Finland Times

A total of 1,628 asylum seekers were issued with residence permits on the basis of international protection.

Meanwhile, over 1,300 asylum seekers received negative decisions, accounting for 41 percent of the processed applications.

The majority of the decisions made in 2015 were issued to asylum seekers who arrived in Finland before last autumn, said the Immigration Service.

A total of about 32,500 asylum seekers arrived in the country last year of which nearly two out of three were from Iraq. The second largest arrivals came from Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria.

According to the Immigration Service, nearly 3,300 applications expired in 2015.

The figure was significantly higher than in the previous years. The most common reason was cancellation of the applications by the applicants.

To accommodate the asylum seekers, Finland had to set up new reception centers at a rapid pace last year. The number of the reception units for adults increased from 18 to 142, and the number of units for minors increased from 8 to 68.

Last week, a delegation of the Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement visited Finland, in an effort to enhance cooperation in the repatriation of Iraqi asylum seekers to their home country.