General

Canada leads G8 in per capita asylum seekers

Canada had almost as many claims overall as United States

Canada welcomed more refugee claimants per capita than any of the other G8 industrialized countries in 2008, reports the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Approximately 34,800 people sought asylum in Canada last year, compared to 39,400 in the U.S., which has nine times the population. France was the only other country chosen by more refugees overall, with 35,400 claimants. Norway, Sweden and Switzerland all had more refugee claimants per capita than Canada, but are much less populous countries. The U.S. had 130 claims per million people, Canada had 1,045 per million people and Norway had the most with 3,000 per million people. Canada has since reformed the asylum process to cut down on false claims. Those measures include visa requirements for visitors from Mexico and Czech Republic.

Vancouver Sun

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