A total of 1480 foreigners sought asylum in Finland from January to June and the number is 16 per cent higher compared to the number of previous year, official sources said.
The Department of Immigration estimates that the total number would be about 3400 at the end of the year.
Sources said that most of the applications seeking asylum were submitted by the Iraqi people followed by Russian, Afghanistan, Nigerian, Iranian and Moroccan nationals.
A total of 374 Iraqis sought asylum in Finland this year so far.
The number of asylum seekers from Syria, however, has decreased this year than that of last year.
A total of 41 people from Syria sought asylum this year, the number was 80 during the stipulated period of previous year.
