Germany saw highest number of EU-state migrants in 2015: Report
Germany saw the highest number of migrants coming from other European Union countries in 2015, a report says.
German newspaper Die Welt on Saturday published official data from the arrival of EU-state migrants into Germany, saying the figure hit a new record of over 685,000 people last year.
The daily said a total of 685,485 EU citizens arrived in Germany while 303,036 left the country, showing a net increase of 382,449 people.
It said most of the migrants were from the EU's poorer members such as Romania, Poland and Bulgaria.
Many from poorer states in Eastern Europe have opted to go to Germany over the past years to find better job opportunities and welfare. Berlin has tried to stem the flow through imposing some new restrictions.
In April, a law was presented for discussion in the German parliament which could drastically limit EU migrants' access to welfare payments.
Die Welt, which said it had access to data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), reported that over 175,000 of the 2015 arrivals were from Romania, while Poles and Bulgarians were the next on the list with 150,000 and 70,000 migrants respectively.
Germany also saw a massive influx of refugees, mostly from conflict zones in the Middle East and North Africa, in 2015. Reports said more than a million managed to enter the country last year, although the trend subsided this year after the EU and Turkey reached a major deal in March to curb the flow.
Immigration inside the EU has been a hot topic of discussion, especially in countries with broader eurosceptic sentiments. The issue played a key role in the historic victory of the “Leave” campaign in Britain’s June 23 referendum, when the UK voted to exit the European Union.
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