Number of new asylum-seekers (thousands)
Fig.16 Main destination countries for new asylum-seekers | 2006-2015
450
Germany
United States
Sweden
Russian Fed.
Turkey
Austria
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
to account for a large proportion of those seeking
international protection in Turkey in 2015 (53,800),
and Turkey now has the largest number of Iraqi
asylum-seekers in the world. There also has been a
considerable increase in the number of new Afghan
asylum-seekers, from 15,700 claims in 2014 to 63,400
in 2015, making this the largest country of origin for
individual asylum-seekers in Turkey. The number of
new asylum-seekers from the Islamic Republic of Iran
also increased to 11,400 claims in 2015 from 8,200
in 2014. Together, Afghan, Iraqi, and Iranian claims
accounted for 98 per cent of all individual claims for
asylum registered with UNHCR in Turkey in 2015.
Austria was the sixth-largest recipient of claims
for asylum. The 85,800 applications that the country received during 2015 made up the highest number on record and a sharp rise from 2014 (28,100).
The largest number of these came from Afghanistan
(25,200) and the Syrian Arab Republic (24,400),
together accounting for more than half of all applications. This is in contrast to 2014, which saw a relatively smaller 4,900 Afghan and 7,660 Syrian applications for asylum, although these two nationalities
40 Data from operational portal http://data.unhcr.org/
mediterranean/country.php?id=105.
were still the most common among applicants in
2015. Of particular note is the increase in claims
from Iraqis, which rose more than tenfold from 1,100
in 2014 to 13,300 in 2015.
The number of new individual asylum applications
(83,200) registered in Italy in 2015 was the highest
such number ever recorded. Despite an increase
from 63,700 in 2014, Italy remained the seventh-largest recipient country during the year. However, the
profile of those applying for asylum has changed significantly. Whereas in 2014 Mali was the main country
of origin, in 2015 Nigeria was the top country of origin
for those applying for asylum, with 17,800 applicants
compared to 9,700 in 2014. The second top country
of origin was Pakistan with 10,300 applicants, followed by the Gambia (8,000), Senegal (6,400), and
Bangladesh (6,000). Substantially fewer Malians applied for asylum in Italy in 2015 (5,500) compared
with 2014 (9,800). Although Eritreans represent a
significant proportion of those arriving by sea in Italy
(19%),40 only 700 individuals submitted a claim for
asylum in 2015.
The eighth-largest recipient country of asylum applications in 2015 (after adjustment) was Hungary.
The reported figures included applicants who usually
move onward within a short time to other countries
UNHCR Global Trends 2015 39