Turku attack: Suspect’s application details are confidential

Migri

21.8.2017 17.01

Press release

The National Board of Investigation has informed the public that the suspect in the Turku attacks is a Moroccan asylum seeker who arrived in Finland in 2016.

For reasons of confidentiality, the Finnish Immigration Service will not provide information on the person or the handling of his application. The investigation of the case is under way and the National Board of Investigation will provide information on its progress.

Citizens of any country can apply for asylum in Finland. International protection can be granted if the applicant cannot obtain protection in his or her own country and is being persecuted due to his or her origins, religion, nationality, membership of a certain social group or political opinions. An applicant may also be in danger of persecution in a country in which, for example, no armed conflict is taking place.

An asylum seeker may reside in Finland during the processing of the application

The grounds for an application for asylum are investigated in an asylum interview. If an applicant arrives in Finland as a minor without guardians, the guardians are traced and, during the decision-making process, it is established whether the applicant is in contact with them. An asylum seeker has the right to stay in Finland while the application is being processed.

If the applicant receives a decision on the application, he or she may appeal against the decision to the Administrative Court. Appeals are made against almost all negative decisions. The applicant can also stay in Finland while awaiting a decision on his or her appeal.

The police are responsible for returning persons, who have received a negative decision, to their home countries. By law, returning a person is possible if

the first asylum decision was negative and the Administrative Court, and possibly the Supreme Administrative Court, have confirmed the decision
returning the person is not prohibited.

Rather few Moroccans apply for asylum in Finland

Rather few Moroccans apply for asylum in Finland. A total of 247 Moroccan citizens applied for asylum in Finland between 2015 and the end of July 2017. (2015: 122; 2016: 98; 1-7/2017; 27). A total of 42,232 asylum seekers arrived in Finland during those years.

A decision was made on 294 Moroccan asylum seekers between the beginning of 2015 and the end of July 2017. A positive decision (asylum, residence permit for subsidiary protection or on other grounds) was made on 32 persons.

A total of 294 decisions were made on Moroccan applicants between 2015 and 2017. Of those, 32 were positive (18 were granted asylum, 3 subsidiary protection and 10 other residence permits).

The grounds for granting asylum included the threat of gender-based violence, for example.

A total of 94 of the decisions were negative. In addition, quite a large number of the applications expired (88 applications) or were dismissed (82 applications). An application expires when the applicant withdraws it or goes missing during the process. In general, dismissal of an application refers to a situation involving the so-called Dublin Regulation, i.e. the application should be handled in another EU country.