UNHCR: Asylum rates sharply up, but not in the Nordics

A report released today by the UN refugee agency on asylum in industrialized countries shows that new conflicts and a rising outflow from older crisis spots such as Afghanistan together contributed to a 20 per cent rise in asylum claims in 2011. The opposite trend was seen in the Nordics (except Iceland).

UNHCR’s report, Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries 2011, says that an estimated 441,300 asylum claims were recorded last year compared to 368,000 in 2010. The report covers 44 countries in Europe, North America, Australasia, and North-East Asia.

In relative terms, the largest increase was in southern Europe, which saw 66,800 asylum claims – a jump of 87 per cent. Most of these claims were from people who arrived by boat in Italy and Malta, but with a sharp increase also seen in Turkey.

"The large number of asylum claims clearly shows 2011 to have been a year of great difficulty for very many people. We can be thankful only that throughout this the international system of asylum has held firm," said António Guterres, the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees.

"Still, it is important to put these figures in perspective. The number of asylum claims received across all industrialized countries is still smaller than the population of Dadaab, a single refugee camp in northeast Kenya."

Reflecting turmoil in West Africa and in the Arab world, asylum-seekers from Côte d’Ivoire, Libya, Syria, and other countries reached record levels in 2011 with 16,700 more claims than in 2010.

The country of origin of the largest number of claimants was Afghanistan, with a 34 per cent increase over 2010, to 35,700. China remained the second largest source country (24,400 claimants), followed by Iraq (23,500).

The top five destination countries among the industrialised countries were the United States of America (74,000 claims), France (51,900 claims), Germany (45,700 claims), Italy (34,100 claims) and Sweden (29,600 claims).

Europe

Taken as a whole, the 38 countries of Europe together registered 327,200 claims, more than any other region and a 19 per cent increase over 2010. The 27 Member States of the European Union registered 277,400 asylum claims in 2011, a 15 per cent increase compared to 2010 (240,400).

Meanwhile, North America received 99,400 claims, almost a quarter more than the total a year earlier. Japan and the Republic of Korea registered a record 2,900 claims, a 77 per cent increase over 2010.

The Nordic countries

Contrary to the overall trend, the Nordic countries saw asylum-seeker numbers declining, with an average fall of 10 per cent (45,700 claims).

But among the Nordics the picture was somewhat mixed: In both Denmark and Finland the drop in the number of asylum-seekers from 2010 to 2011 was 23 per cent. Norway and Sweden experiences somewhat lower drops, with 10 and 7 per cent respectively. Iceland, on the other hand, recorded an increase of some 41 per cent. 

Overall, the top three countries of origin of asylum-seekers coming to the Nordic countries were Somalia, Afghanistan and Serbia.

Going country-by-country, Sweden receives the largest number of asylum-seekers (29,600) among the Nordic countries, and ranked 5th among the 44 industrialized countries in this report. When comparing the number of asylum-seekers to the size of the national population, Sweden climbs to third place among the 44 industrialized countries (15.6 applicants per 1,000 inhabitants). 

Afghanistan was the top country of origin of asylum-seekers in Sweden, followed by Somalia and Serbia. The drop in the number of asylum-seekers is mainly due to a decrease in claims from persons originating from Serbia (and Kosovo: S/RES/1244 (1999)) and Somalia. The number of asylum-seekers from Serbia halved during 2011 (3,000 fewer claims) while in the case of Somalia, 1,600 fewer claims were registered (-28%). Sweden continued to see a decrease in Iraqi claims in 2011 (-17%) compared to 2010. The figures have fallen to 1,600 claims from as high as 18,600 in 2006. In contrast the number of asylum-seekers from Afghanistan increased from 2,400 in 2010 to more than 4,100 in 2011 (+72%). During the same period, asylum claims from people originating from Bosnia and Herzegovina went up from 120 to almost 1,000.

