Number of asylum seekers in Germany soars to 965,000

Berlin (dpa) - Almost 965,000 migrants and refugees were registered in Germany from the start of the year to the end of November, the Interior Ministry said on Monday, revealing numbers that trump previous estimates set for the whole year.Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere had previously said that Germany should expect 800,000 asylum seekers in 2015, although the media and other groups had hinted that the number may be much higher.The ministry said that around 484,000, over half, come from Syria. Their bids to stay in Germany are likely to be successful since they qualify for refugee status having fled the brutal civil war in their home country.Other main countries of origin were Afghanistan and Iraq, in second and third place respectively, according to the data.Not all of those registered have been able to file an application for asylum due to the huge influx of people. In November, local authorities received 57,816 asylum bids, a fraction of the 206,000-strong migration tally for that month.The bureaucratic backlog continues to grow, with 355,914 asylum applications still undecided.