Pakistanis among top asylum-seekers

United Nations, Oct 19 : Pakistan is on the list of countries whose citizens, in search of safety, are seeking asylum around the world in large numbers, according to a new report published by the UN refugee agency.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said that Iraqis are by far on the top seeking asylum.

Some 165,000 applications were submitted to the 44 industrialised countries included in the report in the first six months of this year and Iraqis made up 12 per cent of all asylum claims lodged with 19,500 applications and some 20 per cent of those petitioning Sweden.

The report showed that the number of claims made by Iraqis was higher than the combined number of asylum claims submitted by Russia (9,400) and China (8,700), the second and third highest nationalities seeking asylum.

Pakistan and Afghanistan had large numbers of citizens seek asylum in the first half of 2008, with 6,300 claims each, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. For Afghanistan this represents a 22 per cent increase on the corresponding period for last year and a 42 per cent rise in 2006.

Although the total number of Iraqi asylum-seekers dropped by 18 per cent from the previous six months and 10 per cent from the first half of 2007, the overall upward trend of asylum claims continues. Data showed an increase of 9 per cent in 2007 compared to 2006 and 3 per cent from the first half of 2007.

According to the asylum trends report applicants from Mali, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Georgia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) registered significant increases.

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

The report also noted that an estimated 25,400 people submitted asylum claims to the US, 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.

ANI