3,952 Algerians lodged political asylum applications in 2010

A total of 3,952 Algerians lodged political asylum applications in 44 industrialised countries in 2010, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) finds.

• The number of applications lodged in the European Union reached 3,337 in 2010 compared to 3,206 in 2009. In Europe, there were 3,812 asylum seekers compared to 3,630 in 2009, according to the 2010 statistical overview of asylum applications lodged in Europe and selected non-European countries released on Monday.
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• The rest of the applications were distributed in other countries like Canada and the US. The Algerian applicants represented 1.4 percent of asylum seekers in the world.
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• Serbia (including Kosovo) was the main source of asylum-seekers last year. It was responsible for 28,900 applications, an increase of 54 per cent compared to the previous year, when the country ranked sixth. Interestingly, the number of asylum applications in 2010 was comparable to 2001, soon after the Kosovo crisis.