Minorities Ombudsman says limiting refugees’ foster children’s entry to Finland would increase risk of human trafficking

Eva Biaudet

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The risk of human trafficking will not decrease, but rather it could grow if foster children’s chances of entering into Finland are limited, believes the Ombudsman for Minorities Eva Biaudet.
      “If the unification of families programme was changed in such a way that foster children were not included in the immediate family, it would surely be a step to the wrong direction in the fight against human trafficking”, Biaudet said on Wednesday.
     
According to Biaudet, permissible unification of families reduces the chances of human trafficking compared to a situation where a child escapes from his or her home county alone.
      “In that situation one is more likely to resort to questionable methods of travelling, and the risk of becoming a victim of trafficking in humans will increase.”
      The Minorities Ombudsman’s comment comes as a reaction to the immigration authorities’ suspicions that the foster-child system may itself be taken advantage of by those practicing human trafficking.
      The Finnish Immigration Service suspects that part of the family unification applications filed by Somalis living in Finland are groundless.
     
The handling of such applications is piling up, and the number of declared foster children is clearly on the rise.
      In the applications filed in the early part of this year regarding foster children between the ages of 13 and 17, there were clearly more girls than boys.
      Since then the division between the sexes has become more even.
      Last week Biaudet requested the Finnish Immigration Service provide an account as to what evidence the human trafficking suspicions are based upon and which measures have been used to identify the possible victims.
      The completion of the account is scheduled for Friday.
     
Minister of Migration and European Affairs Astrid Thors (Swedish People’s Party) has requested tighter measures be introduced in the family unification procedures with the asylum seekers and refugees.
      From those seeking entry into Finland, fingerprints and a passport with a photograph would be requested.
      Somalis can apply for a passport from their own consulates, for example in Addis Ababa or Nairobi.
      On Wednesday Thors repeated her view that the new practice would reduce the number of applications.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Immigration Service to investigate suspicions of human trafficking among Somalis (31.8.2010)
  Finnish immigration officials overwhelmed by Somali family unification requests (30.8.2010)
  Somali family reunited after four years apart (7.9.2010)
  Few countries accept biometric passports issued by Somalia (1.9.2010)

See also:
  Eva Biaudet named Minority Ombudsman through special dispensation (7.5.2010)

Links:
  Finnish Immigration Service: Applying for a residence permit on the basis of family ties
  Ombudsman for Minorities

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