In January-October 2021, a total of 994 first asylum applications were submitted. The number of new asylum seekers has remained at last year’s level. In January-October 2020, a total of 1,109 first asylum applications were submitted.
“We are closely monitoring the situation in Belarus, but it has not yet caused an increase in the number of asylum seekers in Finland,” says Antti Lehtinen, Head of the Asylum Unit.
The majority of asylum applications came from Afghans and Turks.
“Afghanistan is the largest country of origin. 196 Afghan citizens have applied. The figure includes 85 asylum seekers on evacuation flights and 32 vulnerable asylum seekers who were transferred from the Mediterranean countries following a government decision in 2020. New developments in Afghanistan have not led to another increase in asylum seekers.” .
The 227 Afghan citizens evacuated to Finland by a decision of the Government are not included in the asylum statistics. Evacuated persons have been issued a residence permit by a decision of the Government granting humanitarian protection, which means that they are not asylum seekers. A total of 85 asylum seekers also arrived in Finland on evacuation flights from Afghanistan. Most are family members of persons who have received consular protection.
The number of subsequent applications will decrease
This year, a total of 2,021 asylum applications were submitted in January-October. A total of 2,796 asylum applications were submitted in January-October last year. This chapter includes both initial and subsequent asylum applications.
This year, a total of 1,027 subsequent applications have been submitted (January-October 2020: 1,687). A subsequent application is an asylum application that the client submits after receiving the final decision of the Finnish Immigration Service or the Administrative Court on the application he or she has previously submitted. If an asylum seeker leaves Finland for a longer period between the submission of applications, a new application is not considered a subsequent application. Most of the subsequent applications this year have been filed by Iraqi citizens.
“The number of subsequent applications has decreased. The development of the situation in Afghanistan has not yet led to an increase in the number of subsequent applications,” says Lehtinen.
Quelle: Finnische Einwanderungsbehörde
Quelle: Die nordische Seite
