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18/03/2008 09h18

UN refugee agency says Iraq fuelling rise

in asylum seekers
GENEVA (AFP) - Iraqis are still fleeing their
country five years after the US-led invasion
and top the list of asylum seekers in the
industrialised world, the UN refugee agency
said Tuesday.
In 2007, the number of new applications for
refugees in 43 industrialised countries rose
10 percent to 338,000 from 306,300 the
previous year, the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees said in a report.
Iraqis topped the list of asylum seekers in
industrialised countries for the second year A transit camp in Ruweished near the Jordanian-
running, accounting for more than 10 Iraqi border
percent of the total with 45,200 applications
last year, the UNHCR said.
"It is important to bear in mind, however, that Iraqi asylum seekers in industrialised
countries represent only one percent of the estimated 4.5 million Iraqis uprooted by
the conflict," the report said.
Two million Iraqis have fled to neighbouring Jordan and Syria, where social and health
services are struggling with the influx, while another 2.5 million people are internally
displaced.
The UNHCR has sought 261 million dollars
(177 million euros) this year to help all those
uprooted by the conflict in Iraq, including the
internally displaced.
The United States remains the most popular
choice for asylum seekers of all nationalities
in 2007, with an estimated 49,200 new
claims.
However, compared to the actual size of its
national population, the US has only one
A camp for displaced people in Baghdad
asylum seeker per 1,000 inhabitants,
compared to an average 2.6 per 1,000
inhabitants for the European Union.
Sweden was the second most popular destination with a 50 percent rise in asylum
claims to 36,200 last year, mainly boosted by Iraqis.
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Iraqis are the third largest foreign-born population in the Scandinavian country,
according to statistics from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD).