Right of asylum

The number of asylum-seekers in industrialised countries rose by nearly half last year, driven by the devastating conflicts in Syria and Iraq, with Germany the top destination, the UN refugee agency said March 26.
      

Immigrants demonstrating outside the Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection hope to be given political asylum. Ahmet from Syria has been going to the ministry every day for the last month to no avail. "Two to three people enter while we sit outside for hours to no avail. There are a hundred of us. We want political asylum. How can I work without papers? Who will hire me?" he asks.

Serbia crash spotlights peril for migrants

A deadly accident involving refugees from Syria and other war zones draws attention to a growing crisis for some Balkan states.

Asylum seekers wait in Belgrade for the bus to Hungary. [Nikola Barbutov/SETimes]

Since the Syrian civil war erupted four years ago, tens of thousands of refugees have poured into the southern Turkish port town of Mersin, fearing they may never return home and yearning for a better life.
     
Between 200,000-350,000 Syrian refugees are now estimated to live in the workaday Mediterranean city, swelling its population of around one million by about a quarter.

The United Nations food agency said March 6 it had been forced to withdraw aid from nine Syrian refugee camps in Turkey due to a lack of funds, calling on donors to step up and help fill the funding gap.

Bulgarian authorities have drafted a new plan for the integration of refugees that calls for providing them with access to the country's labour market, Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva said on Thursday.

Turkey has said its financial burden emanating from the Syrian conflict has reached $6 billion, calling for more help from the international community. The United Nations, meanwhile, said Turkey has become the largest refugee host in the world.

16,500 people sought asylum in Serbia last year

BELGRADE -- Deputy Commissioner for Refugees and Migration Ivan Gerginov said on Wednesday that 16,500 people have sought asylum in Serbia in 2014.

11,300 of them found shelter in asylum centers, he revealed.

Approximately 40% of asylum seekers in Bulgaria perceive themselves as vulnerable.

The strongest effect could be sensed among children, young adults, pregnant women, elderly people and those that went through physical or psychological torture and violence, the Bulgarian National Radio reported.

A total of 2,164 refugees coming from Libya who attempted to cross the Mediterranean by boats have been rescued close to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Several lives were lost and the cause has largely been hypothermia. Since the beginning of the year, 300 people have drowned attempting to cross the sea through the smuggling scheme.