Interior Minister Paula Risikko (Kok) told Yle on Thursday that after 2015, 5,300 asylum seekers have “disappeared” from Finnish authorities.

“Very many, at least that we know of, have gone to other countries,” Risikko said.

Risikko also mentioned to Yle that a negative asylum decision has been received by approximately 11,000 people, of which some 10,000 have appealed against the decision. An asylum seeker is legally a resident until the appeal process is underway.

After Turku’s events, politicians have argued about whether separate return centers should be set up in Finland. According to Risikko, there are currently two detention centers in Finland and one reception center with people who have mental health problems, for example.

Juhana Vartiainen (Kok) wrote on her blog on Thursday that it is “unprofitable and legally impossible to think that those who have a negative decision should be treated as a kind of dangerous criminal group that should be isolated”.

– The existing legislation allows for the detention of a person who is a dangerous person. There is sufficient evidence of a potential danger to the person or of attempting to avoid a legitimate return, Vartiainen wrote.

Jussi Halla-aho, Speaker of The Finns, said in a Yle A studio on Wednesday that The Finns would support the fact that both “people awaiting for asylum and especially those who have a negative decision are to be detained or placed geographically without having access to the rest of society”.

Halla-aho argued for detention, among other things, due to the risk of disappearance.