Fewer people apply for international protection

So far this year, the number of people applying for international protection in Iceland is down from last year, Morgunblaðið reports. During the first seven months of the year, the total number of people applying for international protection was 370, compared with 1,100 during the entire year of 2017.

Although only three Iraqi refugees applied for international protection in July, they remain the largest group of refugees this year, or 71, compared with 111 the entire year of 2017. Aside from groups coming from countries regarded as safe, they have been the largest group of refugees in Iceland in recent years. So far this year, 64 of their applications have been processed and 23 of them approved.

Although the number of applications for international protection from countries regarded as safe, such as Georgia, Albania and Macedonia, is substantially down this year, quite a few people still come from Albania. They rank second behind Iraqis, in terms of number of applications so far this year. In July, Albanians were the largest group applying for international protection.

On average, ten-20 people arrive from Albania a month, and so far this year, 24 applications have been received from Georgia and two from Macedonia. The reason for the decrease in the number of applications from these countries is that the Directorate of Immigration has succeeded in shortening the processing time for applications significantly. People in this group tend to go to countries where they can remain longer, due to a long processing time.