Refugees walked in heavy rain from public transport centre to Lappia-building refugee reception centre in Tornio, north-western Finland on Friday. Photo Lehtikuva.
The number of asylum seekers arriving in the country in May-June was faster than in the entire European Union region, according to Eurostat figures.
A total of 1,605 persons applied for asylum in the country during this period. The rate of increase of asylum seekers at the beginning of the year was 67 percent in Finland compared to 15 percent in the EU.
The situation has changed since June following deterioration of the crisis throughout Europe.
According to Eurostat figures, the majority of asylum seekers who arrived in the country in April-June were mainly from Somalia, Iraq and Albania. Currently, the overwhelming majority of asylum seekers come from Iraq.
According to the government, over 11,000 asylum seekers have arrived in the country this year. Over half of them have arrived from Iraq.
