Switzerland, Sweden Report Asylum Seekers Rise

Swiss Federal Migration Office statistics show that in February 2010 alone, 166 people from Macedonia applied for asylum.
 
That figure is almost three times more than in all of 2009 and nine times more than in January 2010, Swiss news portal Swissinfo reported on Friday.

Data show that Macedonians currently top the list of asylum seekers in Switzerland, ahead of Eritreans and Nigerians, the data show.

Similar trends have also been recently noted in Sweden. Swedish ambassador to Serbia, Krister Bringeus, expressed his concern over large numbers of Serbian nationals asking for asylum in Sweden.

“We noticed that in February, shortly after the visa liberalisation, the number of those seeking asylum from Serbia increased. Last year, we had 580 such requests, while we received 300 new demands in February alone,” broadcaster B92 quoted Bringeus as saying.

He added that the asylum seekers, most of whom are Roma and ethnic Albanians, were being scammed by someone.

“They received the wrong information, probably from criminal groups, and maybe from someone else, because you cannot receive political asylum in Sweden for social and economic reasons, which is what they are seeking,” he said.

At the end of last year, the residents of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro were granted visa free travel to the countries in the Shengen zone. This includes most of the EU countries but Switzerland as well.

Last week Belgium raised the alarm when it complained it has been recently overwhelmed by the number of Serbian and Macedonian asylum seekers in the country.

Authorities in Skopje and Belgrade say they are doing everything they can to prevent this trend from continuing.
 
Belgium’s PM Yves Leterme is expected to arrive in Skopje on Monday to address the situation.