MELBOURNE, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Thousands of Iraqis, desperate to escape the bloodshed in their country, are seeking asylum in Australia.
The Age newspaper says applications for humanitarian visas have soared since fighting began in Iraq in 2003.
The newspaper, quoting Immigration Department figures, said 24,000 Iraqis applied for humanitarian visas to enter Australia last year, compared 3,500 applications in 2001-2002.
Visas were granted to 2,150 of the 24,000, making Iraqis the second largest nationality in last year's humanitarian intake.
According to the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, 1.6 million people out of Iraq's population of 26 million now live outside the country, while more than 1.5 million have been displaced internally because of the rising sectarian violence.
