Eurostat says just 1 in 5 asylum seekers are from Syria

The EU's statistics organisation, Eurostat, has released statistics for the second quarter of the year showing that just 1 in 5 asylum seekers entering the EU came from Syria.

Whilst 21% of asylum seekers coming into the EU during the second quarter of the year were from Syria, 18% were from non-EU countries in Europe (Albania, Kosovo, Ukraine and Serbia). 19% came from Iraq and Afghanistan and 9% came from Africa (Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia). Another 4% came from Pakistan whilst 2% came from Russia. Less than half of all asylum seekers coming into the EU were from countries suffering conflict.

Statistics for this quarter probably won't be available until Christmas but should make interesting reading although how the authorities are going to count Syrians entering the EU is a bit of a mystery as the people coming over on boats throw their passports into the Mediterranean so they can't be sent back and their country of origin can't be proven.