Asylum Seeker Figures Soar in Finland

From January to June, some 2,680 people applied for asylum in Finland, compared to 1,030 in the same period of 2008, according to Finnish Immigration Services statistics.

Around half of the asylum seekers came from war-torn Iraq and Somalia, with 850 and 640 refugees respectively. The number of underage asylum seekers is also sharply on the rise.

But the number of applicants from Iraq has begun to slow in recent months. In May, authorities said that due to improved security, those coming from northern or southern Iraq or Baghdad would no longer be granted a residence permit unless they have individual grounds to stay. Individual reasons could include severe illness that cannot be treated in their home country.

Finland also faced soaring asylum seeker numbers last summer. The boost was partly caused by decisions in some European countries, such as Sweden, the Netherlands, Britain and Norway, to send people back to Iraq.

Finnish immigration authorities are struggling to process soaring numbers of applications, which means asylum seekers might have to wait up to two years for a decision on if they can stay.