The Finnish Immigration Service has reassessed the Iraq security situation

The Finnish Immigration Service has updated its guidelines for Iraq to include an assessment of the need of Iraqi asylum seekers for international protection on the basis of the country’s current political and social situation.

The security situation in Iraq has improved considerably. Guidelines published by the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR in April also reveal a clear diminution of the violence in Iraq. Remigration to Iraq, and particularly the return of internal refugees, has been growing steadily. Individual acts of terror by the Iraqi al-Qaida and other extremist groups are no longer perceived as a threat to the running of the country, while the capacity of Iraq’s domestic security forces is strengthening continuously.

Security situation stable throughout most of Iraq

Following the significant improvement in the security situation in Iraq, the Finnish Immigration Service is changing its policy with regard to Iraqi asylum seekers.

Asylum seekers from southern Iraq and Baghdad are no longer considered as being in need of international protection solely on the basis of the security situation in these areas. Unless they possess individual grounds for the granting of a residence permit, their asylum applications will be rejected and they will be sent back to Iraq.

With regard to Baghdad, the Finnish Immigration Service’s policy differs from UNHCR guidelines, on the basis that the city’s current security situation does not present a barrier to remigration.

The security situation in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq remains stable. The Finnish Immigration Service will not, as a consequence, grant residence permits to asylum seekers from this area unless there are individual grounds for doing so. Asylum seekers from this area will also be subject to a decision to send them back to Iraq.

Continued uncertainty in parts of central Iraq

The situation in four provinces in central Iraq (Nineveh, Salah al-Din, Kirkuk and Diyala) remains uncertain. The tense security situation in the region prevents the safe return of asylum seekers from these four provinces. In the absence of individual grounds for the granting of a residence permit, these asylum seekers will, in accordance with UNHCR guidelines, be granted a residence permit on the basis of the need for protection.

The Finnish Immigration Service views it as essential, for verification purposes, to carry out a language analysis for asylum seekers who are claiming to have come from one of the four provinces mentioned.

The Finnish Immigration Service is monitoring the Iraqi situation closely and will conduct a further reassessment of its policy where this becomes necessary. Reassessment is nevertheless due at the beginning of June, when new provisions under the Aliens Act concerning international protection come into force.

By the end of April this year asylum seekers arriving from Iraq numbered just under 700. The figure for 2008 was 1,255.

Further information for the media: Esko Repo, Head of the Asylum Unit, +358 71 873 0431

8.5.2009