Last year, 541 citizens of Ukraine sought asylum in France
As RFI notes, the report provides data on individual countries whose citizens submitted the largest number of applications for refugee status. The absolute leaders in the number of applications in France were people from Albania, as well as citizens of Haiti, Syria and African countries. Regarding refugees from the post-Soviet space, Ofpra provides data only on four countries: Russia, Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine.
RUSSIA
In 2017, the French Office for Refugees received 1,844 applications from Russian citizens, which is 23% more than in 2016. Thus, the trend of the last five years, during which the number of refugees from Russia was declining, has changed. The majority of applications came from residents of the North Caucasus, primarily from Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia.
Most requests are based on persecution due to sexual orientation. Such requests were submitted by people from Chechnya, among others, but not only. Another significant category of applicants were Jehovah's Witnesses, recognized in Russia in 2017 as an "extremist organization." Among the applicants there are also some political activists and "a small number of oligarchs in difficult relations with the authorities."
ARMENIA
Slightly fewer – 1,751 files – were submitted to Ofpra by people from Armenia. Compared to 2016, the number of applications increased by 74%. The main motives were persecution on national or religious grounds. Among the applicants there are many ethnic Azerbaijanis or Yazidis who lived in Armenia.
However, the main factor of emigration from Armenia is economic motives, Ofpra believes. Since Armenia is on the list of "safe countries," from the point of view of independent justice and respect for fundamental human rights, and asylum requests from Armenian citizens are processed on an expedited basis and more often end in refusal, many applicants hide their Armenian citizenship and try to pass themselves off as Russian citizens persecuted on ethnic grounds, the Ofpra report says.
GEORGIA
1,542 asylum applications were submitted in 2017 by people from Georgia, which is also almost double the previous year, 2016. The main motives are political persecution of activists of the opposition party "United National Movement," which began after the coalition "Georgian Dream" came to power, as well as ethnic conflicts. Among the applicants with Georgian citizenship there are many Abkhazians, Ossetians, Armenians and Yazidis, the Ofpra report notes.
UKRAINE
Finally, 541 asylum requests were received from Ukrainian citizens. Unlike other countries in the region, this figure did not increase compared to the previous year. As before, most requests are related to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Among the asylum seekers are people from Donbass. There are also those evading mobilization to the combat zone, as well as a number of requests related to sexual orientation or religious beliefs. Several requests came from those who left Crimea after the annexation of the peninsula by Russia.