Germany: nearly 1.1 million migrants arrived last year

BERLIN – Germany says nearly 1.1 million people were registered as asylum seekers in the country last year, more than 400,000 of them from Syria.

The Interior Ministry said Wednesday that 1,091,894 people in total were registered between January and December. Syrians were by far the biggest single group, accounting for 428,468 people.

They were followed by Afghans, 154,046 of whom were registered, and 121,662 Iraqis.

Germany has seen more refugees and other migrants arrive than any other European country. In the early part of 2015, that included large numbers of people from Balkan countries who have very little chance of winning asylum. The fourth- and fifth-biggest sources of asylum seekers last year were Albania and Kosovo, with 69,426 and 33,049 people respectively.