Why asylum seekers flee their country

When it comes to religious refugees in the United States, the split between Christians and Muslims is quite even. Around the world, religious refugees are everywhere: from Muslims persecuted in Myanmar to Christians in the Central African Republic to Hindus in Pakistan. Many famous individuals have been, at one point or another, a political refugee. Currently, the largest group of refugees in the world are fleeing civil conflict in Syria , which has been raging since and has killed , Syrians and displaced 6.

Another 5 million have left the country entirely. But before Syria, refugees fled wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in droves in the early s, 90s and s.

Afghanistan, notably, had the largest number of refugees of any country in the world for more than two decades between and , before being overtaken by Syria that year. This past June, France became the first country to accept a gay Chechen refugee — a monumental decision that had global reverberations.

The UNHCR updated its guidelines to include refugees for reasons of gender or sexual orientation in There are about 17 million displaced persons across the African continent, the Guardian reports , and only a small proportion of them are reaching the shores of the European continent. Many end up in sprawling, informal refugee camps like the town of Monguno in northeastern Nigeria.

Refugees fleeing hunger can, of course, also be escaping from other factors at the same time, including the rise of extremist groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria and the impacts of climate change.

Officially, climate change is not yet a valid reason for an asylum claim. In , the first climate change refugee asylum case was shot down by the New Zealand High Court when a Kiribati man attempted to claim that status by law. But as man-made climate change worsens, and oceans rise, the and conventions may need to expand their scope. He threatened to kill them if they did not withdraw their police report against him. Hundreds of thousands of people have left the Northern Triangle region in the past few years and sought asylum elsewhere.

According to the data collected by the U. High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR , the total number of asylum applications registered by citizens of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala to other countries increased more than elevenfold from through The largest percentage increase in asylum applications from people in these three countries is seen in Mexico, with an increase of 1, percent. Over this same period, the United States experienced an increase of 1, percent in asylum applications from Salvadorans, Hondurans, and Guatemalans.

The Northern Triangle countries were among the five countries with the highest number of citizens seeking asylum in the United States in The UNHCR recently reported a 58 percent increase from to in registered asylum-seekers and refugees from the Northern Triangle region, with more than , people seeking safety globally. In addition to violence, there are other emerging issues that may affect the number of people from these Northern Triangle countries seeking asylum today.

For example, reports claim that some Hondurans are leaving their country due to fear of instability after the highly contested election in While the significant numbers of people fleeing the Northern Triangle countries are evidence of the extreme conditions in the region, many others have fled from their homes and are internally displaced elsewhere in their home countries for those same reasons. Venezuela, once a middle-income developing country, is now collapsing.

Through community service providers, the Government also provides limited assistance to this group to meet their basic needs, such as assisting people to access health and social services. Not every person seeking asylum in the community is eligible for support under these programs. People who are not eligible receive no Government financial assistance.

They want to work and be self-reliant, but often find it difficult, due to a combination of factors, including temporary visa status, limited understanding of how to find work in Australia, lack of recognition of overseas qualifications and limited English language skills with little to no support to learn or improve English until they have been recognised as refugees.

When refugees arrive in Australia through the Humanitarian Program, they arrive as permanent residents and can immediately access income support payments in the same way as any other Australian permanent resident. They also receive some support specific to their needs such as access to caseworkers, help finding housing and English classes to help them become independent members of the community as quickly as possible.

Australia has a long history of humanitarian resettlement, providing safety to more than , people since World War II. Refugees make an important contribution to Australia in many areas including social engagement, workforce participation, business ownership and volunteering within our communities. Most families from refugee backgrounds are able to adjust effectively over time and generate substantial economic and social benefit.

The Centre for Policy Development, for example, reports that in Australia, refugees are more than twice as likely to establish their own businesses compared to the broader population. Many of Australia's successful and respected citizens have been refugees, having fled their home country to escape persecution.

Learn more about how Red Cross works with migrants in transition. Learn about human trafficking and forced labour. We can talk with your school, workplace or community group about why people seek safety. Refugee and asylum seeker facts. A father and son from Myanmar share a moment of happy relief after reaching the safety of a camp on the Bangladesh border. Is it illegal to come to Australia by boat and seek asylum? All people who arrive here by boat without a valid visa are subject to mandatory detention.

Do all people seeking asylum come to Australia by boat? Many people arrive by plane with a valid visa then claim asylum while they are here. Does Australia have more asylum claims than other countries?

The top hosting countries are: Turkey 3. Does Australia have more refugees than other countries? Is there a queue for people who come to Australia seeking asylum? Where do the most refugees come from? More than two-thirds came from just five countries: Syrian Arab Republic 6. The majority of these people came from: Iraq Democratic Republic of Congo Myanmar Syria Afghanistan The number of children seeking safety is steadily increasing worldwide.

Why do refugees and people seeking asylum move across many countries? Generally, people seeking asylum have very limited options available to them. How many refugees are in Australia?