The number of people applying for asylum in the Netherlands rose by 25% in the second three months of this year, as coronavirus restrictions eased and made travel easier.

In total, 3,355 people applied for refugee status between April and June and 2,580 people came to join family members already granted residence permits.

Despite the increase, the number of requests are still down 35% on the same period in 2019, the CBS said.

Almost one in three requests came from people fleeing Syria. People from Turkey formed the second biggest group, followed by Afghanistan. Syrians and Eritreans accounted for most of the people applying to join family members.