Canadian immigration officials confirm seven Olympic asylum seekers

Canadian Immigration spokeswoman, Johanne Nadeau, said the seven claims have been initiated and the claimants are not in detention.

Ms Nadeau confirmed that six of the refugee claimants are from visa-exempt countries, while one is from a country requiring a Canadian visa to enter the country.

Four of the claimants are from Hungary, two are from Japan and one from Russia.

The issue of the asylum seekers have again raised concerns of whether the Canadian immigration system is open to abuse, particularly as the majority of claims from Hungary are abandoned or withdrawn before the hearings.

In 2009, the number of claimants from Hungary soared to more than 1,350, almost five times the 285 who applied for refugee status in 2008. In 2007, there were 24.

Last year, the Immigration and Refugee Board accepted three refugee claims from Hungary, five were rejected, and 259 claims (97 per cent) were abandoned or withdrawn.

Last year, Ottawa imposed a visa requirement on the Czech Republic and Mexico after a large increase in  asylum-seekers from the two countries, and Canadian Immigration minister Jason Kenney  has said that imposing a visa on Hungary would be a last resort if diplomatic discussions did not yield a result.

Last fall, Minister Kenney travelled to Budapest to hold discussions with the Hungarian government.

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