Germany sees 68 percent fewer asylum requests in 2016 than year before

Germany received 68 percent fewer asylum requests in 2016 compared to the previous year, the country's interior minister said Wednesday.


Some 280,000 people asked for asylum last year, while 890,000 sought refugee status in the central European nation in 2015.

About 36 percent of the asylum cases presented related to Syrian citizens, while 17 percent corresponded to Afghans and 13 percent to Iraqis.

Over the course of 2016, 62 percent of cases were granted some level of protection.

Having been overwhelmed with asylum requests in 2015 and with the administrative process carrying on into 2016 for some cases, indeed raising the number of formal requests to 745,545, the interior ministry said the request processing system had been made more agile.

Some 256,136 people were recognized as refugees under the Geneva convention, 153,700 were given subsidiary protection under asylum legislation and 24,084 managed to avoid deportation.

Germany has seen increased numbers of migrant arrivals in recent years, with people leaving their homes in war-torn nations, seeking a better life in Europe.
 EFE
11/1/17
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