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Over 410,000 fist time asylum seekers registered in EU in Q3

Xinhua, December 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

About 413,800 first time asylum seekers registered in the third quarter of 2015 in member states of the European Union (EU), a number almost double that of the second quarter this year.

According to the data released by EU's statistical office Eurostat, during the third quarter of 2015, one out of three first time asylum seekers originated from Syria, and Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans represented the three main citizenships of first time asylum applicants in the EU member states, accounting for more than half of all first time applicants.

The number of Syrians and Iraqis seeking international protection had more than tripled compared with the previous quarter to reach almost 138,000 and 44 ,500 respectively; while the number of Afghans had doubled to more than 56,500.

During the third quarter of 2015, the highest number of first time applicants was registered in Germany and Hungary, followed by Sweden, Italy and Austria.

Compared with the previous quarter, the number of first time asylum applicants in the third quarter 2015 notably jumped in Finland, Hungary, Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland and Italy. Endit