THE latest European asylum statistics seem to offer good news for refugees. They show the acceptance rate jumping by ten percentage points to 60% in the final quarter of 2015—the highest rate ever. Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands all granted asylum in record numbers. It would seem that Europeans are finally greeting migrants with open arms.

Yet a closer look suggests the news is promising for only a handful of nationalities. The reason acceptance rates have soared is that applications have risen from countries whose refugees are likely to be accepted. Syrians, Eritreans and Iraqis, who are let in more than 90% of the time, make up almost half of all decisions, up from about a quarter in 2014. For other countries the acceptance rate was just 28%, and there has been no jump.