Germany: Asylum applications jump to eight-year high

The number of people seeking asylum in Germany has jumped to its highest point in eight years, although it is still well below early-90s levels, a newspaper report said Tuesday.
Citing government statistics, the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported nearly 46,000 people applied for asylum last year, an increase of 11 percent compared to 2010. Much of that growth is driven by refugees from troubled Muslim countries including Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria. Pakistan saw an especially big leap, with 2,500 applicants - three times more than 2010. Other applications have come from Serbia or Macedonia, whose citizens have been able to travel visa-free to Germany for the last few years, although the German government says many of them are not legitimate candidates for asylum.In principle, those seeking asylum are supposed to lodge applications in the first European Union country they land in. But many are getting to Germany after bypassing Greece once they cross the Turkish-Greek border. Greece not only has a struggling economy but a poor reputation for dealing with asylum seekers.
thelocal