A record 1,599 people asked Japan for political asylum in 2008, but only 57 were accepted, the Justice Ministry said Friday.

The surge in applications was about double that in 2007, but those recognized as refugees only rose by 16.

Most of the surge was attributed to applications from Myanmar, where prodemocracy demonstrations took place in 2007.

Japan joined the U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1981 and set up its refugee recognition system in 1982. But it has only granted asylum to about 450 people as of 2007 — an extremely small number compared with those accepted by its peers in Europe and the United States.

Of the 57 recognized refugees, 38 came from Myanmar. Ministry spokesman Koji Nakagawa said the ministry does not name the countries other than Myanmar because doing so may pose a risk of identifying refugees.

Of the 1,599 applicants, people from Myanmar accounted for 979 of the applicants, followed by Turkey with 156 and Sri Lanka with 90.

Of those denied asylum, a record 360 obtained special permits to stay in Japan on humanitarian grounds, the ministry said. A large majority of those who were permitted to stay were also from Myanmar.

The ministry said they could not be considered political refugees according to their criteria, but will be allowed permanent settler status.

The U.N. refugee convention defines refugees as those with a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality or political opinion.