"These 600 people have not significantly influenced the public order and safety. They arrived here, came here and went through," said Ķuzis.
He said however that more and more of these people, including people who've applied for asylum elsewhere in the EU, are caught committing administrative and criminal offences.
A total of 1768 people have applied for asylum in Latvia from 1998 to 2015, according to data by the Citizenship and Migration Affairs Office. Only a tiny percentage of them have been granted asylum.
Latvia has agreed to take in a total of 531 refugees from Italy and Greece, with the possibility that number could rise to a maximum of 776 if agreement can be reached with other EU member states.
The first six refugees - two families with one child each - arrived in Latvia from Syria and Eritrea within the scheme early February.
