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Iraqi crisis fuels rise in asylum seekers in industrialized world

News Stories, 18 March 2008

GENEVA, March 18 (UNHCR) – A five-year downward trend in asylum applications in industrialized countries was reversed in 2007, largely because of an increase in the number of Iraqi asylum seekers, according to provisional statistics compiled by the UN refugee agency.

Some 338,000 new applications for refugee status were submitted last year in 43 industrialized countries, a 10 percent rise compared to 2006, when 306,300 asylum claims were registered, the lowest number of asylum applications in 20 years, UNHCR said in a press release on Tuesday, adding that the figures were based on information provided by governments.

"The overall downward trend in asylum applications was offset last year by a large increase in the number of asylum seekers from Iraq. For the second year running, Iraqis topped the list of asylum seekers in the world's industrialized countries," the release said. The number of Iraqis applying for asylum almost doubled in one year, from 22,900 in 2006 to 45,200 last year.

UNHCR said it was important to bear in mind, however, that Iraqi asylum seekers in industrialized countries represented only 1 percent of the estimated 4.5 million Iraqis uprooted by the conflict. These include more than 2.5 million people displaced within Iraq and another 2 million Iraqis in neighbouring countries such as Syria and Jordan, which are not included in the industrialized country statistics.

The top five countries of origin of asylum applicants in 2007 were Iraq (45,200), the Russian Federation (18,800), China (17,100), Serbia (15,400) and Pakistan (14,300). Apart from Iraqis, other groups recording a significant rise in applications last year were Pakistanis (up 87 percent), Syrians (up 47 percent) and Somalis (up 43 percent).

Half of all asylum applications were submitted by asylum seekers from Asia (including the Middle East). Africa was the second most important source continent (21 percent of all claims), followed by Europe (15 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (12 percent) and North America (1 percent).

Origin of asylum-seekers by UNHCR Bureaux, 2007: Africa, The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Asia and Pacific, America, Europe, unknown.

The United States was the main country of destination for asylum seekers of all nationalities in 2007, with an estimated 49,200 new asylum claims in 2007, accounting for 15 percent of all applications in industrialized countries. Compared to the size of its national population, however, the United States had only one asylum seeker per 1,000 inhabitants, while the average in the European Union countries was 2.6 asylum seekers per 1,000 inhabitants.

Sweden saw a 50 percent increase in the number of new asylum applications, from 24,300 in 2006, to 36,200 last year. This was caused primarily by the arrival of large numbers of Iraqi asylum seekers. In 2007, Sweden received the second largest number of asylum seekers after the United States and accounted for 11 percent of all claims received in the industrialized world, compared with 8 percent in 2006.

After the United States and Sweden, the main countries of destination for asylum seekers in 2007 were France (29,200), Canada (28,300) and the United Kingdom (27,900). Greece, Germany, Italy, Austria and Belgium were also among the top 10 receiving countries.

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Crisis in Iraq: Displacement

UNHCR and its partners estimate that out of a total population of 26 million, some 1.9 million Iraqis are currently displaced internally and more than 2 million others have fled to nearby countries. While many people were displaced before 2003, increasing numbers of Iraqis are now fleeing escalating sectarian, ethnic and general violence. Since January 2006, UNHCR estimates that more than 800,000 Iraqis have been uprooted and that 40,000 to 50,000 continue to flee their homes every month. UNHCR anticipates there will be approximately 2.3 million internally displaced people within Iraq by the end of 2007. The refugee agency and its partners have provided emergency assistance, shelter and legal aid to displaced Iraqis where security has allowed.

In January 2007, UNHCR launched an initial appeal for US$60 million to fund its Iraq programme. Despite security issues for humanitarian workers inside the country, UNHCR and partners hope to continue helping up to 250,000 of the most vulnerable internally displaced Iraqis and their host communities

Posted on 12 June 2007

Crisis in Iraq: Displacement

Non-Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

After Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled in Iraq in 2003, groups of refugees who had lived in the country for many years tried to leave the chaos and lawlessness that soon ensued. Hundreds of people started fleeing to the border with Jordan, including Palestinians in Baghdad and Iranian Kurds from the Al Tash refugee camp in central Iraq.

Aside from a few Palestinians with family connections inside the neighbouring country, the refugees were refused entry and free movement in Jordan. Thousands were soon stranded in the no-man's land between Iraq and Jordan or at the desert camp of Ruweished, located 60 kilometres inside Jordan.

Since 2003, Palestinians, Iranian Kurds, Iranians, Sudanese and Somalis have been living there and suffering the scorching heat and freezing winters of the Jordanian desert. UNHCR and its partners have provided housing and assistance and tried to find solutions – the agency has helped resettle more than 1,000 people in third countries. At the beginning of 2007, a total of 119 people – mostly Palestinians – remained in Ruweished camp without any immediate solution in sight.

Posted on 20 February 2007

Non-Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

The UN refugee agency has launched a US$60 million appeal to fund its work helping hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people. The new appeal concludes that unremitting violence in Iraq will likely mean continued mass internal and external displacement affecting much of the surrounding region. The appeal notes that the current exodus is the largest long-term population movement in the Middle East since the displacement of Palestinians following the creation of Israel in 1948.

UNHCR has warned that the longer this conflict goes on, the more difficult it will become for the hundreds of thousands of displaced and the communities that are trying to help them – both inside and outside Iraq. Because the burden on host communities and governments in the region is enormous, it is essential that the international community support humanitarian efforts.

The US$60 million will cover UNHCR's protection and assistance programmes for Iraqi refugees in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey, as well as non-Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people within Iraq itself.

Posted on 10 January 2007