Germany continues to rank first among EU countries in the number of asylum applications. This was noted on Sunday by Welt am Sonntag newspaper, citing a report by the European Asylum Support Office.

According to this document, the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees received 100,278 asylum applications from January to September, and this is 35.2% more than in the same period last year.

In September alone, 13,849 petitions for asylum were registered in Germany.

Most of these asylum applications came from Syrian, Afghan, and Iraqi citizens.

In addition to the refugees’ traditional routes that pass through Italy, Greece and Spain, a new route has now emerged via Belarus. German federal police say more than 4,300 illegal migrants have arrived from Belarus to Germany via Poland since early August. Moreover, their number may increase.