Increasing number of asylum seekers turned back to another European state

The Finnish Immigration Service left 298 asylum applications unprocessed between January and April 2013. The reason was the so-called Dublin II Regulation. During the period in question, a total of 23 per cent of the asylum decisions made consisted of these Dublin decisions.

During the previous year between January and April, 201 Dublin decisions were made, which was about 17 per cent of all asylum decisions made in that period.

Dublin II is a European Union Council Regulation according to which only one Member State is responsible for examining an asylum application. If a Dublin decision is made on an application, it is not examined in Finland; instead the asylum seeker is turned back to the state responsible for the case concerned, which will examine his/her application for asylum.

If an asylum seeker has, for example, sought asylum or obtained a visa from another country participating in the Dublin system before coming to Finland, the country concerned is obliged to re-accept him/her and process his/her application.

Common visa system reason for growth in number of Dublin cases

The Finnish Immigration Service believes that the reason for the increase in the number of Dublin decisions is the common Visa Information System (VIS) of the Schengen countries, which was introduced in 2011. Information on all visa applications is stored in the system and on the basis of the data it can be determined which country is responsible for processing an asylum application. Information on visa applicants from all countries of the world will be gradually incorporated into the system.

The VIS system shows the Finnish authorities, among other things, whether an asylum seeker already has a visa for another country applying the Dublin Regulation.

Dublin cases expected to increase further

The visa application information of citizens of Iraq and Iran were incorporated into the visa system in autumn 2012. It has increased the number of Dublin cases in Finland, as many Iraqi and Iranian asylum seekers already have a visa for another EU country.

The Finnish Immigration Service estimates that when the system expands, the number of Dublin cases will increase further.

Further information for the media:

Mikko Montin, Head of Dublin Section, Asylum Unit
tel. +358 (0)71 873 0431, e-mail: firstname.lastname@migri.fi