Via reliefweb: Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis: top citizenships – “In 2015, 1 255 600 first time asylum seekers applied for international protection in the Member States of the European Union (EU), a number more than double that of the previous year. The number of Syrians seeking international protection has doubled in 2015 compared with the previous year to reach 362 800, while the number of Afghans has almost quadrupled to 178 200 and that of Iraqis has multiplied by 7 to 121 500. They represent the three main citizenships of first time asylum applicants in the EU Member States in 2015, accounting for more than half of all first time applicants. These data on asylum applicants in the EU are issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. They are complemented with a quarterly report and an infographic available on the Eurostat website.”