Asylum seeker numbers doubled in 1 yr

A total of 12,300 new asylum seekers were admitted to centers in The Netherlands in the first half of this year, which is double the amount that entered the country in the same period last year. This is the highest number of refugees coming into The Netherlands since 2001, according to the Central Bureau for Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Syrian refugees outnumbered other nationalities with 3,700 individuals, followed by Eritrea with 3,500. In Syria, the civil war has become increasingly violent over the last few months, prompting its citizens to flee and seek asylum behind Dutch borders. In June alone, 900 people came seeking safety. State Secretry Fred Teeven of Security and Justice announced earlier this month that the flood of asylum seekers coming into the country may become unmanageable. The centers are not big enough to accommodate the masses. He said that there are now a thousand requests for asylum every week, as opposed to the thousand a month like before. The State Secretary said that if the numbers continue to rise, hotel boats may need to be used to catch the overflow of refugees.