A man warms his hands in a tent of asylum seekers in The Hague, the Netherlands, 13 December 2012. Photo by EPA/BGNES
The number of asylum seekers in Europe is growing due to global conflicts and poverty, according to data of the EU statistics office.
According to Eurostat data, as cited by EU Observer, the EU registered a total of 330 000 asylum applicants in 2012, up from the total of 302 000 applicants in 2011.
Syrians have become the second largest group of asylum seekers in Europe, with the war pushing over 1 million refugees into neighboring countries.
Afghans are the largest group of asylum applicants in the EU followed by Syrians, Russians, Pakistanis and Serbs.
According to data of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), nearly 22 000 Syrians applied for asylum in Europe in 2012.
All EU Member States have reported an increase in Syrian applicants, except for Greece, which is avoided because of the poor asylum conditions depriving applicants of basic human rights.