BRUSSELS (HRNW) – Requests for asylum in Europe hit a five-year high in September, with Afghans in particular seeking safety after the Taliban stormed to power in Kabul.
The European Asylum Support Office, which keeps figures for the 27 EU member states plus Norway and Switzerland, said 71,200 requests had been made.
This was the highest monthly level since November 2016 and came as the number of Afghans among the arrivals jumped by 72 percent in just a month.
In August, the hardline Islamist Taliban movement seized the Afghan capital and control of the whole country after a 20-year war against the former US-backed regime.
Fighting has subsided, but the country is facing its worst drought in two decades and millions face what US agencies dub one of the world s worst humanitarian disasters.
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