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Number of asylum seekers in Switzerland decreases in first quarter

Xinhua, April 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) reported on Monday that the number of asylum requests in the country has decreased over the first quarter of this year compared to 2014 figures.

Between January and March 2015, a total of 4,489 asylum requests have been registered, marking a 21 percent decrease compared to 2014's fourth quarter (5,662) and an 8 percent decrease compared to the same period last year (4,894).

Eritreans topped the list with 562 requests, which represents a 53.2 percent decrease compared to last semester's figures - 38.6 percent of these were from children born in Switzerland from Eritrean parents.

Sri Lanka's asylum seekers followed with a total of 435, marking a 0.7 percent increase.

The number of Syrian asylum seekers, standing at 391, represents a 48,6 percent decrease compared to figures for the last three months of 2014.

31 percent of the asylum requests were accounted for by nationals from these three countries.

Despite these overall negative trends, a 5 percent increase in asylum requests was observed between February and March of this year.

According to SEM, this is in tune with seasonal expectations as unfavourable meteorological conditions in winter render migration to Europe difficult.

This is especially true for Mediterranean crossings to Italy, according to SEM's quarterly report, 10,000 migrants reached Italian shores between January and March of this year, 21,000 fewer than the preceding quarter.

These results come amid growing European concerns following recent migrant tragedies which have left hundreds of people dead in the Mediterranean.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 35,000 asylum seekers and migrants have arrived by boat in Southern Europe so far in 2015, of which 1,600 are thought to have died.

Figures for 2014 show that out of the 219,000 migrants who crossed the Mediterranean to reach Europe 3,500 people lost their lives.

According to official figures, the number of asylum seekers in 2014 for Europe reached 600,000 - 4.0 percent were registered in Switzerland, a country which has one of the highest European ratios of asylum seekers per inhabitant.

SEM figures show that a total of 23,765 asylum seekers were reported in Switzerland in 2014 alone.

According to SEM's report, since the beginning of the year 2300 people have either left Switzerland or been repatriated, representing a 3 percent increase compared to 2014's fourth quarter. Endit