Why do people seek asylum in Europe?
35. It is estimated that the total number of refugees and asylum seekers in the world in 2002 was 13 million. [37] The vast majority of these people remain close to their countries of origin. Only a small proportion have arrived in European countries including the UK. The number of asylum applications to all EU countries in 2001 was 384,000. [38] 36. According to the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), “At the end of 2000, Pakistan alone had a refugee population of two million. Tanzania had 18.93 refugees for every 1,000 inhabitants and 80.15 refugees per $1 million GDP. In comparison, even if all 655,000 people who had sought asylum in the UK over the past decade had been granted refugee status, this would mean that there were 10.88 refugees for every 1,000 inhabitants and 0.4 refugees per $1 million GDP. In 2002 the UNHCR ranked the UK 32nd in the world on the basis of its size/GDP/population and number of refugees.”[39] 37. Although, as we shall see, there were significant d
