All possibilities for granting protection are reviewed when making asylum decisions

The idea behind international protection is that people can be granted protection in another country if they are in a situation where they cannot get protection in their home country.

An applicant can be granted asylum or subsidiary protection if he or she is at risk of persecution or being subjected to serious harm. Serious harm can be, for example, the death penalty, execution, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Subsidiary protection is also granted if there is indiscriminate violence towards civilians in situations of armed conflicts in a person’s home region.

The decision is always based on the applicant’s individual asylum interview and setting the information that came up during the interview against information on the country’s situation. The decision is not made based only on one source of information. The Finnish Immigration Service has at its disposal information from, for example, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and the country of origin database shared by all EU countries.

The decision shows all grounds for making the decision

When a decision is made, the person processing it goes through all the criteria for international protection and sees if the applicant fulfils them. This phased review and its results are recorded in the decision for the client’s information.

Although a persons is at risk of persecution, he or she will not necessarily be granted asylum if he or she can get protection by moving to another region in his or her home country. The legislation concerning refugees calls this internal protection. This is the case when moving is in reality a possible, safe, legal and reasonable option for the fleeing person.

Asylum is also not granted if the person himself or herself has persecuted others or committed aggravated crimes. These are called exception clauses. The decision also reviews the other grounds under the Aliens Act for which a residence permit can be granted.

Serious and heavy violations of a person’s rights are processed when dealing with asylum matters

The asylum seekers’ experiences and descriptions often include brutal and tough events which stir up a lot of emotions. An important duty of the Finnish Immigration Service is to grant international protection to people who need it.

All the claims of the asylum seeker cannot be accepted if the applicant’s statements are not believable, for example, because of the contradictions in the statements or if the statements are contrary to reliable country information. The asylum decision is one of the most important events in the applicant’s life which is why each decision is so carefully justified.

The emotions and personal opinions of the person making the decision do not, however, show in the decision text. In order to treat everyone equally, the public officials have to observe the law.