Nearly 1.1 million people registered as migrants within the German borders last year.
In figures released Wednesday, Germany said 428,468 migrants were part of the flood of people exiting Syria. Syrians, fleeing a violent war at home, were by far the largest single group of nationals among the migrants coming into Germany.
The next two largest nations of origin were also places suffering violence — Afghanistan, with 154,046 migrants registering in Germany, and Iraq, with 121,662.
Germany said the number of annual arrivals was about five times more than in 2014.
Authorities recovered the bodies of at least 36 migrants on Tuesday, including several children, who drowned off Turkey after their boats overturned in rough waters as they tried to reach the Greek island of Lesvos, officials and news reports said.
Twelve other migrants were rescued.
It was not immediately clear how many boats sank in the high seasonal winds, but the Dogan news agency said at least two separate incidents occurred.
The tragedies, the deadliest reported so far in the Aegean in 2016, come as the EU seeks to push Turkey to halt the migrant flow across its borders in exchange for financial help.
Around 850,000 migrants and refugees crossed into Greece last year, paying smuggling gangs to ferry them over from Turkey in frail boats.
(source: VOA)
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