France tops asylum seekers league table

People fleeing the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya formed the largest group seeking asylum in developed countries during the first quarter of 2004, the UN refugee agency said today.

France has become the favourite target with applications from 15,740 asylum seekers in the first four months – most from Turks, Algerians, Chinese and Congolese.

Britain – formerly the top destination – recorded 10,590 claims, chiefly from Somalia, Iran, China and Zimbabwe.

Overall, the total number of asylum seekers in 29 industrialised nations dropped sharply to 92,700, said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva.

The 16% fall on the last quarter of 2003 was due in part to tough new rules in the EU, which receives most of the world’s asylum applications.

The new asylum policy, criticised by human rights groups as too hard-line, is an attempt to crack down on “asylum shopping” – alleged abuse by refugees of the sizeable differences in asylum benefits that exist among EU nations, with refugees heading to the EU country offering the best conditions.

But the drop also was caused by the return of exiles to Afghanistan and Iraq, said Redmond.

Afghans and Iraqis – the two top groups in 2001 and 2002 – continued a decline that started after the fall of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, when people began flooding home. They now have dropped to 10th and 11th position.

Some 7,500 Russians – the great majority Chechens – sought asylum in January, February and March, a quarter fewer than in the last three months of 2003, said Redmond.

More than half of the Russian asylum claims were made in just five countries - Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, France and Germany. Tens of thousands of Chechens have fled years of conflict between rebels and Russian federal troops in their home region.

The next-biggest groups seeking asylum in industrialised countries were from Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey, China and Nigeria.

In Germany applications reached 10,170 – mostly from Turkey, Serbia and Montenegro, Russia and Vietnam.

The United States recorded 9,710 applications, largely from Haiti, Colombia, China and Mexico.

The only industrialised countries to register increases in applications were the Republic of Ireland, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, New Zealand and Japan.