Iraqis lead group of asylum seekers around the world

Sunday, October 19, 2008 at 2:10 am

The number of people seeking asylum around the world is on the rise with Iraqis leading the group in search of safety, while America tops the list of recipient nations, according to a latest UN report. Russia and China sent second and third largest number of claims of asylum-seekers during the first six months of this year, 9,400 and 8,700 respectively, but Iraq exceeded their combined total.

As per the report by the UN refugee agency, some 165,000 applications were submitted to the 44 industrialised countries in the first six months of the year, and Iraqis made up 12 per cent of all asylum claims with 19,500 applications.

Although the total number of Iraqi asylum-seekers dropped by 18 per cent from the last six months and 10 per cent from the first half of 2007, the overall upward trend of asylum claims continues.

A large number of people from Pakistan and Afghanistan, 6,300 each, also sought asylum in the first half of 2008. For war-torn Afghanistan this shows a 22 per cent increase from the corresponding period last year and a 42 percent rise from 2006.

While the top three countries of origin for asylum seekers saw either a downward or stable trend, the number of Somali claims rose significantly, reflecting a deteriorating situation in the conflict-wracked Horn of Africa country.

More than 7,400 Somalis have registered between January and June this year, compared to 5,000 for the same period last year.

A significant increase in number of applicants has been registered from Mali, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Ctte d’Ivoire, Georgia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Overall, the data showed an increase of 9 per cent in 2007 compared to 2006 and 3 per cent from the first half of 2007.

Assuming that current patterns remain unchanged, UNHCR predicts that the number of asylum claims lodged during the whole of this year could reach 360,000, or 10 per cent more than 2007.

The report also noted that an estimated 25,400 people submitted asylum claims to the United States, the largest recipient of new claims, representing 15 per cent of all applications lodged in the first six months of 2008.

Canada ranked second as a country of destination with 16,800 applications, or around 10 per cent of all asylum claims lodged.

(Agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Iraqis lead group of asylum seekers around the world

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