Asylum seekers to Indonesia up 800 percent

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The number of asylum seekers entering Indonesia has drastically increased by 800 percent, an expert has said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Indonesia’s office recorded that there was significant rise in the number of refugees from only 389 in 2008 to 3,230 people in 2009.

“There is an increasing trend in the number of both refugees and asylum seekers coming into Indonesia,” said Mitra Salima Suryono of UNHCR Indonesia during a media gathering at the Bali Rani Hotel in Kuta on Friday.

Thousands of refugees and asylum seekers try to flee their homes to several countries to avoid wars and conflicts. “The number of people coming to Indonesia as refugees and asylum seekers is still small when compared with those heading to Pakistan and other Asian countries and Australia,” Mitra said.

Pakistan received 1 million refugees; Iran had 800,000; Thailand had 100,000; Malaysia had 98,000 and Australia had 29,000.