UN : SYRIA, IRAQ WARS RAISE ASYLUM APPEALS

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New York, 7 Jumadil Akhir 1436/27 March 2015 (MINA) -Wars in Syria and Iraq, as well as other armed conflicts, have increased the number of asylum applications to industrialized countries to a 22-year high in 2014, the UN has said.

Turkey has become the third country, after Germany and the United States, for receiving asylum applications. Turkey saw 87,800 new appeals in 2014 alone, mainly from Iraqi people.

The UN refugee agency’s “Asylum Trends 2014” report released Thursday said that there were 866,000 asylum applications in 44 industrialized countries last year, a 45 percent increase from 2013.

According to the UNHCR, there were 596,600 registered asylum claims in 2013, World Bulletin quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

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The 2014 figure is the highest since 1992, which saw 900,000 claims and the beginning of the Bosnian War.

Syrians were at the top of the most recent list with 150,000 applications. Iraqi applications are second at 68,700. Afghans made almost 60,000 applications.

Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Serbia (and Kosovo), plus Eritrea were the five top source countries of asylum seekers in 2014.

Germany received the largest number of asylum seekers in 2014 with over 173,000 applications. A quarter of all asylum applications in Germany were made by Syrians. The U.S. received about 121,000 asylum claims, mostly from Mexico and countries in Central America.

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According to report, the top five receiving countries are Germany, the U.S., Turkey, Sweden and Italy.

Europe received 714,300 claims, an increase of 47 percent compared to the 2013 figure, with 485,000 claims.

UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming told a press conference in the UN headquarters in Geneva that Turkey hosts 1.7 million Syrians but these numbers were not included in this recent report because these Syrians are coming under temporary protection.

“We believe a growing number of Syrians are crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe”, she added.(T/P002/P3).

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)