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Finland suddenly top choice for Iraqi migrants

In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 18, 2015, refugees arrive in Tornio, northwestern Finland. Finland, on the northeastern frontier of the EU with vast expanses of forests and reindeer roaming the wilds of Lapland, with long, dark, cold winters, has not been a prime destination for population flows in Europe, but now hundreds of people are crossing daily from neighboring Sweden after traveling through that country by train or bus. (Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva via AP) FINLAND OUT, NO SALES
In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 18, 2015, refugees arrive in Tornio, northwestern Finland. Finland, on the northeastern frontier of the EU with vast expanses of forests and reindeer roaming the wilds of Lapland, with long, dark, cold winters, has not been a prime destination for population flows in Europe, but now hundreds of people are crossing daily from neighboring Sweden after traveling through that country by train or bus. (Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva via AP) FINLAND OUT, NO SALES In this photo taken Thursday, Sept. 18, 2015, refugees arrive in Tornio, northwestern Finland. Finland, on the northeastern frontier of the EU with vast expanses of forests and reindeer roaming the wilds of Lapland, with long, dark, cold winters, has not been a prime destination for population flows in Europe, but now hundreds of people are crossing daily from neighboring Sweden after traveling through that country by train or bus. (Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva via AP) FINLAND OUT, NO SALES

By Associated Press 6 min read

HELSINKI (AP) – After 25 days of winding through Europe on buses, trains, cars, a motorcycle and even a horse cart, Firas Afandi reached the end of the line: Finland.

“For me, this is where I want to be,” the 48-year-old Iraqi electrical engineer said outside a reception center for asylum-seekers in a plush, leafy quarter of Helsinki, sighing deeply as he recalled his exhausting journey. “People here are civilized, calm and it’s quiet.”

Finland, a country of 5.5 million people on the edge of the Arctic with vast expanses of forests and reindeer roaming the wilds, has suddenly and unexpectedly emerged as a top destination for Iraqis who are crossing the Mediterranean to Europe along with hundreds of thousands of others fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.

Some 11,900 Iraqis have applied for asylum in Finland this year, accounting for 70 percent of all claims. More than 8,600 arrived in September alone. This year only Germany, by far the biggest recipient of asylum-seekers, has seen higher numbers of Iraqis, who make up a small percentage of the migrants arriving in Europe overall.

Last year, just 790 Iraqis applied for asylum in Finland and only 123 were approved. Most of the rest were deported, though a few were given temporary permits to stay on compassionate grounds due to factors like age, illness or pregnancy.