GENEVA (Reuters) - An estimated 383,000 asylum seekers lodged applications to stay in the West in 2008, a 12 percent rise on 2007 as more Somalis and Afghans fled fighting in their homelands, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Refugees from Iraq and elsewhere are now seeking permanent shelter in a wider variety of destinations, possibly because traditional countries of asylum such as Sweden have adopted stricter policies, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
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