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UPDATED NEWS RELEASES ABOUT IRAQI REFUGEES
By Laura Cugusi / 07 May 2008
Increasing number of asylum seekers and refugees from Iraq invert the worldwide trend.
The number of asylum seekers from Iraq is heading the total percentage of displaced people in the world. In 2007 it turned to be 45,200, almost double since 2006 when they were 22,900. Iraqi people who applied for a refugee status in 43 industrialized countries represent only 1% of the 4,5 millions of people fleeing Iraq. (Source: UNHCR.org)
Sweden received the world’s largest number of asylum claims compared to its population.
Up to now the United States accepted the majority of asylum applications in the world (15%), but compared to the size of its population, it represents only one asylum seeker per 1,000 inhabitants, while the average in the European Union countries is 2.6 asylum seekers per 1,000 inhabitants. Among them, Sweden received 11% percent of all claims received in the industrialized world, almost 4 Iraqis per 1000 inhabitants. (Sources: UNHCR.org, Europe.eu)
In Bulgaria the number of Iraqi refugees decrease probably due to other crisis in neighbour countries.
Bulgaria used to give refugee status to almost every Iraqi who asked for asylum after arriving in the country, usually overland from Turkey, and their population represents 50% of the total number of refugees. But between December and March of this year the immigration offices rejected 41 Iraqi asylum applications. During the same period, the government granted refugee status to two asylum seekers and humanitarian status to 60: this is a strong reduction compared to the 533 application accepted in the whole 2007, probably due to emerging crisis in the neighbour countries.
Spain is still one of the few european countries which accepts asylum claims from its embassies.
In 2007 the number of Iraqi refugees in Spain reached 1,600 people with 94 % of them having claimed asylum in Egypt through Spanish embassies and consulates. In 2003 they numbered only 330.
Between November 2006 and February 2007, the Spanish Embassy in Cairo suffered an “emergency” number of claims when nearly 700 asylum seekers massively applied by queuing in front of the Zamalek offices. Hundreds of Iraqis had been probably deceived by the frequent spreading of erroneous information about a fast and exceptional way of obtaining the status, but actually the procedure takes at least 6 months just to be examinated.
Nevertheless, Spain remains one of the few countries that offer this opportunity through its diplomatic offices in a third country. However, it is nearly impossible for an Iraqi to obtain a visa to travel in a European country, therefore many of them attempt illegal methods that are likely to bring them back to Iraq.
The European Union refused to give priority to Christian refugees from Iraq.
On 18 April 2008, Slovenian Interior Minister Dragutin Mate (holding the rotating presidency of the 27-nation EU) stated that religion could not be a precondition in asylum and resettlement decisions after the German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble urged European countries to provide shelter to Christians who suffered persecution.
A reduced Christian minority in Iraq has kept many out of the sectarian violence that killed tens of thousands of Iraqis since the 2003 US-led invasion. But Christian clergy and churches have been targeted repeatedly in the past few months and many Christians have left the country.
Several UNHCR operators in Spain, Italy and Egypt have claimed that is dangerous to give priority to any ethnic or religious group of asylum seekers due to the risk of distrust and racism among them that can easly turn into threats, blackmail and violence.
