Iraqis submit highest asylum applications in 2018

Iraq has been the country of origin, which sending the highest number of asylum seekers to Finland in recent years.

Iraqi refugees submitted a total of 1,556 asylum applications in 2018, said a press release issued by the Finnish Immigration Services (Migri).

Refugees from Afghanistan and Syria secured the second and third places respectively from the highest number of asylum applications last year.

Researchers of the Migri visited Baghdad, Iraq, on a fact-finding mission recently and met with national and international organisations and non-governmental organisations, authorities and other researchers, among others.

The purpose of fact-finding missions is to create and maintain a network of contacts that can be used to monitor the security situation in Iraq.

Information about the general conditions in the country and the security situations of various areas was also gathered during these fact-finding missions.

Iraq was the destination of the first fact-finding mission of Finnish Immigration Service researchers. More fact-finding missions are planned this year at least to Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and Russia.

The first report on the findings of the fact-finding mission to Iraq will be published in May.