Ukrainian citizens were the most numerous migration group in the European Union countries in 2011, reads a statement posted on the Web site of Deutsche Welle, referring to an annual European Commission report on migration and refugees, which was published in Brussels on June 17.

According to the statement, about 204,000 Ukrainian citizens received EU residence permits in 2011.

Ukrainians formed the largest group of legal migrants in the EU. In second place are citizens of the United States (189,000 people), followed by representatives of India (179,000), China (153,000) and Morocco (120,000).

First residence permits issued to third-country nationals amounted to almost 2.5 million in 2011. The 20.7 million third-country nationals living in the EU amounted to some 4.1% of the total EU population. A third of them came to the EU using the right of family reunification, and a quarter came to work. Some 21% of migrants were students, and the rest moved to the EU in search of political asylum or for other reasons. In Germany, 5.7% of the population does not have the citizenship of any EU member state.

The commission's report notes that in 2012, 316,000 persons were refused entry to the EU, mainly to Spain. Around 427,000 people were detained by police due to illegal migration. In 2011, the number of cases of detention was 40,000 lower.