ASYLUM (2)

The number of asylum seekers in the rich world has risen sharply in recent years; Hungary, for instance, experienced a rise of 760% between 2012 and 2013. However, within that general trend, there are large differences. As I said earlier, Sweden takes many more asyslum seekers than Denmark, even though the two countries are in many ways similar. You would not think that, given the tide of anti-asylum rhetoric put out by Danish politicians. But the fact is that Denmark has fewer asylum seekers per million inhabitants than Cyprus, Austria, Belgium and even Montenegro. Top of the list in the period 2009-13 was Malta, which takes five times as many as Denmark.

As you might imagine, Syria tops the list of the countries providing asylum seekers; Iraq, Iran, Afghanisatn and Somalia are also in the top 10. But there are also some surprises. Russia was the second biggest country last year, and Serbia was number 5. People seek asylum for many reasons, and not just war or poverty.

Walter Blotscher