Directorate of Immigration suspends repatriation of Iraqis

Officials reconsidering whether or not north of Iraq is safe

print this

The Directorate of Immigration has suspended the processing of asylum applications of asylum seekers from the north of Iraq who were not seen to be in need of protection. The Directorate is reconsidering a decision from two months ago in which it decided that three Kurdish provinces of Iraq are sufficiently safe to allow the repatriation of residents there.
      Previously, Finland had considered it technically impossible to send people back to the north of Iraq. Consequently, 81 asylum seekers from the area were given temporary residence permits, even though they were not seen to be in the need of protection.
      Esko Repo, head of the asylum unit of the Directorate for Immigration, says that the directorate has not ordered any repatriations to Iraq yet.
      "We are considering some cases in which repatriation could come into question. We have not yet started to make any decisions. However, Iraqis in need of protection will get decisions on their applications."
     
A number of civic organisations, such as Amnesty International and the Refugee Advice Centre, have called on the Directorate of Immigration to suspend the planned repatriations, saying that the area is not safe.
      Finland's Minister of Migration and European Affairs, Astrid Thors (Swed. People's Party), said soon after her appointment that Finland would need to reassess the security situation in the north of Iraq to guarantee the security of those being sent back.
      Esko Repo says that the policy line taken by the Directorate of immigration is still in effect, but that the directorate wants to know what kinds of experiences other countries have had with repatriations to Iraq.
      Repo says that only a few individuals have been sent back from anywhere the EU to the north of Iraq.
      As he sees it, the security situation in the area is largely the same as it was two months ago, "although there have been some news reports on scattered unrest".
      "It is our hope that we would be able to continue making decisions in some direction in May. This will happen after we have drawn up reviews and analyses from the information that we have received", Repo observes.
      Last year 225 Iraqis applied for asylum in Finland. In January through March this year 62 Iraqis had submitted asylum applications.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland to start repatriating people to Afghanistan and possibly Iraq (4.11.2007)
  Finland to start sending asylum-seekers back to Northern Iraq (30.3.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat