44 pct drop in asylum figures in EU

BRUSSELS, June 18 (KUNA) -- In 2017, there were 728,470 applications for asylum in the European Union (EU).
This figure represents a decrease of 44% compared to 2016, when there were almost 1.3 million applications, according to the 2017 annual report released Monday by the European Asylum Support Office.
Data for early 2018 (January-April) shows that application levels have stabilised at an average of less than 50,000 per month, it noted.
Syria (15%), Iraq (7%) and Afghanistan (7%) remained the top three countries of origin of asylum applicants in the EU. These were followed by Nigeria, Pakistan, Eritrea, Albania, Bangladesh, Guinea and Iran. (end) nk.mt