Country of origin information

The Country Information Service of the Finnish Immigration Service produces country of origin information (COI), particularly about asylum seekers’, quota refugees’ and other immigrants’ countries of departure, countries of residence, countries of transit and countries of return. 

The purpose of producing and collecting country of origin information is to support decision-making, especially on applications for international protection. Country of origin information is also used when investigating residence permit matters and citizenship applications. 

Country of origin information is information obtained from a variety of sources on the circumstances in a country, including: 

• the country's political and social situation 
• human rights and security situation 
• humanitarian situation  
• legislation 
• geography 
• everyday matters, such as the accessibility of healthcare or practices for the issuing of documents. 

Upon request, the Finnish Immigration Service produces information for national and international authorities, interest groups and organisations.

Country of origin information is acquired from several sources, including  

• UN organisations, such as the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) 
• international and local human rights organisations and non-governmental organisations 
• research institutions 
• fact-finding missions conducted by the Finnish Immigration Service 
• international networks and the country information services of other countries 
• international news agencies. 

The researchers who work on country of origin information have an international contact network. A regular and active exchange of information is taking place in particular between the European countries. 

The Finnish Immigration Service cooperates with other authorities, too, such as with the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA). There are own research networks for key countries of origin, and the researchers of the Finnish Immigration Service are active in those networks.

The researchers of the Country Information Service do at times conduct fact-finding missions to countries from which asylum seekers come to Finland. During the missions, they build local contact networks that can assist them in monitoring the current security situation and maintaining other important aspects of the country information up to date.

The researchers of the Country Information Service are continuously monitoring and reporting on any changes in the situation in countries of origin, countries of residence, countries of transit and countries of return. 

Country of origin information is produced in many forms: there may be situation reports, security reviews and thematic reports, for example. The materials are reviewed and updated when the need arises, for instance if there are significant changes in the conditions in a country.

Information about the situation of a country is continuously produced and updated to support decision-making. The researchers of the Country Information Service are acquiring information independently of the departments where decisions are made. 

The department that decides an application compares the asylum seeker’s statement and the evidence provided by the applicant in support of it with current country of origin information.

The Country Information Unit obtains information about the circumstances in a country from several different sources. Results from different sources are compared with each other, and sources are always evaluated critically. 

The quality of the country of origin information is regulated through, for instance: 

• the methodology guidelines issued by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) 
• the Common EU Guidelines for processing Country of Origin Information 
• the guidelines established by the UN refugee agency UNHCR 
• peer review and the general principles of research and principles of research ethics.