U.S. family seeks asylum in Finland

HELSINKI, Finland, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- A family of five U.S. citizens has requested asylum in Finland for reasons that haven't been disclosed by Finnish authorities.

The family made the request Tuesday to immigration officials at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport, the Helsingin Sanomat reported Thursday.

The newspaper said the group is unlikely to receive asylum, as they arrived in Finland from another Schengen country, and the terms of the Dublin Convention are commonly interpreted to require asylum seekers to make the request in the first member-state they enter.

Data from the country's Directorate of Immigration reveals that -- prior to the family's arrival -- only one U.S. citizen has filed an asylum application in Finland since the start of the decade.