Interior Minister Petteri Orpo. File Photo Lehtikuva. Interior Minister Petteri Orpo on Thursday said there are about 300 asylum seekers in the country having connections with terrorist activities, reported the news agency Xinhua quoting the Finnish national broadcaster Yle.

Orpo also said security around reception centres will be enhanced following the latest incident which saw a reception centre in Tampere go up in flames, reported the news agency STT.

Orpo termed the fire incident reprehensible and very disturbing if it turns out to be a case of arson.

According to Orpo, each and every reception centre will be examined one by one and those found to have security deficiencies will be closed.

Besides the security situation, the asylum centres will be evaluated in terms of overall functionality and from the perspective of the economy as well.

The interior minister said a marked decline in the number of asylum seekers arriving in the country has eased the arrangement of the reception centres. Currently, around 100 asylum seekers arrive in the country on a daily basis compared with September when 500 to 600 asylum seekers arrived every day.

“We now have a little breathing space and we are able to make this kind of assessments,” Orpo told journalists in parliament.

Orpo admitted that the police resources have been put to test because of security issues associated with the huge number asylum influx. “So far, the police have coped well, but of course this environment is very challenging,” he added.

The minister said the government has increased the police resources through the supplementary budget.

“We have practically managed to employ all the Finnish policemen and women, that is, currently there are no unemployed police officers,” he quipped.