969 asylum seekers in August

6304 people have sought asylum in Norway so far this year, which is almost a half compared to the same period in 2009.

In August, 969 people searched for asylum, which is a small increase compared to previous months.

“Also this year, we see that more asylum seekers in August than any other month” said Hanne Jendal, head of the asylum department of the UDI. Compared to last year hold on the decline 46 percent.

Over twenty percent of asylum seekers in August came from Eritrea. Afghanistan and Somalia are the two other main candidate countries.

Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers

So far this year there have been 553 unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Compared with the same period last year, this is a decrease of 68 percent.

In August came the 102 unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Over a third of them came from Afghanistan.

Source: Immigration Directorate (UDI)