- Some 44,000 of the 213,000 refugees who arrived in Europe were from Syria
- A further 27,000 new arrivals on the continent came from Afghanistan
- Britain received one in 30 of all the asylum claims made by new applicants
Only one in every five migrants claiming asylum in Europe is from Syria.
The EU logged 213,000 arrivals in April, May and June but only 44,000 of them were fleeing the Syrian civil war.
Campaigners and left-wing MPs have suggested the vast majority of migrants are from the war-torn state, accusing the Government of doing too little to help them.
‘This exposes the lie peddled in some quarters that vast numbers of those reaching Europe are from Syria,’ said David Davies, Tory MP for Monmouth. ‘Most people who are escaping the war will go to camps in Lebanon or Jordan.
‘Many of those who have opted to risk their lives to come to Europe have done so for economic reasons.’
Sir Bill Cash, a fellow Tory, said: ‘These figures make extremely disturbing reading. The whole argument has been made that this influx is all real refugees from Syria whereas this adds to the substantial evidence that there are a large number of economic migrants who are aiming for a better life.’
The figures from Eurostat, the EU’s official statistical agency, show that migration from April to June was running at double the level of the same period in 2014.
The number of Afghans lodging asylum claims is up four-fold, from 6,300 to 27,000. Another 17,700 claims were made by Albanians, whose country is at peace.
A further 13,900 applicants came from Iraq which, like Syria, is being torn apart by the Islamic State terror group.
Half a million migrants have arrived in Europe so far this year, with 156,000 coming in August alone. Rather than claiming asylum in the first safe EU country they reach, most head on toward wealthy northern states. The human cost of the crisis has been paid by the estimated 3,000 migrants who have drowned after putting their lives in the hands of people smugglers for the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean.
Risks being taken by many families were highlighted by the deaths of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi and his brother Galip, five, whose bodies were washed up on the tourist beach of Bodrum in Turkey earlier this month.
More than 250,000 migrants have reached Greece and Italy, where the authorities are close to breaking point.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel fuelled the chaos last month by declaring that any Syrian who reached the country could claim asylum.
When the numbers became uncontrollable Berlin shut its borders, throwing Austria, Hungary and other EU countries into turmoil.
Croatia has received 14,000 migrants in the past two days and was last night moving some to the Hungarian border.
Hungary is laying razor wire on the border having done the same on its border with Serbia.
Croatia has closed seven of eight road crossings to Serbia and ordered its border guards to redirect migrants to Hungary and Slovenia. The Hungarian government described this as ‘totally unacceptable’.
Violence broke out yesterday between Syrian and Afghan migrants fighting to board trains across Croatia.
And Slovenian riot police last night stood in the path of 200 migrants trying to enter from Croatia. Slovenian ministers say they will accept asylum seekers but send back anyone deemed to be an illegal immigrant.
Britain, which received 7,470 asylum applications between April and June, has come under fire for failing to join an EU scheme to spread 160,000 migrants between the 28 member states.
The UK is focused on resettling genuine Syrian refugees directly from the region. This will ensure we are taking in the most vulnerable people and deter people from attempting the perilously journeys which have already led to so many tragic deaths.’ We are not interested in taking those not in need living safety in Turkey or not even Syrians.
