The number of Central Americans claiming asylum in the European Union has massively increased as President Donald Trump has moved to tighten America’s southern border, with Venezuelans now the second-largest demographic of arrivals after Syrians.

According to Britain’s left-wing Guardian newspaper, the European Asylum Support Office is attributing an 11 per cent rise in political asylum claims over the last year to “people fleeing economic disasters, political repression and criminal violence in Venezuela, El Salvador, Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru.”

Asylum claims by nationals of Venezuela, where the state socialist regime of Nicolas Maduro admired by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is becoming increasingly repressive, reached 18,400 between January and May — roughly double the number for the same period in 2018.

Over a longer timeframe, the rise is even more striking, with asylum claims by Central Americans up an astonishing 4,000 per cent over the course of the last decade.

"It is disgusting to see leaders, in not only the United Kingdom but in the United States as well, who continue to support the murderous dictator Maduro." That's what US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said about Jeremy Corbyn's position on Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/g2IWRdulBA — Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) May 8, 2019

Spain, the former colonial power for much of Latin America, is the most popular destination for asylum seekers — a state of affairs the Socialist Party government may not be too displeased with, given its belief that Europe needs “new blood” and apparent embrace of its status as the new destination of choice for illegal migrants crossing the sea from North Africa since Italy’s Matteo Salvini began taking a firm stance against people-smugglers and migrant transport NGOs.

The Iberian country is not necessarily the easiest country for asylum seekers to have their claims approved, however, as it does not recognise claims from people claiming to be fleeing non-state actors, such as cartels and the drug gangs known as maras.

Other EU member-states, such as Belgium, are more open in what they will recognise as a legitimate asylum claim, meaning the Benelux country is now the third most popular destination for Salvadoreans behind Spain and Italy.

Susana Parraga, who works for Caritas International in Belgium, told the Guardian that such asylum seekers “receive housing, food, medical follow-up, legal assistance, help with learning one of the three official languages ​​of the country and the right to social support”, and suggested that all EU member-states are obliged to offer such guarantees under the bloc’s reception directives.

Albanian Gangsters Linked to South American Cartels Taking Over British Drug Scene https://t.co/cviZnY1AK4 — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 11, 2018

Follow Jack Montgomery on Twitter: @JackBMontgomery