The German government has admitted it cannot account for 600,000 of the 1.1 million migrants who arrived into the country last year – raising concerns that the migrants have absconded into Germany and other European Union (EU) nations.

Delays in processing applications may account for some of those missing, it is reported, buts other may have moved on to different EU countries, the Interior Ministry has confessed.

The 1.1 million migrants registered with the German state’s ‘EASY’ system, operated by the German Ministry For Migration and Refugees. It does little more than record an applicant’s arrival and their country of origin.

Once migrants have registered, officials assign them a place where they are to be cared for, and where they can then make a full application for asylum.

However, according to the Daily Mail, only 476,649 of the 1.1million migrants have so far turned up at their assigned destination and registered their asylum case there. That number breaks down as 326,529 men and 150,120 women.

There are three possible explanations as to why the missing 600,000 migrants have not yet appeared.

They might indeed have registered, but have not showed up due to delays in the system. Or, they might never have existed – migrants are known to register more than once to increase their chance of reaching their preferred destination. The second option here is less likely, as it would not account for the numbers known to have travelled to Europe over the past year.

Most alarmingly, however, it is entirely possible that they have moved on, disappearing into Germany, or indeed travelling to other European Union member states.

Despite the cold weather, the number of migrants making it into Europe from the Middle East has shown little sign of slowing, and many countries are expect greater numbers to arrive this year.

According to a new court ruling, reported yesterday, migrants inside the Schengen area with a reasonable claim to a “family life” inside the UK, must now be admitted into the country.