UNITED NATIONS, March 17 (UPI) -- The U.N. refugee agency said Friday the number of asylum seekers in industrialized countries has halved in the last five years.
In their annual report the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said the number of people who sought asylum in 38 industrialized countries declined sharply in 2005, reaching the lowest level in almost twenty years. For the fourth year in a row the number of political refugees fell to a total of 336,000, a decrease of 15 percent from the previous year.
The agency said this may not indicate that fewer people need protection, but rather that asylum policies in developed countries have become stricter.
"Indeed, industrialized countries should be asking themselves whether by imposing ever tighter restrictions on asylum seekers they are not closing their doors to men, women and children fleeing persecution," said High Commissioner Antonio Guterres.
In Europe, the number of asylum seekers last year was the lowest since 1988. The United States and Canada saw the largest decrease in asylum requests granted over the last five years, down by 54 percent since 2001.
The majority of refugees in the world are still hosted by developing countries such as Tanzania, Iran and Pakistan, said UNHCR spokeman Ron Redmond.
The largest group of asylum seekers in 2005 originated from Serbia and Montenegro, followed by requests from citizens of the Russian Federation, including Chechnya, according to the agency's report.
