Asylum applications Lodged
in 18 industrialized countries, January and February 2001
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Provisional data
provided by Governments of 18, mainly European, asylum countries indicate that
the number of persons seeking asylum continues to fall. In February 2001, the 18 countries
listed in Table 1 received some 30,000 requests for asylum, 16% less than
during January and the lowest level since April 2000 (see chart).
During February,
countries experiencing a significant relative increase in the number of asylum applications
compared to January 2001 include Austria (+28%), France (+13%) and Slovakia
(+34%) (see Table 1). Countries
increasing a significant decrease in the number of asylum-seekers include Belgium
(-47%), Denmark (-24%), the Netherlands (-24%), Sweden (-25%) and Australia
(-49%).
During February
2001, Germany received the largest number of asylum applications (21%),
followed by the United Kingdom (UK) (18%)[1]
and France (11%). Whereas Germany
and the UK have been the main recipient countries of asylum-seekers for more
than a year, France was the fifth largest receiving country during the second
half of 2000.
Iraq and
Afghanistan continue to be the main countries of origin of asylum applicants in
the 18 countries listed in Table 1, each accounting for some 10% of the total
number of asylum-seekers (see Table 2 and 3). Turkey and FR Yugoslavia
accounted each for 6% of the total inflow during the first two months of 2001.
Nationalities
recording a marked increase in the number of asylum applications lodged in
February as compared to January 2001 included Ukraine (+12%), Bangladesh
(+18%), Moldova (+11%), Mali (+43%) and the Republic of Congo (+29%). A number of nationalities belonging to
“top-10” experienced significant decreases, including the Islamic
Rep. of Iran (-47%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (-36%) and India (-30%) (see Table
2).
Population Data Unit, PGDS/DOS
UNHCR Geneva (http://www.unhcr.ch)
9 April 2001
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