German government expected to formally raise estimate to a range of 650,000-750,000
As the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports a dramatic rise in the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Greece, Reuters reported that the German government is set to raise its forecast for this year's expected number of asylum seekers to a record-breaking 750,000.
Sources in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government told Reuters that the asylum seeker forecast would probably be formally raised today to a range of 650,000-750,000.
Merkel was quoted as saying on Sunday that the disproportionate number of asylum seekers arriving in Germany is "extremely unsatisfying," and she called for a common European asylum policy.
The forecast of 750,000 would be a dramatic increase over the original prediction of 300,000 this year, up from the just over 200,000 asylum seekers Germany received in 2014.
Deutsche Welle reported yesterday that German cities and towns are struggling to find housing for those waiting for their asylum application to be processed, and many cities have had to resort to housing them in tents and military barracks.
Bavaria's Interior Minister said Germany needed to cut back on cash benefits, in particular for refugees from the Balkans after the German government recently designated the region as "safe".
The refugee organisation ProAsyl warned life for asylum seekers and refugees was already a struggle and any cut back on cash benefits would mean receiving less than the bare minimum needed to survive.
The UNHCR yesterday reported that a record 158,456 refugees and migrants arrived by sea in Greece from 1 January to 14 August 2015.
The pace of arrivals has increased dramatically in recent weeks, with more arriving in Greece during the month of July (50,242) than during the whole of last year (43,500). The week of 8 to 14 August saw 20,843 people arriving, the vast majority (82%) being Syrians fleeing war. Afghans and Iraqis made up 17% of the rest arriving last week.
The EU's Frontex reported yesterday that the total number of migrants detected at EU's borders in July was 107,500, the first time the figure had surpassed the 100,000 mark in a single month since Frontex began keeping records in 2008.
Syrians and Afghans accounted for the majority.
Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri said: "This is an emergency situation for Europe that requires all EU member states to step in to support the national authorities who are taking on a massive number of migrants at its borders."