Australian Asylum Seeker Facts

Taken from: http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/04/17/asylum-seekers-the-facts-in-figures/

• Number of refugees* around the world: 37.4 million — UNHCR
• Current quota for refugees coming into Australia: 12,000  — Myths and Facts about Refugees
• Number of requests for asylum received by European countries in the past two decades: 6.3 million  —  Myths and Facts about Refugees
• Number of requests for asylum received by Australia, New Zealand and Japan in the past two decades: 107,000  —  Myths and Facts about Refugees
• Number of refugee boats intercepted this year coming to Australia: 6  —  The Brisbane Times
• Amount to be spent on detention operations, including $85.8 million for new detention contracts in 2008 — 09: $120 million  — Refugee Council
• Amount spent on detention in 07-08: $142 million
• Number of people granted refugee status in Australia in 2007-08, out of a total of 13, 014 humanitarian visas granted: 6004  —  Australian Human Rights Commission
• Number of asylum applications registered in 2008 for industrialized countries according to the United Nations: 383,000  —  UNHCR
• Number of asylum seekers who arrived last year: 4750  —  Malcolm Farr, The Daily Telegraph
• Number who arrived by boat: 179 — Malcolm Farr, The Daily Telegraph
• Asylum seekers found at sea off Australia so far this year: 221 — The Daily Tele
• Percentage of asylum seekers who arrive by air: more than 95% — Malcolm Farr, The Daily Telegraph
• Amount of money spent on the Pacific Solution over five years: More than $1 billion  — SMH
• Cost per person to be processed in Nauru, Manus and Christmas Island: more than $500,000  —  SMH
• The cost of holding asylum seekers on the mainland as a percentage of the running costs of the Pacific Solution, based on Department of Immigration estimates: 3.5 per cent. — SMH
• Percentage increase in the number of asylum applications worldwide between 2007 and 2008: 12%  —  UNHCR
• Increase in the number of asylum applications in Australia between 2007 and 2008: 19%  —  The Australian
• Increase in the number of asylum applications in Finland between 2007 and 2008: 181% — The Australian
• Asylum applications submitted by Afghans in 2008: 18,500 — UNHCR
• Number of asylum applications submitted by Afghans in 2002: 29,400  —  UNHCR
• Percentage increase in the number of asylum applications worldwide from Afghanistan in 2008: 85%  —  UNHCR
• Asylum applications originating in Iraq in 2008: 11%  —  UNHCR
• Average number of new asylum claims lodged by Iraqis between 2000 and 2002: 50,000  —  UNHCR
• Number of new asylum claims lodged by Iraqis in 2008: 40,500  —  UNHCR
• Asylum seekers who made it to Australian shores at the height of the Vietnam crisis in the late 70s: 1000  —  Daily Telegraph
• Number of refugees accepted into Australia in the early 1980s: 20,000  —  Myths and facts about Refugees
• Cost of detainment per person, per day on Christmas Island (as of 2007): $1830  — SMH
• Cost of detainment per person, per day at Sydney’s Villawood detention centre (as of 2007): $238  —  SMH
• Number of people who overstayed their visas as of 30 June 05: 47,800  —  Immigration Department
• Places offered for resettlement of Iraqis in 08-09 who have assisted the Australian military (at a cost to Australia of $42 million over four years) — up to 600  — Refugee Council
• Number of persons in immigration detention at some time during 2006-2007: 5485  —  HREOC
• Total number of persons in immigration detention in Australia as of 12 September 2008: 274  —  HREOC
• Number of these detained people who were unauthorized boat arrivals: 6  —  HREOC
• Number of these detained people who were unauthorized air arrivals: 40  —  HREOC
• Number of refugees in Colombia due to conflict between government and illegal armed groups and drug traffickers) (2007): 1.8-3.5 million  —  CIA
• Year when the United Nations High Commission for Refugees became operational: 1951 — HREOC