Chapter 5 Germany. Elahe, a 44-year-old tailor and asylum-seeker from the Islamic Republic of Iran, works at Mimycri in Berlin. This non-profit organization upcycles materials from refugee boats and turns them into fashion accessories. Their aim is simple: to raise awareness of the plight of refugees at sea and provide opportunities for those who would otherwise struggle to find employment. © U N H C R / G ordo n W e lt e rs the second largest nationality of origin with 310,100 pending claims at the end of 2018 compared with 334,000 at the end of 2017. Iraqi asylum-seekers were the third most common nationality and continued to decrease slightly from 272,600 at end-2017 to 256,700 at end-2018. Asylum-seekers from Syria have continued to decline, reaching 139,600 at the end of 2018, compared with 146,700 in 2017. (133,400), Ethiopia (133,300), El Salvador (119,300), China (94,400), Mexico (89,800), the Islamic Republic of Iran (87,400), Guatemala (86,900), Nigeria (84,700), Eritrea (78,600), Honduras (76,500) and Pakistan (75,400). Despite improved statistical reporting on pending asylum applications, the actual number of undecided asylum cases is unknown, as some countries do not report this information. ■ Other countries of origin with significant numbers of asylum-seekers awaiting decisions were DRC 48 unhcr > Global trends 2018