The Dutch authorities considered 25,000 case for asylum in 1996, of which 3,000 were recognised as refugees. Most asylum seekers came from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Bosnia, Turkey, Sudan and Liberia. One out of every four applicants was younger than 15. Compared to other EU countries, the number of asylum applications in Portugal is very low. This is due to the fact that after 1984 manifestly unfounded requests were not included.
Most applicants come from Angola, Poland, Zaire, Ghana, Romania and Liberia.
The number of asylum applications in Spain has dropped in the last few years. Since 1995 Spain has received around 5,000 requests per year. Spain receives a lot of its migrants from Ceuta and Melilla on the northern tip of Morocco. The current refugee population in Sweden is estimated at 290,500. The majority of asylum seekers in 1996 came from Iraq, Iran, the former Yugoslavia and Somalia.