Italy among top EU countries for asylum seekers in 2015

(ANSA) - Brussels, July 8 - The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) on Friday said almost 1.4 million asylum requests were filed in Europe in 2015, the highest number of applications since 2008, when the agency started registering data at an EU level.
    Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Austria and Italy were the countries to welcome the highest number of asylum seekers, according to the report.
    Most asylum seekers in 2015 hailed from Syria, Western Balkan countries and Afghanistan, EASO said.
    At the end of 2015, the number of people awaiting a decision on their application exceeded one million, the agency noted, saying pending asylum requests had almost doubled compared to the previous year.