Refugees from Russia are aimed at Austria and Czechia

The number of people expecting to get political asylum in Europe has reached its lowest mark since 1999. Such data are contained in the UNHCR report for the second quarter of 2003 published on Tuesday in Geneva.

82,500 people hoping to get political asylum arrived in Europe from April to June 2003; in the previous quarter this figure was 94,500 people. While the number of refugees from Iraq has reduced by 34%, the number of citizens of the Russian Federation who would want to get refugee status in Europe has dramatically increased. Their growth has come to 40%. Most of the Russians are willing to stay in the Czech Republic and Austria.