Finland Sets 2026 Refugee Quota with Focus on Afghanistan, Congo, and Syria

The Finnish government has confirmed it will accept just 500 refugees next year, maintaining a historically tight limit despite ongoing global crises.

For 2026, the available spots have been strictly divided by region. Finland will accept 150 Afghan refugees currently living in Iran and 120 Congolese refugees located in Rwanda.

The plan also includes 100 Syrian refugees from Turkey and 50 Venezuelan refugees from Peru.

A separate allocation of 30 places is reserved for refugees of various nationalities who have been evacuated from Libya to Rwanda. Finally, 50 spots are kept open for emergency cases from any region.

The Interior Ministry stated that officials will select these individuals through personal interviews. The process will prioritize the “most vulnerable groups,” specifically children, women, and people with disabilities.

This quota system allows Finland to bring in recognised refugees directly from camps abroad. It is separate from the asylum system, where people arrive at the Finnish border to ask for refuge.

Authorities expect the number of people arriving at the border to remain low. The Finnish Immigration Service forecasts only 1,500 to 2,500 first asylum applications for the entire year of 2026.

Before the current government took office, Finland’s refugee quota was typically much higher, standing at 1,050 people annually in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

The decision to cut this number by half to 500 was a key policy move by the Orpo government to tighten immigration.

The current figures are also a sharp contrast to the events of 2015. During that year, often called the “refugee crisis,” over 32,000 asylum seekers arrived in Finland.

Today’s expected intake of roughly 2,000 asylum seekers and 500 quota refugees represents a major reduction in migration flows compared to a decade ago.