A growing number of asylum seekers, or an estimated 70-80 percent, lodge their applications in the interior regions of the country. The previous practice was to submit the application immediately at the border upon entering the country.

   

This shift is a consequence of the Schengen agreement, which allows for entering Finland from another Schengen area country without border controls. At the border crossings in the Helsinki metropolitan region, around half of the asylum seekers come from another Schengen country.

   

The new situation poses problems for the police, as it is increasingly difficult to trace the background of the asylum seekers. Some applicants destroy travel documents before seeking asylum. Inland police authorities are also less experienced in assessing the background of asylum seekers.

Another problem that has emerged

is the wandering of asylum seekers from one Nordic country to another. Once an application for asylum has been rejected in one country, the person simply moves on to the next country.

   

Also, current treaties require that asylum applications be processed in the Schengen country that the asylum seeker first entered. Therefore, someone who entered the Schengen area in Finland but lodged an application upon arrival in, for example, Germany, can be returned to Finland by German authorities.

   

This year, some 130 asylum seekers have been returned to Finland, but Finland has also sent more or less an equal number back to another Schengen country. Flying the applicants between countries increases the workload of authorities, as well as the costs of the process.

It has been estimated

that some 3,000 people will seek asylum in Finland this year. This figure is equal to the level of 1999 and 2000, but twice as large as last year. Finland receives relatively few asylum seekers, as even Sweden sees a number ten times larger, and the total for the entire EU is 400,000.

   

So far this year, over one thousand applicants have received a negative outcome due to insufficient grounds. Nearly one third of this year's arrivals have been Roma from Romania. Most of these asylum seekers have already been sent back to Romania.

   

The average processing period for asylum applications is currently some 400 days, but some applications can be processed very rapidly if the country of origin of the applicant is considered safe.