GENEVA: Syria, Russia and Afghanistan have the largest numbers of people fleeing their homelands to seek asylum, and most are turning to Europe, the United Nations refugee agency said in a report on Friday that analyzes trends in 44 industrialized countries.
Syria’s 3-year-old civil war generated 56,351 asylum seekers in 2013, more than double the previous year’s total of 25,232, according to the office of the United Nations high commissioner for refugees. Syria became the world’s biggest source for asylum seekers, surpassing Afghanistan, which fell to third.
Russia, meanwhile, become the second-biggest source of asylum seekers with 39,779, up from 22,650 in 2012.
Volker Turk, the agency’s director of international protection, attributed Russia’s surge to “a strong migration element” that is traditionally related to the Russian region of Chechnya, where there have been many conflicts between separatist movements and Moscow. (Agencies)
