Author- JOSEPH CURTIS FOR MAILONLINE
The number of asylum seekers coming to Britain has risen by nearly 10 per cent after more than 37,000 people applied to stay in the UK last year.
The figure is eight per cent higher than in 2017 when 34,780 applications were submitted to the Home Office.
Newly released data shows Britain is the sixth highest destination for migrants in Europe, with Germany at the top after recording 180,000 requests for asylum last year.
France, Greece, Italy and Spain are also above the UK, according to the report by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), which revealed there were 664,480 applications across Europe in total last year.
The data shows Iranians made up the highest percentage of asylum seekers in the UK in 2018 at 11 per cent.
It comes as a record 163 migrants were picked up off the coast of the UK by Border Force officials in June.
And more than 700 migrants have been picked up on British waters since last November.
In December, Home Secretary Sajid Javid declared a major incident after 138 migrants were picked up.
He called in extra Border Force cutters in a bid to stem the surge, but 140 made it into the UK last month.
