Germany says 2016 asylum seeker arrivals down two thirds

Germany took in 280,000 asylum seekers in 2016, about one third of the previous year's record figure, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Wednesday. At the height of the huge refugee and migrant influx to Europe in 2015, a total of 890,000 people came seeking safe haven in the EU's top economy. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who faces an election expected in September, has been harshly criticised for the mass inflow, and her government has taken a series of measures to reduce arrivals.