HONG KONG, Nov 21 (AFP) -- The number of south Asians seeking political asylum in Hong Kong is on the rise following the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan, it was reported Wednesday. Some 200 South Asians, most claiming to be businessmen, had sought political asylum from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Hong Kong between August and October, double the total number applying over the past seven years, the mass-circulating Chinese paper Oriental Daily News said. Most of the claimants were from Pakistan, while the rest were from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Indonesia. They entered Hong Kong through the Chek Lap Kok international airport or from Lo Wu checkpoints with the mainland. A spokesman for the security bureau said Hong Kong would not grant anyone political asylum under present policies. The senior management of the Hong Kong government, however, was shocked by the surge and was worried that some people might use it as a means to remain in Hong Kong indefinitely, the report said. It said the immigration department had already been instructed to step up its checks on suspicious travellers. The world's refugee problem was thrust back into the global spotlight in September following Australia's refusal to accept 438 mainly Afghan refugees rescued from a leaking ship and stranded at sea for days. Hong Kong closed its last refugee camp, for Vietnamese migrants, last year after the 1,400 remaining boat people were allowed to remain. They were left over from the surge of some 230,000 refugees into the territory following the fall of Saigon in 1975. The territory spent 8.7 billion dollars looking after them.