Iraqis, fleeing the violent situation in their country, were the largest group of asylum seekers in 2006, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday in a report that showed global asylum applications declining for the fifth consecutive year. The increase in Iraqi applications rose 77 percent from 2005 to 2006, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. The level still remains lower than 2002, however, when more than 50,000 Iraqis applied for asylum in Europe and other industrialized countries. In 2006, 9,000 people applied for asylum in Sweden, while 2,800 people applied to the Netherlands, 2,100 applied to Germany, and 1,400 made applications to Greece. Currently, more than 2 million Iraqis are internally displaced, while nearly two million have fled to neighboring countries Syria and Jordan. UNHCR has called an international conference on April 17-18 to focus on the plight of the refugees and how to handle the humanitarian situation caused by the war.
