Iceland review - 2015, Page 65

ICELAND REVIEW 63
protection who are already in Iceland. As
in the rest of Europe, Iceland has received
a record number of asylum applications
this year. From January to mid-Septem-
ber, Iceland received 192 applications for
asylum, 49 in August alone, and by year’s
end, the year-over-year increase for 2014-
2015 is expected to be around 100 percent.
In past years, Iceland has received few
applications for asylum, yet even fewer
asylum seekers have obtained protection
in Iceland compared to its neighbor-
ing countries. However, so far this year
a record 54 people have been granted
protection in Iceland, including those
who were granted refugee status, those
who received subsidiary protection and
those who received a residence permit on
humanitarian grounds.
EU foreign ministers plan to discuss
reforms to the Dublin Regulation, which
demands that individuals apply for asy-
lum in the first EU country in which they
arrive (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and
REFUGEES
From a refugee camp in the Beqaa valley, Lebanon, several kilometers from the Syrian border.
“We need to guarantee [protection to] three-digit numbers.
Hopefully this can be a stepping stone.”
– Bryndís Björgvinsdóttir