Antonova’s family appeals deportation to European Court of Human Rights

Decision to come within days

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The family of Irina Antonova an ailing elderly Russian woman who wants to stay in Finland with family members, appealed to the European Court of Human Fights on Tuesday to block plans to expel her from Finland to Russia. The reason for the appeal was the 81-year-old woman’s poor state of health.
      The court did not give a quick decision because Antonova has again been hospitalised. Antonova’s son-in-law Ari Laitanen says that Antonova was again taken to hospital by ambulance. The family believes that she may have had a stroke.
     
“This stress has been pretty hard on her as well. It cannot help but affect her state of health, considering that she is in weak condition already”, Laitanen says.
      Antonova’s fate has been uncertain for a long time, and her expulsion has been postponed several times. A decision from the European Court is expected soon.
     
The European Court of Human Rights has made several decisions, preventing Finland from sending asylum seekers to their home countries. Temporary orders have been issued to Finland at a faster pace in recent times.
      From 2004 to 2008, the court gave 14 rulings in which it ordered Finland not to send people to another country, because they might face inhumane treatment at the destination. Last year 139 such orders were given.
      Antonova’s case is different, in that she is not an asylum seeker. She has simply had an application for a residence permit denied.
     
Many of the expulsion bans ordered by the court involve people who have first applied for exile in another EU country, such as Greece, and then come to Finland to submit another application.
      Normally the applicant is sent back to the EU country where the first application was made.
      The increase in decisions to impose bans on deportation is partly attributable to the growth in the numbers of asylum seekers, but the most important reason is to be found in Southern Europe.
     
The Finnish judge on the European Court of Human Rights, Päivi Hirvelä, says that the usual reason for such rulings is the poor treatment of asylum seekers in Greece, Malta, and Italy.
      “In those countries, security guarantees in the asylum process are not necessarily reliable”, Hirvelä says.
      Decisions by the court have usually led to a reconsideration of asylum applications by Finnish officials. However, the European Court of Human Rights has not dictated what the final decision should be.
     
Chief Kaj Wahlman of the Helsinki Foreigners’ Police does not believe that Antonova’s expulsion can be implemented this week.
      Wahlman says that doctors said on Tuesday that Antonova cannot be transported to Russia in her present condition.
      “At least as long as she is in hospital, she will not be taken by force”, Wahlman says.
     
Police had originally planned to hand Ntonova over to Russian officials at the Vaalimaa border crossing.
      Once in Russia, she was to be taken to a hospital in Vyborg, and later to an elderly care home of the Villa Inkeri association near St. Petersburg.
     
Police are currently looking for a second foreign grandmother facing an expulsion order, Egyptian citizen Eveline Fadayel.
      Fadayel’s son says that she is being hidden from the authorities.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Egyptian grandmother refuses to leave (14.6.2010)
  Family gives up resistance - Antonova to go back to Russia (8.6.2010)
  Promised legislation to protect grandparents of immigrants fizzles (26.5.2010)

Helsingin Sanomat