MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The number of asylum applications submitted in Greece in November exceeded the 2015 monthly average figure by 593 percent, local media reported Thursday, citing the Greek Asylum Service.
According to the Ehathemirini newspaper, the service received 7,625 asylum applications last month compared to an average of 1,100 per month in 2015.
Over 11,000 asylum applications were submitted in September and October, while a total of 46,447 applications were received for the 11-month period from January, according to the news outlet. Syrian refugees amount to about a half of all applicants.
Europe is suffering from a massive migration crisis, trying to find a way to tackle the flow of undocumented migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. Greece is on the frontline of the refugee crisis, as hundreds of thousands of people arrive in the Balkan state crossing the Mediterranean in order to seek asylum in the European Union.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly 360,000 migrants and refugees have entered Europe by sea in 2016, while nearly 5,000 died in the Mediterranean before reaching their destinations.
