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Number of asylum seekers in Switzerland on the rise: report

Xinhua, August 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) reported on Thursday that the number of asylum seekers looking for refuge in Switzerland increased by 2 .0 percent compared to June this year.

The total number of asylum requests reached 3,896 last month, 91 more than in June. SEM indicated that while the number of Eritrean and Somalian asylum seekers slightly declined, the number of requests registered by Afghan and Syrian nationals was on the rise.

According to figures, 15,769 asylum requests were registered in Switzerland in the first seven months of this year, representing a 20-percent rise compared to the same period last year.

However, this pales in comparison to the total number of asylum seekers arriving in the European Union and in the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), where some 425,000 requests were received between January and June 2015.

This represents a 71-percent increase compared to the same period last year, which saw 248,000 recorded asylum requests.

SEM revealed that in July, most asylum requests registered in the confederation were carried out by Eritreans (2,130 requests), followed by Afghans (254), Syrians (242), Sri Lankans (166), Somalians (149) and Ethiopians (84).

Official figures showed that 696 asylum seekers left Switzerland last month, 57 fewer than in June. Endit