Nearly a million people have come to Western nations seeking asylum so far this year, with applications in Europe more than doubling, according to the United Nationals High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The figures, quoted in The Times newspaper, show the majority are coming are coming from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, although there is also a large number from Albania, and if the trend continues, Europe will have well over a million migrants seeking asylum by the end of the year.
The number of applicants in 38 European nations has more than doubled since last year, with 834,000 between January and August this year compared to 397,000 in the same period last year.
In total, nearly 960,000 applications were received by all industrialised nations from January to August this year, including the United States, Australia, Japan and New Zealand, compared to 491,000 in the same period last year.
The figures also show how the influx of migrants from Syria has increased dramatically over the past year, with 220,000 asylum seekers of Syrian origin in Europe this year, compared to just 74,000 the previous year.
Even before German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared her country would take in all asylum seekers who came there, Germany was still the most popular destination with nearly 222,000 applications up to August, with Hungary in second place at 143,000.
Britain has so far been left relatively untouched, with just over 19,000 asylum applications, however this figure does not include economic migrants nor EU passport holders. Yesterday, Prime Minister David Cameron said he hoped to take in 1,000 Syrian asylum seekers from refugee camps by Christmas following his pledge to take in 20,000 by 2020.
David Cameron was elected on a pledge of bringing net migration down to the tens of thousands, but immigration has continued to soar under his premiership, hitting 330,000 last year.
Breitbart London reported earlier this month that Lynton Crosby, the man who masterminded the Conservative Party’s surprise victory earlier this year, warned the Cabinet this summer that unless they bring down migration figures they risk losing the next election.
Cameron admitted in January that he had failed to cut immigration, telling BBC Radio 2: “It was a commitment I made which I want to keep. I believe we would be a better, stronger country if we had net migration in the tens of thousands rather than the hundreds of thousands.
“That is what I wanted to achieve. But the figures are very clear I have not achieved that, I want to keep going until we do achieve it because I believe it is the right thing for our country.”
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