As the security situation in Iran has changed due to large demonstrations and the use of violence by security forces, the decision-making on asylum applications submitted by Iranians is partly paused.
In similar situations, the decision-making by the Finnish Immigration Service is paused either entirely or partly. This is standard practice in EU Member States when the security situation of a country undergoes significant changes and the effect of the changes on asylum seekers’ situation cannot be evaluated.
At present, the Finnish Immigration Service has approximately 100 pending asylum applications from Iranians. Decision-making is paused only for application where the decision would require more information about the country’s current situation.
“Our protocol is always the same in situations where more extensive changes in the security situation of asylum seekers’ countries of origin occur and where we cannot evaluate how the changes will affect asylum seekers. We begin by pausing decision-making to the extent necessary, and continue to monitor the situation of the country and gather information. Once we have obtained a sufficient amount of information about the situation, decision-making will resume as soon as possible,” says Johanna Waal, Director of Legal Services.
Making an asylum decision always requires country of origin information that is up to date at the moment when the decision is issued. The Finnish Immigration Service is monitoring and evaluating the security situation of Iran to allow decision-making to resume for all applicants. An individual decision will be made on each asylum application.
Country of origin information is continuously being collected from several different sources in many ways and updated to provide support for decision-making. The Finnish Immigration Service is in contact with the Nordic countries and EU Member States to exchange information about evaluating the situation in the country of origin.
Media enquiries
- Johanna Waal, Director of Legal Services, email: firstname.lastname@migri.fi, tel. 0295 433 037 (Finnish Immigration Service’s phone number for media representatives)
