Asylum-seeking in rich states nears 20-year low

GENEVA, Sep 20 (Reuters) The number of people seeking asylum in Western nations fell again in the first half of this year to 134,000, a near 20-year low, the United Nations reported.

Restrictive asylum policies in many Western states and better conditions in many traditional countries of origin led to a 14 per cent drop overall, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said yesterday.

''The downward trend in asylum applications in most industrialised countries continues unabated,'' Geneva-based UNHCR said in a statement.

If the rate continues, the number of asylum-seekers in 2006 would be lowest since 1987, before wars in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq triggered a massive surge in the 1990s, UNHCR officials said.

Iraq was the only country from which asylum requests rose in the January-to-June period, jumping nearly 50 per cent to 8,500 compared with last year due to growing violence and instability, UNHCR said.

China became for the first time the biggest source with 8,800, but officials said this reflected the fact that requests from other countries had fallen faster. Iraq was second, followed by Serbia, Russia and Turkey.

Most asylum-seekers applied for refuge in the United States, which received 25,000 requests, followed by France with 16,400 applications, Britain with 13,900 and Germany with 10,600.

The figures were released just as Switzerland, one of Europe's richest countries, prepares to vote in a referendum on Sunday on plans to further tighten asylum regulations. The UNHCR has questioned the need for further restrictions given that numbers are falling. It is also concerned that the Swiss measures, which include a requirement that asylum-seekers have a passport, may bar access to many genuine refugees.

REUTERS PDM RAI0919