WORLD : Refugees Flock to West Germany
BONN — Refugees seeking asylum, particularly Yugoslavs and Poles, are pouring into West Germany at almost double the record rate of 1988, the government said today.
An Interior Ministry statement said 34,812 asylum-seekers were registered in the first three months of 1989, compared with 18,527 in the corresponding period last year. A total of 103,000 arrived in 1988. About half the 11,235 people who arrived last month were Yugoslavs and Poles, followed by Turks, Sri Lankans and Lebanese.
The refugee influx has led to the emergence of anti-foreigner rightist parties in regional elections, and Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s coalition government has begun a crackdown to reverse its sinking popularity.
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