Inspecting asylum seekers upon entry: a medico-ethical complex.

In September 2007, the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR summarized the main asylum application levels and trends during the first six months of the year in 36 industrialized countries, including 26 European Union (EU) Member States. Based on the assumption of unchanged yearly patterns, the total number of new asylum claims lodged in these 36 countries over 2007 is about 300 000. The overall number of claims has decreased continuously over the past few years, but this trend was reversed in the second half of 2006. The current numbers represent the first increase since 2001.(aut. ref.