Number of Refugees Fleeing in Germany Is Getting Close to Million


12/08/2015

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said on Monday that the number of migrants arrived in the country by the end of November reached a record monthly level of 206 thousand people. For 11 months, the number was 965 thousand, which has already greatly exceeded the Ministry’s forecasts for the year. Nevertheless, the flow of migrants has dropped dramatically over the past two weeks, what become possible by the signing of an agreement between the EU and Turkey.



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The flow of migrants to Germany amounted to 206 thousand people by the end of November, said German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière on Monday. This is a record monthly figure for all the time of crisis. As a result, the total number has reached 965 thousand people, the number way greater than previous forecasts for the year. Recall that in mid-August, Mr. de Maizière said that about 800 thousand asylum seekers may come in Germany by the end of 2015. Now, however, it becomes apparent that this forecast is failing, and the number of migrants is likely to exceed 1 million.
 
However, according to the ministry’s head, the number of refugees arriving in the country has declined sharply for the past two weeks. Earlier, the German authorities daily recorded about 8 thousand applications for refugee status. Now, the figure is no more than 3 thousand a day. "This is not a turning point yet, but a good development," - said Mr. de Maizière.

Shrinking number of refugees arriving in Germany is associated with the agreement between the EU and Turkey, providing tighter control over the flow of migrants at the Turkish border. It looks like it started immediately bear fruits: November 25, intelligence agencies in Germany have recorded arrival of 7.5 thousand migrants. On Sunday, when the agreement’s conclusion was officially announced, this figure dropped to 3293 people.

According to data published by the German government, the majority of migrants are still arriving from Syria. In November, there were about 97.5 thousand of them. Citizens of Afghanistan are on the second place of the list (44.8 thousand people at the end of November). In addition, Iraqi, Albanian and Kosovo citizens seeking asylum come to Germany more often than others do.

source: dw.de