CHAPTER 5 At the global level (UNHCR and State asylum procedures combined), the Total Protection Rate (TPR) was 60 per cent – i.e. the percentage of substantive decisions that resulted in any form of international protection (Figure 19). This rate has increased considerably since 2003 when the rate was 27 per cent, a rise partly due to the growing proportion of Syrians among asylum-seekers. At this time, global rates are indicative, as some States have not yet reported the relevant data. Looking at the global figures for the most common countries of origin, Syrians had close to a universal granting of some form of international protection, with a TPR of 99 per cent, followed by Iraqis (68 per cent), Iranians (59 per cent), Afghans (57 per cent), and Pakistanis (24 per cent). PE N D I N G C L A I M S The asylum-seeker population is made up of people with pending claims at the end of the year. At the end of 2016, 2.8 million individuals were awaiting decisions on their claims, including applicants at any stage of the asylum procedure. 65 That is a decrease compared with 2015 (3.2 million), but that drop is mainly accounted for by a sharp reduction in the asylum-seeker population reported by South Africa, which decreased from 1.1 million to 218,300. Most of this was the result of updated statistical information on the number of cases that could be administratively closed due to abandonment of the claim. Excluding data from South Africa, which has seen variations in numbers in 2015 and 2016 largely due to changes in statistical methodologies, there has clearly been a sustained increase in the global asylum-seeker population. Due to the revision of figures from South Africa, Germany had the largest asylum-seeker population at the end of 2016 with 587,300 pending claims. That was an increase of nearly 40 per cent compared with 2015 (420,600) and 160 per cent compared with 2014 (226,200). While Germany made the largest number of substantive decisions of any country in 2016 (639,000), asylum claims in recent years outpaced the capacity to process decisions, leading to an increase in the asylumseeker population. The number of asylum-seekers substantially increased in the United States, nearly doubling from UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2016 286,200 at the end of 2015 to 542,600 a year later. Turkey also had a significant asylum-seeker population of 245,800, which did not include Syrians who are protected under the Temporary Protection regime. Other countries with more than 50,000 asylum claims pending at the end of 2016 included South Africa (218,300), Italy (99,900), Sweden (83,100), Austria (76,400), France (62,800), and Malaysia (56,300). Despite improved statistical reporting on pending asylum applications, the true number of undecided asylum cases is unknown, as some countries do not report this information. As in 2015, Afghanistan was the country of origin with the most asylum-seekers, rising from 259,000 in 2015 to 369,000 in 2016 (an increase of 42 per cent). The number of asylum-seekers from Iraq also increased to 278,300, while there was a decrease among Syrian asylum-seekers to 184,200 from 245,800 the previous year (a 25 per cent decrease). Other source countries with significant numbers of asylum-seekers awaiting decisions reported to UNHCR were the Islamic Republic of Iran (87,500 claims), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (82,600), Ethiopia (78,100), and China (72,100). 66 65 Analysis of global levels and by country of asylum is based on individuals with cases multiplied by the average number of persons per case. Analysis by country of origin is based on individuals and cases, depending on how these were reported by the country of asylum, since inflation factors are not provided by country of origin. 66 Information on country of origin was not provided for the asylumseeker population in South Africa. 45