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Asylum trends in industrialized countries
Tuesday 18, October 2011
BUDAPEST, 18 October (UNHCR) - Countries in Central Europe saw a drop in asylum applications in the first half of 2011 compared with the same period a year earlier, while industrialized nations globally faced a 17 per cent increase in applications.
The six countries in the Central European region for which data is available showed an average drop in applications of 8.5 per cent, according to data in a report released today by UNHCR 'Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries, First Half 2011'.
In the first half of 2011, Bulgaria received 466 asylum applications, a 12 per cent decrease from the previous year. Hungary had 27 per cent fewer asylum applications, with 771 claims made between January and June this year. Poland received 1,752 asylum applications, representing a 52 per cent decrease from the same period last year, while Slovakia received just 203 applications, a 16 per cent decrease from 2010.
Two countries in the region received an increase in applications in the first half of 2011. Romania received 553 applications, representing a 37 per cent increase from the same period a year earlier while Slovenia received 174 asylum applications, a rise of 19 per cent from the first half of 2010.
In Central Europe, the main countries of origin for asylum seekers were the Russian Federation, Afghanistan, Serbia and Kosovo, Iraq, Tunisia, Pakistan, Armenia, Syria, Iran, Nigeria and China.
Taking the 44 countries surveyed in the report as a whole, 198,300 asylum applications were lodged in the period between 1st January and 30th June 2011, compared to 169,300 in the same period a year earlier.
2011 has so far seen major displacement crises in West, North, and Horn of Africa. The report finds related increased in asylum claims among Tunisians, Ivorians, and Libyans (4,600, 3,300, and 2,000 claims respectively) but overall, the impact of these events on applications rates in industrialized countries has been limited.
"2011 has been a year of displacement crises unlike any other I have seen in my time as High Commissioner," said UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres. "Their impact on asylum claims in industrialized countries seems to have been lower so far than might have been expected, as most of those who fled went to neighbouring countries. Nonetheless we are grateful that the industrialized states have continued to respect the right of people to have their claims to asylum heard."
By country, the United States had more claims (36,400) than any other industrialized nation, followed by France with 26,100, Germany 20,100, Sweden 12,600, and the United Kingdom 12,200 applications.
The 'Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries, First Half 2011' report complements UNHCR's annual Global Trends Report, issued in June each year, and which this year found that 80 percent of refugees are being hosted in developing countries.
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