Italy has received more than 75,600 asylum applications since the start of 2016 until 9 September, a new government survey has revealed.
This is a 20 per cent increase on the number of applications received in all of 2015 when 63,000 were received, the interior ministry figures show.
Director of the Ministry of Interior’s National Asylum Commission, Angelo Trovato, said: “According to the latest survey which took place on September 9 2016, this year we had 75,681 requests for asylum, 64,638 from men and 11,043 from women.”
The largest number of applications came from Nigerians, followed by Pakistanis, the minister said. Nationals from other African countries like Gambia, Eritrea, the Ivory Coast, Senegal and Mali also applied for asylum in Italy.
A decision following a request for asylum is given in 106 days, compared to 250 days in 2015, he added.