The Finnish Immigration Service does not grant residence permits to asylum seekers from Iraqi Kurdistan or the provinces in southern Iraq (Karbala, Wasit, Najaf, Qadisiya, Maysan, Muthana, Dhi Qar and Basra) solely on the basis of the security situation in the region.
The Administrative Court of Helsinki confirmed the guideline by rejecting appeals against negative decisions issued by the Finnish Immigration Service. Already in April and May, the Supreme Administrative Court supported the Finnish Immigration Service’s assessment of the security situation in Kurdistan and southern Iraq.
On the basis of up-to-date country information, the Finnish Immigration Service and the Administrative Court consider these regions to be still safe for their residents on the whole.
If asylum seekers do not have reliable documents on their domicile, they must be able to prove their knowledge of the home region when they are heard by the police and the Finnish Immigration Service. If there are considerable gaps in the knowledge of the region and the language analysis supports this impression, the asylum seeker is not issued with a residence permit on the basis of an allegedly unsafe domicile.
The Finnish Immigration Service follows the security situation in Iraq and in other home countries of asylum seekers. If the security situation changes, the guidelines for making decisions are updated. In addition to the up-to-date country information, the decisions of the appellate courts, i.e. the Administrative Court of Helsinki and the Supreme Administrative Court, affect the guidelines.
Further information
Juha Similä, Head of Section, tel. 0295 430 431, firstname.lastname@migri.fi
