Last year, the Greek asylum approval rate was 0.05percentt.
Snowden's lawyer Anatoly Kucherena has been receiving letters and calls in support of his client following the asylum approval.
Of those who are able to hold out for a decision, only about 20percentt win — less than half of the roughly 50percentt asylum approval rate of the United States.
And, while Zimbabweans were being forced to wait years for asylum approval, refugees from other African countries were getting their applications considered within six weeks, he said.
For those who get to this stage, a long waiting game ensues for the asylum approval that would theoretically enable them to look for work on a continent where jobs are not exactly abundant.
NGOs have largely welcomed the government's proposals to create a new, independent asylum authority separate from the police, and have lauded promises to raise Greece's asylum approval rate to the "European average".
It says much about what's taken place in the Australian political discourse over the past 30 years that Labor foreign minister Bob Carr is today making headlines demonising "economic refugees", and calling for a toughening of asylum approval processes.
UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have criticized Greece's 0.03percentt first-instance asylum approval rate, the lack of an independent appeals process, and rampant corruption and inefficiencies during application intake.
A recent Guardian report showed that out of Europe's major countries, Britain has the worst rate of approvals for asylum seekers, the majority of which come from Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria.
A recent Guardian report showed that out of Europe's major countries, Britain has the worst rate of approvals for asylum seekers, the majority of which come from Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria.
