Refused: 11 out of 12 asylum applications

ASYLUM applications continued to be made at the rate of a dozen a day last year but 11 out of every 12 were refused.

Figures released by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner show that the number of applicants in 2006 was a mere nine less than in 2005, despite a downward trend since numbers peaked at almost 12,000 in 2002.

That was despite a success rate of just one in 12, with only 397 people being granted asylum out of the 4,784 cases finalised during the year.