ISLAMABAD - The number of asylum seekers from Pakistan has increased by 280 percent from 2017 to 2018 as the number has reached 35,800 in one year.
Pakistanis made up the 10th largest group to apply for asylum in 2018 as the total asylum seekers originated from Pakistan increased from 9,400 in 2017 to 35, 800 in 2018.
As per the statistic given by UNHCR’s annual Global Trends report 2018, for the first time, asylum claims from Venezuelans dominated the global asylum statistics with 341,800 new claims in 2018, accounting for more than 1 in 5 claims submitted. Afghanistan was the next most common country of origin for individual new asylum applications in 2018, with 107,500 claims lodged in 80 countries.
Asylum claims from Syrians were the third most common, in contrast to previous years. There were 106,200 new claims in 2018, a quarter of the peak number of 409,900 lodged in 2015 and a small decline on the 117,100 submitted in 2017.
The fourth number asylum seekers were from Iraq, however the number of Asylum seekers originated from Iraq was decreased to 72,600 in 2018 compared with 113,500 the previous year. The fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth position for the asylum seekers were DRC, Salvadorans, Eritreans, Hondurans and Nigerians respectively.
The number has reached 35,800 in 2018
The other nationalities that submitted significant numbers of new asylum claims in 2018 included the Islamic Republic of Iran (35,800), Guatemala (34,800), Sudan (32,400), Nicaragua (31,400), Turkey (30,000), Somalia (27,800), China (27,500) and Colombia (25,500), said the UNHCR’s annual Global Trends report 2018.
Italy received the largest number of these claims with 7,300, followed by Greece (7,200), the United Kingdom (2,600) and Germany (2,200).
The largest asylum-seeker population at the end of 2018 continued to be in the United States of America, where the population increased from 642,700 at the start of the year to 719,000 at the end, said the report.
Regarding refugee hosting countries the report said Pakistan ranked second in the refugees hosting country. For the fifth consecutive year, Turkey hosted the largest number of refugees worldwide, with 3.7 million people followed by Pakistan with 1.4 million Afghan refugees. Uganda hosted 1.2 million people, Sudan 1.1 million and Germany 1.1 million, said the report.