On Tuesday September 1, 2015, Reuters reported that a protest started by asylum seekers in Budapest has shut down the city's Eastern Railway train station. The demonstrations began as a response to Germany refusing entry to asylum seekers. The southern and eastern borders of the Eurozone are the point of entry for the overwhelming majority of refugees fleeing areas of violence and poverty. Germany, citing European Union rules (specifically the 'Dubline Rule') is requiring asylum seekers to apply in the first country they reach and remain there until their application is fully processed. Hungary, along with Italy and Greece, have expressed that they do not have the capacity or infrastructure to process such high volumes of applications. How many more immigrants are applying for asylum?

According to The European commission's statistical office Eurostat, 402,425 first time applications for political asylum have been filed in the first half of 2015.



In contrast, 373,620 first time applications were filed in 2013 and only 177,780 first time applications were filed during the same time period in 2014, a year in which saw 562,265 first time applications.

 Further reading: 
Budapest train station closed to migrants
EU faces migrant crisis of 'biblical proportions' as Germany registers 3,500 new refugees in just one day