(CS) The wave of asylum seekers to Luxembourg is not stopping with some 1,437 applications for international protection filed in the first seven months of this year alone.

Between 2010 and 2011 the number had jumped from 786 asylum seekers to 2,164, and the trend seems to continue this year, with more applications filed during the first half of 2012 than over the same period in 2011.

In July 2011, the majority of asylum seekers (200) came from Europe, especially Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. Only 17 refugees came to Luxembourg from the Middle East and Asia, with a further 18 from Africa.

Since the beginning of the year, the most refugees have come from:

• Serbia: 288 (20.04 percent)
• Albania: 256 (17.81 percent)
• Montenegro: 220 (15.31 percent)
• Kosovo: 156 (10.86 percent)
• Macedonia: 142 (9.88 percent)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: 125 (8.7 percent)
• Algeria: 26 (1.81 percent)
• Tunisia: 26 (1.81 percent)
• Iraq: 20 (1.39 percent)
• Iran: 14 (0.97 percent)
• Other: 164 (11.41 percent)

In 2012 so far, some 1133 decisions were made by the authorities, with a vast majority of applicants (1,015) already repatriated to their country of origin.

Only 28 applications for international protection were granted so far this year.