More than 200,000 apply for asylum in Germany in 2014

A police car patrols in front of a so-called container village for refugees which is partial under construction in the district of Koepenick in Berlin, Monday, Jan. 5, 2015. AP

BERLIN — More than 200,000 people applied for asylum in Germany in 2014, a 60-percent rise over the previous year.

Germany’s Interior Ministry said Wednesday it was the third highest number of applications ever in Germany.

Around 41,000 people, or 20 percent of all asylum seekers, were Syrian refugees and they usually were granted asylum. About 30 percent came from the Balkans region — their applications were generally rejected because “they didn’t fulfill the needed requirements.”

Among the 202,834 applications, 173,072 people applied for refugee status for the first time, while the others had applied previously. Only 127,023 applied in 2013.

The ministry said the agency processing asylum requests and local communities had been receiving financial support to help deal with the high influx of new arrivals.