1, 895 Nigerians seek asylum in Switzerland

GENEVA According to Swiss government statistics the main countries of origin for asylum seekers in 2011 were Eritrea with 3,356 applications, followed by Tunisia with 2,574 requests, and Nigeria with 1,895The number of asylum applications in Switzerland jumped about 45 percent in 2011 from the preceding year, federal migration office statistics showed Thursday.
Last year 22,551 asylum applications were filed in Switzerland, the highest number since 2002, the office said in a statement.
"This large influx of asylum applications was mainly due to the crisis in North Africa," and an influx to Europe from March, said the Swiss authorities.
The statement warned that Tunisian asylum seekers were "unlikely to be able to stay in Switzerland" although forcible deportations to the North African nation had been suspended due to upheavals there.
Of the total applications filed, 3,711 people were granted asylum compared with 3,449 the year before, an increase of 7.6 percent.

Romanian Special Envoy envisions Improved Qatar Ties


The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its Ambassador at large or Special Envoy, Vasile Sofineti recently visited Qatar to boost the relationship between its Country and Qatar, with other Gulf Countries.

The Ambassador at Large visited the Ministry of foreign Affairs , where dialogue and discussions centered on opening new bridges of understanding and partnership between the two nations.Also the meeting touched on ways of boosting relationship and creating a portfolio of opportunities for Qatari business men and other GCC nationals.

The visit to Qatar is the first in the region by the Ambassador who will visit other Gulf Countries in the coming days.

The Ambassador said, " My Mission is not easy but it has the chance to succeed, we are organizing a Romanian Business Forum come next April 2010, the forum is for Romanians, Central European and GCC businessmen to come see the business potentials and opportunities in Romania .A Cultural display by participating nations is also on cue, am thrilled with the meetings that i had, and with the ideas that i got from all those meetings, which help fulfil my mandate"

"Am Promoting the ideas of partnership, we invite Qatari business men to look into the Romanian Market, where they will find a lot of opportunities and they can be assured of our full support", said Vasile Sofineti.

"Romania has excellent Political relations with Gulf Countries, the Political dialogue is very sincere and friendly,in the last 20 years we align our relationship with the European Union and NATO because they are closer and we are in the same Continent, we want to ignite and open new bridges with friends"

"Traditionally we have had a lot of Arab Students studying in Romania now we have a few thousands, because of that we have large numbers of Arab Communities in Romania.So many have taken Romanian Citizenship, the people who study in Romania are large assets for us"

"We have had good economic ties with the Arab World.We can work together in oil inspection field, we can also assist the big projects that Qatar is envisaging, like the security systems in the new airport, also Information technology, though India is close, we have had successes in Tunisia. In Tourism and Agriculture there is open invitation to know each other better as a member of the EU and NATO, am sure Romania will be a pleasant surprise for Qatari businessmen.

The new Ambassador at Large for the relations with Arab countries in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is a Journalist Cum Diplomat, he served as Editor in Radio Bucharest (1978-1990)in charge of Persian Language, he has also served as Ambassador in Jordan, India and accredited to Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.