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Nearly half of all refugees offered asylum last year in the 28 member states of the European Union were from the Muslim countries of Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia, with Syrians accounting for 25 percent of all successful asylum applications.
Figures published today by Eurostat, the European Commission's statistics bureau, show that 35,800 Syrians were given refugee status in 2013, almost twice the number granted protection in 2012, followed by Afghans (16,400) and Somalis (9,700), altogether making 45 percent of the total 135,700 asylum seekers who were offered protection.
Britain was in fifth place in the list of countries taking the highest number of all asylum seekers. The EU member state taking in the highest number was Sweden (26,400), followed by Germany (26,100), France (16,200), Italy (14,500), and then Britain (13,400).