Norway: Even though the number of asylum-seekers continued to decrease in Norway (-10%), the country was the second largest recipient of asylum-seekers among the Nordic countries, with 9,100 claims in 2011. Norway ranked 15 among the 44 industrialized countries included in this report.  Based on the indicator ‘number of asylum-seekers to size of the national population’ Norway ranked fifth (11.7 applicants per 1,000 inhabitants) among the industrialised countries in 2011.

The number of Somalis seeking international protection in Norway almost doubled (2,200) compared to 2010 (1,400 claims). Somalia thus became the main country of origin of asylum-seekers in Norway. Eritrea dropped to second place with 1,300 claims, compared to 1,700 in 2010. Afghans ranked third (1,000 claims) with the number of persons seeking asylum remaining the same as in 2010.

Some 3,800 persons sought asylum in Denmark in 2011. Afghanistan continued to be the most important source country (900 applications) even though the number of claims decreased by close to 39 per cent compared 2010. Afghanistan was followed by Iran (460) and Syria (430). Asylum-seekers from Syria accounted for the biggest decrease; the number of applications lodged by Syrians decreased with 52 per cent compared to the previous year. The number of Libyans seeking asylum in Denmark (70 claims) more than quintupled in 2011 compared to 2010.

In Finland the number of asylum-seekers dropped for the second consecutive year, to 3,100 compared to 4,000 in 2010 and 6,000 in 2009. The top three countries of origin were Iraq (590), Somalia (370) and Russia (290). It is mainly asylum-seekers from Bulgaria (-90%) and Somalia (-36%) who accounted for the drop. The number of asylum-seekers from Syria and Libya more than doubled in 2011 compared to 2010.

Contrary to the other Nordic countries, the number of asylum-seekers seeking protection in Iceland continued to rise (+41%) compared to 2010. However, the number of newly registered asylum-seekers remained low: 70 applicants in 2011 compared to 50 in 2010. The top three countries of origin were: the Russian Federation (7), Nigeria (6) and on a joint third place Algeria and Iraq with 5 applicants.

The Baltic countries

In Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania combined, the number of asylum-seekers increased with 78 per cent, from around 460 in 2010 to nearly 820 in 2011. Despite the record high numbers, the number of asylum-seekers remained very low compared to the other industrialized countries included in this report. The top three countries of origin were Georgia, the Russian Federation and Afghanistan. 

The number of asylum-seekers seeking international protection in Estonia more than doubled in 2011 (70 claims) compared to 2010 (30 claims). The Democratic Republic of Congo was the main country of origin of asylum-seekers in Estonia (11), followed by Afghanistan (8) and Armenia (7).

In Latvia the number of claims more than quintupled in 2011, from 60 claims in 2010 to 340 claims. Latvia thus accounted for the biggest increase in number of asylum-seekers among the Baltic countries. It is mainly asylum-seekers from Georgia who accounted for this increase, up from 1 in 2010 to 176 in 2011. Georgia thus became the main country of origin of asylum-seekers in Latvia, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (39) and the Russian Federation (18).

The number of asylum applications (410) in Lithuania continued to increase (+11%) compared to 2010. Georgia remained the main country of origin of asylum-seekers (202 claims), despite a decrease in the number of asylum-seekers from 2010 (-14%). The second highest-ranking source country of asylum-seekers was the Russian Federation, followed by Afghanistan. 

Further information

• UNHCR produces statistical reports on asylum trends in 44 industrialized countries twice each year. Asylum data from other countries is published by UNHCR in its annual Global Trends Report, the next version of which is due for release in June 2012.
• The United States, with an estimated 74,000 claims, ranks as the country with the highest number of asylum applications in 2011 among the 44 countries covered by the report. Globally, however, the country with the highest number of asylum applications is South Africa (not covered by the report), which saw 107,000 claims over the same period.
• Important to note is that claims for asylum are neither an indication of migration trends, nor a reflection of the number of people who become recognized as refugees.