FECL 54 (May 1998):

FEWER ASYLUM SEEKERS IN WESTERN EUROPE, IN 1996

According to a report published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, the number of asylum seekers in the EU, Switzerland and Norway, dropped significantly in 1996. The total number of asylum applications was 246,000 in 1996, which is 46,000 (16 per cent) less than in 1995.

The figures confirm a downward trend that began in 1993, after a record figure of 696,000 applications in 1992. The fall in applications seems to be essentially due to the fact that fewer people from the former Yugoslavia are seeking protection abroad. The number of asylum seekers from Central and Eastern European countries, in particular from Poland and Bulgaria, has also decreased.

Major decreases in the number of asylum applications were noted in the following countries:

Rises were recorded in:

Germany, once again, received the largest number of applications, amounting to about half of all applications made in the EU.

Turkey is still the country of origin of the largest group of asylum seekers in Western Europe (29,143 in 1996), followed by the states of the former Yugoslavia (25,285), Iraq (22,389, as against only 13,707 in 1995), and the former USSR (17,026).