Germany registers fewer asylum seekers, on track for annual cap

BERLIN: The number of asylum seekers registered in Germany fell in September and the annual total of new arrivals is unlikely to soar above the cap agreed by Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Bavarian allies last weekend, data showed on Wednesday.

Reaching a broader agreement on a migrant limit with other junior partners, mainly the left-leaning Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), is a key theme in efforts to forge a new German coalition.

Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) reached a deal on migrant policy with their Bavarian CSU allies on Sunday to put a net total of around 200,000 individuals who Germany would accept per year on humanitarian grounds.

Since the beginning of the year, a total of 139,635 people applied for asylum in Germany and the number of applicants in September fell by 10 percent on the month, data from the Federal Interior Ministry showed.

from The News International - World http://ift.tt/2wOIgwB