 The number of people seeking political asylum in Germany has soared, and the largest group by far was from Russia. Many this year came from the Chechnya region.
The figures for refugees from Chechnya perplex analysts because there has been no perceptible deterioration of the situation there. Russia insists that it has stabilised Chechnya, "normalizing" the situation along with its Chechen allies.
| You have to be dense or a socialist (but I repeat myself) to miss what the Russians are saying... |
One theory to explain the surge is that, exactly a year ago, Germany's top court ruled that asylum seekers waiting for their applications to be processed should receive the same social benefits as Germans.
| So easy to give away other people's money... |
This is an election year in Germany and politicians are nervous about the issue. There have been protests by asylum-seekers at makeshift camps set up in the middle of Munich and Berlin. The government is concerned about being too generous, with the election just two months away.
Some officials believed there was a danger of Germany getting a reputation as over-generous to people who turned up for economic reasons rather than from true fear.
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