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Sharp rise in number of asylum seekers

18,000 Bangladeshis sought asylum in European countries last year

Reaz Ahmad
The number of Bangladeshis seeking asylum in Europe rose from 10,000 in 2014 to 18,000 last year. It was only 7,000 in 2013.
The surge in the number of Bangladeshi asylees in European countries has been noticed in a recent report by the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based fact tank.
According to the report, Bangladesh was 14th among the top 15 source countries of asylum seekers in Europe last year.
It, however, did not mention how many of the Bangladeshis eventually got citizenships of any of the European countries.
The Pew Research Center analysed data from Eurostat, an EU (European Union) statistical agency, to show that a record 1.3 million migrants applied for asylum in 30 European countries - the 28 EU member states, Norway and Switzerland - in 2015. Last year's phenomenal surge in asylum seeking nearly doubled the previous high of 697,000 that was set in 1992 after the fall of Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The surge was more than a twofold increase from 2014, when nearly 600,000 people applied for asylum. This dramatic rise in asylum applications followed a relatively stable period of about roughly 200,000 applicants each year between 2005 and 2010, and around 300,000 annual applicants in 2011 and 2012.
While little over half (53%) of asylum seekers in Europe in 2015 were young adults (between 18 and 34), three fourths of the asylees from Bangladesh (76%) were from the same age group.
The same year, men made up nearly three fourths (73%) of Europe’s total asylum seekers. Of the Bangladeshi asylum seekers, 95 percent were males.
The Pew Research Center notes that the large proportion of young males and comparatively smaller shares of young adult women and female children suggests that many refugees from source countries are young men traveling alone.
This situation seems especially likely in the case of asylum seekers from Bangladesh and Pakistan, among whom three quarters were males, aged between 18 to 34.
By contrast, the fact tank says, the data suggest that asylum seekers from countries like Russia, Serbia and Ukraine tend to relocate as families - as up to 50 percent of asylum seekers from these countries were minors accompanied by adults.
The leading country of citizenship for Europe's asylum applicants in 2015 was Syria, which accounted for 378,000 asylum seekers, or 29% of all applicants. Second was Afghanistan, with 193,000 asylum seekers, and third Iraq with
127,000 asylees.
Syrian, Afghanis and Iraqis constituted well over half (53%) of all asylum seekers last year.
Since the Syrian conflict began, one-in-ten displaced Syrians are living in Europe, says Pew adding that the vast majority is internally displaced within Syria or is living as refugees in countries thatborderSyria.
Syria had the greatest annual asylum applicant increase between 2013 and 2015, with about 49,000 asylum seekers in 2013, 125,000 in 2014 and 378,000 in 2015.
But it was Ukraine, Iraq and Afghanistan that saw the greatest annual percentage increases between 2013 and 2015 among the top 15 source countries of asylum seekers for the same year. Between 2013 and 2015, the number of asylum seekers from Ukraine increased nearly 24-fold, while Iraq increased nearly 14-fold.
The top 15 source countries of asylum seekers in Europe are: Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo (68,000), Albania (67,000), Pakistan (47.000), Eritrea (46,000), Nigeria (31,000), Iran (27,000), Somalia (21,000), Ukraine (21,000), Serbia (19,000), Russia (19,000), Bangladesh (18,000) and Gambia (13,000).
Since 2012, Germany has been the primary destination country for asylum seekers in Europe, receiving 442,000 asylum applications alone in 2015. Following Germany, Hungary (174,000) and Sweden (156,000) received the highest number of asylum applications.
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan organisation that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research.