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| September 23, 2006 | Saturday | Sha'aban 29, 1427 |
Number of asylum seekers drops
ISLAMABAD, Sept 22: More than 24,500 Pakistanis sought asylum in most industrialized countries and in Europe during 2005; however, due to introduction of more restrictive policies in these countries, the number of asylum seekers have started to drop, according to latest United Nations statistics.
Based on provisional data, a report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) states during the first six months of 2006, a total of 8,719 asylum seekers submitted applications in the industrialized and European countries, indicating that Pakistan was among the leading countries of origin with minus 24 per cent, recording a strong decline in the number of asylum seekers during the first two quarters of 2006 as compared to the corresponding period of 2005.
In 2004 alone, 32,419 Pakistanis submitted applications for asylum. The highest numbers of applications were submitted in Europe with 6,619 applications in 2005 in comparison with 9,352 applications in 2004.
The lowest numbers of applications were received by Australia, New Zealand and Japan followed by the Nordic region, which received only 59 applications for asylum during the first six months of 2006. Australia, New Zealand and Japan received only 73 applications up to June 2006 against 122 in 2005 and 82 in 2004.
The figure for asylum seekers in Canada also dropped sharply. In the first six months of 2006, Canadian authorities received a total of 585 applications from Pakistani asylum seekers. In 2005 this figure was 1065 against 1560 in 2004, the UNHCR report says.
Overall, during the first six months of 2006, 134,900 asylum applications were submitted in Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan - a drop of 14 per cent over the same period last year. The applications are 15 per cent lower than the previous semester - July to December 2005.
Last year saw the lowest number of asylum seekers in industrialized countries since 1987. Figures for the first half of this year point to 2006 reaching yet lower records. In Europe, a total of 97,000 new asylum applications were submitted during the first six months of 2006, 19 per cent fewer than during the corresponding period in 2005 and 21 per cent fewer than in the previous six months.
Over the past few years, 80 per cent of asylum requests in industrialized countries were made in Europe. Europe’s share has now declined to roughly 70 per cent of asylum applications in the 36 industrialized countries, included in the UNHCR report. At the same time, North America’s share has increased from about 20 per cent of all applications in industrialized countries to nearly 30 per cent during the first semester of 2006. The share of Australia and New Zealand has remained stable at about 1 per cent.
The United States received the largest number of asylum applications 25,500 or 19 per cent of the total number of applications lodged in industrialized countries, followed by France (16,400), the United Kingdom (13,900), Germany (10,600) and Canada (10,100).
The main countries of origin were China (8,800), followed by Iraq (8,500), Serbia and Montenegro (8,000), Russia (6,900) and Turkey (4,600). Among the few nationalities recording a rise in applicants were Iraqis with a 25 per cent increase over the previous six months and up almost 50 per cent over the same period a year ago.
In Europe, 97,000 new asylum applications were submitted during the first six months of 2006, 19 per cent fewer than during the corresponding period of 2005 (120,200) and 21 per cent lower than the second half of 2005. This number represents a 35 per cent drop compared to the first half of 2004 (148,300). The trend is similar for the 24 countries of the European Union (EU) covered by this report.2 The latter registered a 21 per cent fall in new asylum applications submitted during the first six months. of 2006 as compared to January to June 2005 and 34 per cent fewer requests than during the first half of 2004. The largest relative decline in half-yearly asylum levels, however, was reported by the then new EU member countries. These countries received 8,200 new asylum requests during the first two quarters of 2006, a 30 per cent drop compared to the first six months of 2005 and a 54 per cent decline compared to the first six months of 2004.
Countries in Central Europe also witnessed a strong decline in the number of asylum seekers during the first six months of 2006. Central Europe has been an important receiving region only a few years ago, however, fewer people have requested asylum in recent years.
While France has been the leading asylum-seeker receiving country among the group of 36 industrialized countries from the fourth quarter of 2003 to the second quarter of 2005, the United States has been the top destination since the third quarter of 2005 reflecting primarily the continuous decrease of new asylum seekers in France observed since the first quarter of 2005. As such, the United States received 25,500 new asylum requests during the first half of 2006, or one out of five (19 per cent) of the total number of asylum-seekers in the 36 industrialized countries covered by this report. The total number of new applications submitted to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) during the first half of 2006 remained stable compared to the first semester of 2005.
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