Italy received almost 123,000
asylum applications in 2016, a 47% gain on 2015, the European
Asylum Support Office (EASO) said in its annual report
Wednesday. The 122,960 applications make up 9.5% of the European
Union total. Most, 22%, of asylum seekers in Italy are Nigerian,
EASO said. Germany topped the rankings again with 745,155
applications, a 58% rise on the previous year and accounting for
58% of all European asylum requests. EASO also said 2016 was a
record year for migrant crossings on the central Mediterranean
route, up 18% to 181,459 migrants. It was the main access route
to Europe and Italy was the "main point of entry", EASO said.
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