EUROPE Statistics Eurostat data do not have a category for Palestinian asylum seekers. However, Eurostat data do record the figures for asylum claims by stateless persons. Although many of the stateless persons recorded may not be Palestinian, the figures nevertheless are useful in providing an overall picture of the treatment of asylum applications by stateless persons in Europe.382 For example, in the first quarter of 2014, there were 2625 first instance decisions on applications for asylum by stateless persons in the EU. Of these, 565 were granted refugee status; 1735 were granted subsidiary protection, 60 were granted other humanitarian status, and 265 were rejected. The approval rate of 90% in Q1 2014 is quite high.383 This approval rate is a significant improvement over the first quarter of 2013, in which there were 830 first instance decisions on asylum applications by stateless persons.384 Of these, 205 were granted refugee status, 305 subsidiary protection, and 25 other humanitarian status, with 295 rejections, for an approval rate of 64%.385 The figures for the first quarter of 2012 are even lower – of 540 total decisions on asylum applications by stateless persons, 210 were granted refugee status, 80 subsidiary protection, and 20 other humanitarian status, with 240 rejections, and an approval rate of 57%.386 Although no firm conclusions can be drawn about Palestinian asylum claims based on this data, the figures do show that from 2012 to 2014, there has been a significant rise in the number of asylum applications by stateless persons and simultaneously, significant improvement in the approval rate in first instance decisions on asylum applications by stateless persons. Considering other factors (such as the parallel increase in the number of Syrian asylum applications in Europe and the worsening situation of Palestinians in Syria and neighboring countries from 2012 to 2014), it seems likely that among these stateless persons, there are significant numbers of Palestinians, and the overall approval rate of decisions on their asylum applications has improved. This is corroborated to some extent by data from some individual countries. In the UK, for example, the approval rate for initial decisions on Palestinian asylum claims 382 80 For 2012-2013, reference is to the EU27 (data for the Netherlands was not available); for 2014, reference is to the EU28. 383 Alexandros Bitoulas, Asylum Applicants and First Instance Decisions on Asylum Applications: First Quarter 2014, Data in Focus (Eurostat, July 8, 2014), 13, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ documents/4168041/5949065/KS-QA-14-008-EN.PDF/0d3226e6-db27-4a4c-952f-8c73fd4bfdd3, Table 11. 384 Alexandros Bitoulas, Asylum Applicants and First Instance Decisions on Asylum Applications: First Quarter 2013, Data in Focus (Eurostat, August 2, 2013), 13, http://ec.europa.eu/ eurostat/documents/4168041/5948661/KS-QA-13-009-EN.PDF/b9151bbc-c608-4206-9185611fac555c8f?version=1.0, Table 11. 385 Ibid., Table 11. 386 Alexandros Bitoulas, Asylum Applicants and First Instance Decisions on Asylum Applications: First Quarter 2012, Data in Focus (Eurostat, August 1, 2012), 13, http://ec.europa.eu/ eurostat/documents/4168041/5948229/KS-QA-12-008-EN.PDF/d02e7377-6de0-458d-bb3d2cf315154669?version=1.0, Table 11. Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees