Norway could see a record year for the number of asylum seekers, according to reports reaching here from Oslo on Thursday. So far this year the number is 2,500 more than for the same period last year, which was also a record year, the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK said. The number of asylum seekers is now so high that if measures are not introduced, it could well reach 18,000 or more by the end of the year, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Dag Terje Andersen, was quoted as saying. If the number reaches 18,000, it will have trebled since 2006, the NRK said. As many as 14,431 people applied for asylum in Norway in 2008, 120 percent more than in 2007, according to statistics released by the Norwegian Immigration Directorate. The Norwegian government adopted additional measures last year to reduce the number of asylum seekers. People who have been granted residency on humanitarian grounds must have four years of education or work experience in Norway to obtain family reunification with existing or new family members. 