Off the wire
• Canadian citizen indicted in China on charges of stealing state secrets  • Nearly 2 mln foreigners living in Switzerland last year: report  • Xinhua Insight: Xi's whirlwind diplomacy sweeps China to center stage  • 2nd LD: Car bombing near Yemen's presidential palace, 9 soldiers killed  • WHO to convene emergency committee for Zika virus  • German companies less willing to recruit in Jan.: Ifo  • Interview: South America must act to counter falling raw material prices, says expert  • Japan releases global forest map to help reduce global warming  • China Exclusive: Research finds cattle hearts used in ancient cosmetics  • Major upgrades for Mission Hills' World Ladies Championship  
You are here: 　 Home

Close to 40,000 asylum requests made in Switzerland last year: report

Xinhua, January 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

While some 1.4 million asylum requests were registered in Europe over the course of 2015, the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) indicated on Thursday that around 3.0 percent of these, or 39,523 cases, were made in Switzerland last year.

Representing a rise of 15,758 requests compared to 2014, the SEM explained that these high numbers are a result of protracted crises affecting Middle Eastern countries such as Syria and Iraq as well as a number of African states.

Last year saw 9,966 Eritrean nationals seek asylum in the confederation, an increase of 3,043 asylum requests from two years ago.

Afghan asylum requests came in second with 7,831 demands registered by authorities, followed by Syrians (4,745), Iraqis (2,388) and Sri Lankan nationals (1,878).

Though representing a 14-percent decrease compared to November 2015 figures, statistics show that in December 2015 alone 4,870 asylum requests were made in the country.

The Secretariat indicated in a statement that the influx of people escaping wars and persecution and seeking refuge in the confederation was likely to continue this year though predictions remain speculative. Endit