More than 1,100 asylum-applicants disappear before decision is made

Kari Rajamäki

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More than 1,100 people have disappeared from Finnish refugee reception centres during the processing of their asylum applications.
      "Criminal organisations and smugglers of people take advantage of the asylum process", said Interior Minister Kari Rajamäki (SDP) on Tuesday in at an event held by the Social Democratic Party.
      Earlier in the week the National Bureau of Investigation said that trafficking in humans might be behind the disappearances of large numbers of Chinese asylum-seekers.
     
Most of the 1,100 who disappeared left the reception centres after the Directorate of Immigration had made a decision on the asylum application, but before the decision was delivered to the applicant.
      According to Rajamäki, the reason for disappearing is usually an attempt by someone who anticipates a negative result to avoid repatriation.
      Although such applicants usually move on to other countries, they can still be Finland's problem. If they apply for asylum in another EU country, and it comes out that they had already sought refugee status in Finland, they are returned to this country for repatriation.
      The Directorate of Immigration says that there are hundreds of such cases each year.
     
Rajamäki said that a rejection of an asylum application should mean an end to the payment of subsistence subsidy. He proposed that the accumulated subsidy could be paid to the rejected applicant if he or she agrees to leave the country voluntarily.
      Rajamäki pointed out that the number of groundless asylum applicants in Finland is increasing. He called for more efficient monitoring and investigation of the backgrounds of such applicants.
      The Directorate of Immigration says that about 4,000 people will have applied for asylum in Finland by the end of this year. About half of the applications are processed in Finland, and two thirds of them are rejected.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Nearly half of Chinese asylum-seekers disappear from reception centres (29.11.)

Helsingin Sanomat