Finnish people stage anti-EU rally in capital

People have taken to the streets in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, to stage a demonstration against policies adopted by the European Union (EU) on refugees.

On Sunday, dozens of protesters carried anti-refugee banners and called on the government to stop taking in asylum seekers.

They also chanted slogans against the Finnish government.

So far this year, more than 17,000 asylum seekers have reportedly arrived in Finland, a country of almost 5.5 million people on the edge of the Arctic.

The Finnish government has launched random border checks as well as identity checks amid a surge in the number of asylum seekers traveling to the European country.

Back in September, Finland was the only EU member that abstained from voting on the relocation of 120,000 refugees across the bloc. Helsinki only accepted its two-percent share of the asylum seekers.

Europe is facing record refugee arrivals. Thousands of asylum seekers, many of whom from war-ravaged Syria, travel from Turkey to Greece by boat. They then transit from Greece through Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia to Austria, with the ultimate goal of reaching Germany and other wealthy Western European states.

According to the recent figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 878,490 refugees have reached Europe’s shores so far this year while more than 3,560 people have either died or gone missing in their perilous journey to the continent.

The protest in Finland is the latest sign of division in Europe over the refugee crisis. In recent months, many European cities have witnessed pro-refugee rallies in which people welcome asylum seekers coming to their countries.

On Sunday, people in the German towns of Schifferstadt and Ohringen took to the streets to show their support for refugees.

In an interview with China’s Phoenix TV channel earlier this month, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose country’s violence-stricken nationals make up a large portion of the asylum seekers arriving in Europe, blamed the Western support for terror groups as the main reason behind the ongoing refugee crisis.