By Bérengère Greenland
Earlier this month, the
University of Canterbury hosted, in association with UN Youth, the EUCN and the
NCRE, a model European Parliament for high school students. The theme this year
was the refugee crisis in Europe. For months we had been working on how to best
explain the crisis to teenagers. How could we make them understand what was at
stake for refugees, for host countries and for Europe but also how it mattered
for New Zealand? Then, that morning, before the event started I checked the
news on my computer and saw Aylan’s photograph. And I felt like no words or
figures could possibly explain with the same emotion the crisis that led a
young child to drown in the Mediterranean Sea and be found the next morning
lying lifeless on a beach.
Much commentary has been
made around the refugee situation both in Europe and New Zealand, especially
since the photo was published. But I’d like to take just a brief moment to come
back to the figures with a deeper understanding of what they mean. Because,
like Aylan, there are thousands everyday who attempt difficult and often
dangerous journeys to reach safe havens. But also because with every commentary
comes an opinion, a narrative, a bias. I’m not denying that I have my own bias
and the data that I wish to present here has obviously been selected for a
purpose. But I will not explain these figures in too much depth. And I hope
seeing these figures, that often get often get missed by the media, will bring
back some other figures into perspective and will allow you to make your own
opinion on the crisis.
An estimated 866,000
asylum applications were recorded in 2014, and there were 269,400 more claims
than the year before (+45%). This was the fourth consecutive annual increase
and it is clear that the overall number for 2015 will be another increase.
The top host countries of
refugees in 2014 were: Turkey (hosting 1.59 million refugees), Pakistan (1.51
million), Lebanon (1.15 million), Iran (982,000), Ethiopia (659,500) and Jordan
(654,100).
Still in 2014, Lebanon
hosted the largest number of refugees in relation to its national population,
with 232 refugees per 1,000 inhabitants. Jordan (87) and Nauru (39) ranked
second and third, respectively. At the moment it is estimated that a quarter of
Lebanon’s population are refugees.
The number of first time
asylum applications made in the EU member states increased by 86 % in the first
quarter of 2015 compared with the same quarter of the previous year but
remained stable compared to the last quarter of 2014.
In 2014, in the 28 EU
Member States, a total of almost 104,000 persons were granted refugee status,
nearly 60,000 subsidiary protection
status, and just over 20, 000 authorisation to stay for humanitarian reasons.
In Europe, Germany is the
country receiving the most asylum applications with just over 202,000
applicants last year. In that year Germany, processed around 97,000 asylum
application and about 40,000 applicants were accepted on first instance. The
rest will have to apply for a second procedure or return to their countries of
origin.
The EU undertook
obligations to accept and process 32500 applications during next 2 years, while
only this July 100 000 people have arrived on its shores.
Germany expects 800,000
asylum applications this year.
According to the UN, in
the coming months, some 3,000 people are expected to cross into Macedonia each day.
In the first quarter of
2015, the top nationality seeking asylum in EU member states was Kosovar with around
48 900 applications, followed by Syrians (29 100) and Afghanis (12 900).
Human traffickers request
fees which differentiate depending on person’s nationality: Sub-Sahara African
could be charged 700 dollars while Syrian – up to 2500 dollars.
In 2014, 51% of refugees
were children below the age of 18.
SOURCES:
UNHCR Global trends,
forced displacements in 2014. http://www.unhcr.org/556725e69.html
UNHCR, Asylum trends in
2014, levels and trends in Industrialised countries. http://www.unhcr.org/551128679.html
UNHCR, “UNHCR urges
humane treatment for refugees, urges collective action on issue.” http://www.unhcr.org/55dc749d6.html
EUROSTAT, Asylum
quarterly report, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Asylum_quarterly_report#Increase_in_asylum_applicants