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Over 27,000 asylum requests made in Switzerland last year: report

Xinhua, January 24, 2017 Adjust font size:

Totally 27,207 people sought asylum in Switzerland in 2016, down from 39,523 two years ago, the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) reported Monday.

Representing a 31.2 percent drop from 2015, SEM explained that these numbers, which remain relatively high, 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 5,178 Eritrean nationals seek asylum in the confederation, a decrease of 4,788 asylum requests from two years ago.

Afghan asylum requests came in second with 3,229 applications registered by authorities, followed by Syrians (2,144), Somalians (1,581), Sri Lankans (1,373) and Iraqis (1,312).

The secretariat indicated in a statement that the influx of people escaping wars and seeking refuge in the confederation was likely to continue this year.

SEM estimated that a further 24,500 individuals are expected to seek asylum in Switzerland over the course of 2017. Endit