Eritreans who are relocated to Finland flee dictatorship

In the middle of October, Finland received the first group of asylum seekers who are relocated to Finland under the EU relocation scheme, when 49 Eritrean asylum seekers were flown to Tornio from Italy. After being registered at the registration centre, the asylum seekers continued their journey to the reception centres.

“We were glad to arrive in Finland, because there is peace and quiet here,” says one of them.

Some of the asylum seekers have left their home country years ago, some of them a few months ago. There are many who say they have crossed the Sahara to Libya and taken a boat across the Mediterranean. The time they have spent in Italy ranges from a few weeks up to a month.

“We have a dictatorship in Eritrea, no constitution and no presidential term limits. Everyone must do military service and its duration is not limited. We have no future in Eritrea,” says one of the asylum seekers.

If the Eritreans are allowed to stay in Finland, they plan to study Finnish and find a job. Many of them wish to bring their family members to Finland and help the relatives who are in Eritrea.

Finland in the vanguard of relocation

Finland is the second country after Sweden to receive relocated asylum seekers from other EU countries. Over the next two years, Finland is committed to receiving approximately 3,200 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece under the EU relocation scheme.

“We want to be in the vanguard of receiving asylum seekers who are to be relocated, because we want to show that the relocation system works and is reliable,” says Kukka Krüger, Head of Dublin Section at the Asylum Unit of the Finnish Immigration Service.

A successful reception is also a signal to those asylum seekers arriving in southern Europe who hesitate to register, as they see no point in registering. Only by registering, one can be eligible for relocation. The aim is also to show that the rumours spread by smugglers about the system not working are not true.

Asylum applications are processed normally

The asylum seekers who are relocated to Finland are not automatically granted asylum or residence permit in Finland. Instead, their applications are processed like all other applications. The only difference is that there is no Dublin consideration, meaning that Finland decides the applications of the relocated asylum seekers even though they have been registered in Italy.

The asylum seekers are selected for relocation among the nationalities that are deemed to need protection the most, that is nationalities with at least a 75% success rate in claims for international protection in the EU countries. In practice, they include asylum seekers from Eritrea, Syria and Iraq.

Further information for the media

Kukka Krüger, Head of Dublin Section, tel. +358 295 430 431 , firstname.lastname@migri.fi

Annika Lumikari, Senior Adviser, contact person for the relocation system, tel. +358 295 430 431, firstname.lastname@migri.fi