Number of Serbian Asylum Seekers in Germany Falls
Serbia, which used to be the leading country in the world in terms of the number of asylum requests, now ranks in fifth place after Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Iran.
A total of 138 Serbian citizens requested asylum in Germany in May, which marks a considerable fall from the 334 recorded in March and 227 in April, the German Interior Ministry stated.
The German authorities stressed that asylum requests from Serbia, seen as a stable developing country, have almost no chance of success. They added that Germany no longer provides state assistance for the return of rejected asylum-seekers either.
The European Union lifted visa requirements on citizens of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro in December 2009.
Since then, Serbia has received several complaints concerning the number of ethnic Albanians and Roma people from the impoverished south of the country, seeking asylum in Sweden, Belgium and Germany.
According to a report by the UN refugee arm, UNHCR, Serbia was the top country of origin for asylum-seekers in 2010, sending more applicants to the industrialized world than either Afghanistan and Iraq.
In order to deal with the constantly growing number of people from the country seeking asylum in the EU, Serbia has started drawing up a combination of short and long-term measures, including penalising travel agencies that encourage people to travel to Western Europe for asylum purposes.
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