As the new Aliens Act comes into force, the Finnish Immigration Service can begin the interviews of asylum seekers and the decision-making on asylum applications with a clean sheet, as nearly all asylum applications submitted prior to the year 2004 were resolved by 1 May 2004 in line with an agreement made between the Ministry of the Interior and the Directorate of Immigration.
Only about 70 old applications are pending a decision. Most of them are so-called Dublin cases, which are waiting for a response to recall requests. Applicants who have previously applied for asylum from another EU country relate to the Dublin cases. At the end of 2003, a total of 1,400 asylum applications were pending a decision.
In 2004, 895 (concerning 1 244 persons) applications have been submitted, of which approximately a third has already been resolved. The cases include, among others, the applications made by the Romas from Slovakia. The figures above are the number of applications, not the number of applicants.
These good results have demanded a considerable effort by our personnel. The objective was reached by working overtime, developing new work processes and prioritising tasks. Nevertheless, all applications have been processed individually.
3.5.2004
