Church good, immigration authorities bad

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By Keijo Himanen
     
     Finnish policy toward foreigners has been given a new face again, with a Kurdish Iranian woman Naze Aghai and her supporters doing battle with the Directorate of Immigration. The setup is familiar from many previous cases. Facing each other are a cruel and heartless bureau and a desperate asylum-seeker.
     What is exceptional in the case of Aghai is the powerful role of the Lutheran Church. St. Michael's parish in Turku applied the instructions in a guide on churches as sanctuaries, which was published by the Finnish Ecumenical Council last spring. According to the parish, it is obligated to help people who are in need.
     The Directorate of Immigration has rejected Aghai's application. The Helsinki Administrative Court has also rejected Aghai's first appeal, and the Supreme Administrative Court did not see a need to hear the case.
     
The church and the Directorate of immigration are in a battle of words which does neither side any good. Jouni Lehikoinen, the vicar of the parish, says that the Directorate of Immigration is sending people away to their deaths. The head of the directorate, Jorma Vuorio, shoots back, pointing out that it is not the mission of the church to make statements in the media on what kinds of decisions the directorate should make.
     In addition, Veikko Anttonen, a professor of religious anthropology, has sharply criticised the expertise of the Directorate of Immigration in cases when the directorate evaluates the significance of religious convictions when deciding on granting asylum.
     So who is right, or is anyone?
     It is questionable to accuse the Directorate of immigration of lacking expertise. The directorate's law and geography unit has several experts who collect the necessary information from the countries of origin of the asylum-seekers.
     Examining the affairs of Iran is political scientist, Dr. Antero Leitzinger, who has visited Iran on several occasions, and has been to the home village of Naze Aghai. Islam as a religion is familiar to him from his own family circle.
     
The researchers do not take a stand on the asylum applications, but their information on the countries serves as a background for the decisions.
     The asylum application process begins with a police investigation into personal information and the route of travel taken. After that, a handler of the asylum unit of the Directorate of Immigration prepares a proposal for a decision, and it is on the basis of the proposal that one of the directors makes a decision. A decision on asylum, therefore is the result of cooperation between two officials.
     A big problem for the Directorate of Immigration is that the law requires that asylum matters be kept outside the public eye, lest public exposure work to the disadvantage of the applicant. The directorate has as its starting point that a risk of causing danger always exists. This is why it does not give out information about the backgrounds of individual cases.
     Critics accuse the directorate of deliberate secrecy, and call for more openness. Thus, the directorate's practice, aimed at protecting the applicant, has turned in the minds of the critics into secrecy which is harmful to the applicant.
     The media has operated in the way that Aghai and her protectors had hoped. Apparently, one of the grounds of the second asylum application was specifically the danger brought on by publicity. After all, it is clear that information on the Aghai case will have reached Iran.
     
It is to be feared that Aghai's comments and actions really do jeopardise her security in Iran. The Administrative Court will have to take that into consideration, when it deals with the appeal submitted by Aghai over her latest rejection.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 13.9.2007


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Lutheran bishops call for more humane legislation on foreigners (13.9.2007)
  Iranian Kurd protected by church to be deported (4.9.2007)
  Majority of Lutheran vicars ready to defy law to help asylum seekers (17.9.2007)
  Court blocks forced repatriation of Iranian Kurdish woman (10.9.2007)
  Supreme administrative court suspends deportation of Sudanese asylum seeker (14.9.2007)

KEIJO HIMANEN / Helsingin Sanomat
keijo.himanen@hs.fi