UNHCR: MORE SRILANKANS SEEK ASYLUM OVERSEAS!!WHY?

More Sri Lankans are seeking asylum overseas, a report by the UN refugee agency said.
Iraqis top the list of those in search of safety. Pakistan and Afghanistan also had large numbers of citizens seeking 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 on 2006.

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.

While the top three countries of origin for asylum-seekers saw either a downward or stable trend, the number of Somali claims lodged rose significantly, reflecting a deteriorating situation in the conflict-wracked Horn of Africa country.

More than 7,400 Somalis were registered between January and June this year, compared to 5,000 for the same period last year. 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. AFP