As to the country of origin of these asylum seekers, the top 5 countries in descending order were Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Eritrea. EU member states accounted for 80 percent of this number in 2014-an increase of 44 percent compared to 2013. The largest number of asylum applications in 2014 were registered in Germany (173,100), followed by the United States (121,200), Turkey (87,800), Sweden (75,100), and Italy (63,700).Īccording to the UNHCR, Europe received some 714,300 asylum claims in 2014, up from 485,000 in 2013. This number is significantly less than the actual numbers of people seeking refuge or better economic circumstances, either legally or illegally, in host nations that offer varying degrees of hospitality. However, buffeted by wars and harsh economic, political, and social conditions, people mainly from Africa and the Middle East but elsewhere as well are escaping to the developed world to evade their circumstances-and doing so in growing numbers.Īcross the world there were an estimated 866,000 asylum applications in 2014 to what the UNHCR calls the 44 “industrialized countries.” There were 270,000 more than in 2013. Most of the world’s displaced seek shelter either elsewhere in their own country or in neighboring countries. Just in the past few weeks, the fighting in Yemen has displaced another 150,000 while fighting in Iraq’s Ramadi has added another 114,000 to Iraq’s total displaced of around 3 million refugees and IDPs. The numbers are growing on an almost daily basis. The conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen alone have created some 15 million refugees and IDPs. Globally there were estimated to be 16.7 million refugees and 34 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the end of 2013. “In terms of migrants and refugees, nothing has been seen like this since World War Two“, says Leonard Doyle, spokesman for the International Organization for Migrants. The human tragedy of thousands of asylum seekers floundering-and dying-in the Mediterranean highlights an unprecedented global challenge for the 21st century.
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