In second place in terms of the number of arriving refugees is the USA. In 2004, 52,360 asylum applications were filed in that country. Journalists note that the flow of refugees to the USA has sharply declined this year – in 2003, 73,780 people tried to obtain political asylum there. Those seeking to enter the USA are mainly from non-European countries, chiefly China, Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Indonesia, and Haiti.
In third place on the list of refugees' priority destinations is Great Britain, which ranked second in 2003. This year, 40,200 asylum applications were submitted there. Germany received 35,600 refugees, Canada – 25,500.
The largest national group among asylum seekers in 2004 were Chechens – 30,100 people. In second place are people from Serbia and Montenegro, a significant part of whom are from Kosovo. In third place are the Chinese.
According to a UN report, in 2004 the number of refugees to Western European and North American countries significantly decreased, reaching 368,200 people. As reported by Lenta.ru, this is the lowest figure since 1998. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees linked this to the decline in the number of people leaving Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. At the same time, he noted that the fall in the number of refugees may also be due to the fact that certain European countries have adopted “extremely strict laws” and there is a “rather hostile attitude” towards refugees.
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