Deportation policy: Strasbourg condemns Finland

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Finland violated the human rights convention by deporting an Iraqi who was shot shortly after his return to his home country in 2017. The man's family is entitled to 20,000 euros in compensation. Deportations to Iraq have now been temporarily halted. Finland's commentators are pleased with the ruling.

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Kaleva (FI) /

Those in danger must receive protection

It is incomprehensible that the man who was killed wasn't given asylum, Kaleva comments:

“The foreigners' registration office considered the Iraqi man's history and his account about attempted murders to be plausible, but both the authorities and later the administrative court failed to properly recognise that the man was in great danger. ... One might well ask who is to be granted asylum if applicants like this Iraqi are denied it. Asylum seekers are quickly written off as shady fortune hunters. The Iraqi case shows that there are people among the applicants who genuinely fear for their lives. It is precisely these people who must be identified and granted asylum. In this case, Finland failed to provide protection.”

Karjalainen (FI) /

Belated shock

Any attempts to restrict the right to asylum must be prevented from the outset, Karjalainen demands:

“One is left with the impression that it wasn't until the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, which is undoubtedly a severe blow to the reputation of the Finnish legal system, that people felt shocked. The news of the man's death last year drew much less attention. On the day of the publication of the ECHR ruling the [opposition right-wing populist] 'Finns' presented their shadow budget, in which they want to put a complete stop to immigration on humanitarian grounds. We must not under any circumstances move in this direction. On the contrary: the rights of asylum seekers must be guaranteed.”