I. The Humanitarian Dimension in International Relations


Migrants and Refugees

At the end of 2001 the UN High Commissioner for Refugees was caring for some 21.8 million people who had fled over international borders from war, persecution and massive violations of human rights. It is estimated that a further 20 to 25 million people have been displaced within their own countries because of domestic conflicts. Between January and September 2001 a total of 308,820 applications for asylum were made to 22 European countries, an increase of 8 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year. Most applications were received by Germany (66,020), the United Kingdom (52,140), France (34,434), the Netherlands (24,625) and Austria (22,382). The most prominently represented countries of origin during this nine-month period (without the Italian figures) were Afghanistan (35,980), Iraq (33,550), Turkey (20,290), Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (18,640) and the Russian Federation (12,663).

30,135 persons applied for asylum in Austria in 2001, a massive increase of 64.8 per cent over the previous year's figure (18,284). The number of cases decided by the end of the year was 25,997, of which 1,114 were granted official asylum and 3,642 rejected. The remaining applications were dropped. This corresponds to a recognition quota of 19.7 per cent. The principal countries of origin were Afghanistan (12,957, of which 5,367 applications were made from abroad), Iraq (2,113) Turkey (1,876), India (1,804) and Yugoslavia (1,649).

Within Afghanistan more than six million people were dependent on international aid at the end of 2001, in addition to over 3.5 million Afghan refugees in neighbouring Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan. As a direct reaction to the Afghan crisis the Austrian government allocated one million euro for emergency aid, of which €363,364 was earmarked for projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and €218,019 for Tajikistan. These contributions were in the overall context of the European Union's aid to these three countries totalling €105.2m in 2001.

The repatriation programme for war refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo was completed in January 2001. This had enabled some 6,000 Bosnians and 4,800 Kosovars to return to their homelands. A total of 65,000 refugees from Bosnia- Herzegovina and 2,000 from Kosovo were finally integrated into Austria.