Roundup: Hundreds of asylum seekers protest against forced deportations in Helsinki

Hundreds of asylum seekers and their supporters held a demonstration to protest against Finland's asylum policy on Saturday in the Finnish capital Helsinki, Finnish national broadcaster Yle reported.

Police estimated that between 400 and 500 people participated in the event, organized by a volunteer network named A Right to Live.

According to organizers, the majority of the participants were Iraqi asylum seekers, who opposed the forced returns of rejected asylum seekers to their homeland carried out by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).

During the protest, the participants marched through downtown Helsinki and arrived at the Senate Square, where they lit candles to memorize victims killed in conflicts and read negative asylum decisions issued by Migri.

Police said the demonstration went peacefully.

Earlier on Friday, Yle reported that in addition to nearly 3,000 voluntary returns assisted by the Finnish police and the International Organization of Migration, the Finnish police were currently facilitating the forced returns of rejected Iraqi asylum seekers.

Mia Poutanen, chief superintendent told Yle that people who have been rejected a residence permit are always first provided a choice of assisted voluntary return.

The move triggered the demonstration. The protesters said Finland's asylum policy is unjust.

A total of more than 32,500 asylum seekers arrived in Finland in 2015. Over 20,000 of them were from Iraq. This year, about 1,100 Iraqis have entered Finland so far.

By June this year, 77 percent of asylum decisions for Iraqi applicants had been rejected, as the Finnish immigration agency ruled in May this year that Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan were safe for refugees to return.

However, the agency announced in mid-November that it would reassess the security situations for the three countries in January 2017 in accordance with the new rounds of armed conflicts there. Endit