Number of new asylum seekers falls by half

By Janene Pieters on June 20, 2016 - 08:36
Women_and_children_among_Syrian_refugees_striking_at_the_platform_of_Budapest_Keleti_railway_station._Refugee_crisis._Budapest,_Hungary,_Central_Europe,_4_September_2015._(3)
Syrian asylum seekers (Photo: Mstyslav Chernov/Wikimedia Commons). (Syrian asylum seekers (Photo: Mstyslav Chernov/Wikimedia Commons))

The number of asylum seekers that arrived in the Netherlands last month dropped by half compared to May 2015. About a quarter of these asylum seekers came from Syria, according to figures Statistics Netherlands published on Monday.

In May this year a total of 1,430 asylum seekers arrived in the Netherlands. That number includes 990 new asylum seekers and 440 people joining family members. In May last year a total of 3,245 asylum seekers arrived - 2,250 new applications and 995 people joining their families.

Last year about half of the asylum seekers came from Syria. Last month the picture was more diverse - only about a quarter (360) came from Syria. Most of the rest came from Eritrea and Albania.

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