Nearly 1,000 fewer people lodged asylum claims in Switzerland in 2010 compared with 2009, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch and agencies
Releasing its annual report on asylum seeker trends, the UNHCR said total asylum applications lodged in 44 industrialised countries in 2010 were down by nearly half from 2001 figures.
A total of 358,800 asylum applications were lodged in 2010 compared with 620,000 applications in 2001, a reduction of 42 per cent.
Switzerland registered 13,500 asylum claims in 2010, a reduction of 970 compared with claims registered in 2009.
The United States, France, Germany, Sweden and Canada were the top five asylum receiving countries in 2010. Switzerland jumped five positions from 2009 to 2010 to eighth place on the table of top receiving countries.
Claims registered in Europe dropped 33 per cent in 2010 compared to 2009 due mainly to fewer requests for asylum in Italy, Malta and Greece, the UNHCR said.
The UNHCR said further examination of the figures was needed to determine if the decline was due to fewer push factors in areas of origin or tighter migration controls in receiving countries.
The 2009 agreement between Italy and Libya to turn back boats carrying asylum seekers had had a significant impact on reducing claims, the UNHCR said. The number of asylum applications to Italy dropped to 8,200 in 2010 from 30,300 in 2008.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Young Tunisians look beyond Switzerland
This content was published on
Their arrival has sparked fears in Europe of a massive wave of would-be immigrants from North Africa. Switzerland is trying to work with the European Union in finding ways to cope with the situation. But when Jalel Matri of the Association of Tunisians in Switzerland paid a four day visit to Lampedusa recently, he was…
This content was published on
But in an interview with swissinfo.ch, Denise Efionayi-Mäder of the Swiss Forum for Migration and Population Studies at Neuchâtel University warns against overreacting. She points out that Europe must not forget the urgent needs of the people in the countries hit by unrest. With the fall of long-standing regimes in Tunisia and Egypt and what…
This content was published on
Manon Schick, the organisation’s spokeswoman who takes over the top spot on Tuesday, also talks about the human rights situation in Switzerland and the problem of “increasingly racist and xenophobic” political language. Amnesty International this year turns 50. As part of the celebrations, people all around the country will be invited on May 20 to…
This content was published on
The Geneva-based Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, which celebrated its anniversary in December, is now active in 118 countries. It was in 1956, when the Soviet Union crushed the Hungarian revolution, that the agency faced its first major emergency, helping some 200,000 Hungarians who fled into exile. After that…
This content was published on
The agency’s first task was to help an estimated one million people, mainly European civilians displaced in the aftermath of the Second World War. But during the 1950s the refugee crisis spread to Africa, later to Asia and then back to Europe, becoming a global problem. At the end of 2009, on the eve of…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.