European asylum support office said on Thursday that asylum applications in Europe fell last April to their lowest levels "since at least 2008".
In a statement, the office stated that there were only 8,730 asylum applications in the month of April, in a "massive decline of 87 percent, compared to the levels before the Covid-19 outbreak in January and February".
He added that "the travel restrictions associated with Covid-19 and health measures at the country level, which have been imposed during the past few months, have resulted in a significant reduction in asylum applications to Europe."
This data covers the European Union, as well as Norway and Switzerland.
In light of the easing of restrictions on international travel and closures, the office said it expects asylum applications to "start increasing slowly," referring to a "slight increase in May".
