU dropped to a five-year-low in the first half of 2026, continuing a downward trend partly brought about by a hardening of migration policy, the bloc’s asylum agency said Thursday.

The European Union plus Switzerland and Norway (EU+) received 332,000 applications for international protection from January to June, 17 percent fewer than in the same period last year.

“This is the lowest number recorded in the first half of a year since 2021,” the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) said.

The agency attributed the decrease to the political transition in Syria, which has resulted in a massive drop in applications filed by the country’s nationals, as well as to the EU’s “efforts in cooperating with countries of origin and transit”.

Brussels has recently struck deals with Northern African countries including Tunisia and Mauritania, providing aid and investments in return for help with migration.

War in the Middle East had also not translated into a feared increase in applications from the countries affected, the EUAA said.

Afghans were the largest group of applicants, with 39,000 requests for protection, followed by Venezuelans and Bangladeshis.

Less than a third of applications processed in the first six months of the year were successful, the agency said, noting that this was due to have an impact on future requests.

Under rules that came into force in June, applicants from countries that have a recognition rate of less than 20 percent undergo an expedited procedure linked to swift deportation in case of rejection.

The same is true for applicants from countries the EU deems “safe”.

“In the first half of 2026, nearly 56 percent of applications were from citizenships meeting one or more of these criteria,” the EUAA said.

Among EU nations, France received the highest number of applications (69,000), followed by Italy (66,000), Spain (55,000) and Germany (55,000).

With 23,000 requests Greece was the country that received the most applications per capita.

A MARRIED At First Sight star has tearily opened up about a five-year health battle she’s been going through.

Erica Roberts, who rose to fame on the dating show in 2023, took to social media to share her frustration as she’s been left with even more unanswered questions following further medical tests.

In a new video, the reality star explained that she has been having blood tests for the last five years which have consistently come back with worrying results – including a low white blood cell count.

Erica recently underwent yet another blood test and was met with the same results.

After being told by doctors that they don’t know the reason for the abnormalities in her results, Erica explained that she’s feeling sick of the ongoing situation.

“It’s just frustrating because I really feel like I’ve been trying to change my lifestyle, do what I can to be healthy and just try to figure out what’s going on with my body and It’s just frustrating, I feel like I’ve been the healthiest that I’ve ever been in my whole entire life, so why are my levels dropping?

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“Why is it getting worse? I just don’t know what to do anymore, it’s so frustrating,” said Erica with tears in her eyes.

She continued: “This has been going on for five years, like, every single time I get my bloods done with my doctor I’m like, ‘What can we do?’ and they’re just like, ‘Oh we’ll just keeping checking it’ and I just don’t feel like that’s good enough.”

The emotional star explained that undergoing a blood panel test with private brand Biosensitive meant she was able to see her results more in depth – and has caused her to become more worried about the situation.

“Now I know that I just need to push my GP or just go private because there is clearly something going on and it needs to be fixed,” said Erica.

The star explained in the video that she suffers from health anxiety and told fans in the comment section she has already been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and an underactive thyroid.

Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune condition that attacks the thyroid gland and can lead to an underactive thyroid.