Quote:
According to the figures, there were 16,000 applications for asylum in the first three months of 2003. That's a fall of 32% on the previous quarter and the lowest figures for some time.
Historically, asylum applications tend to fall during winter months and there have been falls elsewhere in the European Union, albeit by nowhere near the same degree,
But a closer look at the figures reveal what refugee agencies say time and time again: The majority of people who come to the UK continue to come from countries where there is either war, social unrest or a record of persecution.
The top five applicant nationalities in the first quarter of 2003 were Iraq, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and China. That's the same top five as for the whole of 2002.
There has been an enormous 75% fall in applications from Sri Lanka since the first quarter of 2002. The Refugee Council says this is a "clear consequence" of the peace process which is now a year old.
Similarly, applications from Afghans are starting to fall as international efforts to stablise the nation continue.
As for applications from Europe, the numbers are fairly insignificant in comparison to the bigger picture.
The one statistic which has raised eyebrows among refugee agencies is applications from Zimbabwe.
These have fallen dramatically despite, according to campaigners, no improvement in the human rights situation in the country.
They say the government's visa restrictions on entrants from Zimbabwe is at the heart of this.
Seems like we're celebrating too soon imo. But these kinds of measures can be effective, Australia for example apparently has had a lot of success in reducing the number of applicants, but would you be happy with the measures they took to achieve it?