The large numbers of migrants and asylum seekers entering Germany have driven up costs across the country's 16 states, leading local politicians in Europe's largest economy to demand more financial support from the federal government. State expenses related to processing and accommodating migrants are expected to more than double to 5 billion euros (5.49 billion dollars) this year, dpa reported. The actual costs of hosting refugees are likely higher, as not all states give precise figures or factor in additional administrative costs and staff expenditures. In Bavaria and North Rhine Westphalia, the two most heavily populated states in Germany, asylum seeker processing is expected to cost approximately 1.6 billion euros in 2015. Other states estimate that their costs will more than triple. Immigration is a contentious topic in Germany, where an unprecedented influx of asylum seekers from countries including Syria, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories and Kosovo has placed a strain on public services. Germany takes in the largest absolute number of refugees among EU countries each year, and about 400,000 people are expected to apply for asylum in 2015. One factor in the rising expense of migrant processing are children who arrive in Germany without their parents. Accommodation and supplies for an asylum-seeking adult in Bavaria costs around 1,300 euros each month. But children and teenagers are entitled to special treatment under Germany's child welfare law, amounting to a monthly cost of about 4,000 euros. Bavaria has been particularly hard hit by that additional cost: Migrant children normally remain in the state of their arrival, and Bavaria, a south-eastern border state, sits at the intersection of two major migration routes - across the Mediterranean Sea northwards and out of the Balkans westwards. Bavaria currently hosts 10,000 migrant children, as compared with the fewer than 1,000 hosted by the north-western state of Lower Saxony. -- SPA 16:41 LOCAL TIME 13:41 GMT تغريد
