The Federal Opposition is blaming the changes in government policy for the increase in numbers of asylum seekers arriving in Australia this year. Asylum seekers: malicious arithmetic and game show rhetoric
2009 could indeed be a new record year for asylum seekers- in Norway, Finland, Britain and Malta!
(And probably for more nations- I ran out of energy to keep checking national newspaper reports at that point!)
9,900 asylum seekers arrived in Norway until July this year, an increase by 45 percent compared with the same period last year, reported the Norway Post.
Last year, around 14,400 asylum seekers arrived in Norway, nearly double the number from the year before.
Record numbers of asylum-seekers are entering Finland this year. Asylum applications to reach a record high this year
In just three months over the summer, 29,100 arrived in the UK claiming asylum – the equivalent of 116,400 a year and the highest figure in the nation’s history. Record number asylum seeker claims
Malta saw an 89 per cent increase in new asylum applications last year http://www.eriplanet.com/Diaspora/4688-Malta-receives-worlds-highest-number-asylum-applications.html
None of these nations have changed asylum seeker policies substantially in recent times.
