Hundreds of potential taxpayers aren’t useful to Finland because of Migri's delay

In 2022, several hundred Russians arrived in Finland, requesting political asylum. According to §98a of the Aliens Act, the maximum time limit for processing such applications is 21 months. This deadline has passed for most of the applicants in the summer of 2024. But they have still not received a decision from the Migration Service, and some have not even been invited to any of the interviews required for a decision.

The last communication they received from Migri states that the decision period is being extended due to the large number of applications. There is no doubt that the Migration Service has a lot of work to do. However, in what order are the applications processed? It would be logical to assume that in the order of receipt, just to comply with the statutory deadlines. But there is evidence that the fair order is being violated.

In November 2023, Migri had been processing for over a year hundreds of applications from Russians dating back to 2022. Many had not yet been interviewed. No decisions had been made. At that point Juha Similä, an employee of Migri, informs Yle journalists that the cases of applicants who arrived on 16.11.2023 through the eastern border will be prioritised. These people are labelled by the Finland state “instruments of hybrid influence”, which eventually led to the closure of the eastern border. On what basis is this decision made? Our search in the legislative acts did not provide an answer to this question.

In August 2024, the Migration Service had already processed several hundred applications from third-country nationals who arrived through the eastern border of Finland at the end of 2023, i.e. one year later than Russians (370 applications cancelled, 50 positive decisions, 120 refusals). On 19.11.2024 a new Yle article was published, where it was stated that already 130 people have received a positive decision, and the same number - a negative one. In other words, Migri continues to spend limited labour resources on people claimed to be a threat to national security, some of whom left Finland for other EU countries, most likely knowingly not planning to stay. At the same time Migri delays consideration of the cases of applicants with Russian citizenship, who have been waiting for 2 years, compliant to all the procedures prescribed by law, learning the Finnish language and proceeding to integration into Finnish society.

There is an obvious violation of the sequence of consideration of cases. There is a ground for suspicion that the reason for the delays may be the Russian citizenship of the 2022 applicants. At the same time, neither apologies nor any direct information explaining the situation has been issued by the Migration Service.

It has to be stated that the Migration Service has violated the Aliens Act, which is detrimental to Finland itself. For more than two years now there have been young, educated, adapted to local life and grateful to Finland people who want to benefit the country, find a job, pay taxes and live a normal life. Instead, they live in an uncertain status in which they cannot even get a personal ID (henkilötunnus), which is needed for literally everything, and burden the social system.

Their situation has become even more complicated since September 2024. Due to changes in legislation, it has become impossible to change the path of legalization in Finland from an asylum application to study or work. That is, if the asylum seeker still manages to find a job or start studying, they must leave Finland for their country of citizenship and apply for a residence permit again. But for most asylum seekers it is impossible to return to the Russian Federation. People are driven to a dead end.

We talked to several asylum seekers.

They have a variety of professions, including highly demanded ones (software developers, designers, artists, economists etc). At the same time, people are ready to retrain and change their specialties to even more needed professions (electricians, welders etc.). They are already learning Finnish. But living in uncertainty creates an unbearable psychological state and many people experience depressive symptoms.

Due to the vulnerable situation of the asylum seekers, their names are hidden behind symbols.

A. is a construction engineer by profession, but now manages projects on, for example, cities and architecture.

В. is a graphic designer, but is willing to work at any job just to lead a normal life in legal status. He notes how hard it has been for him these 2 years without a job, a normal bank card, his own room, the ability to cook a meal without waiting in a queue, and so on. Since September, the allowance for job seekers has been reduced to 300 euros per month.

A family couple C. and D. are learning Finnish, want to go to college (as an electrician and a hairdresser) and survive on 508 euros a month - this is the total allowance for the couple from September 2024.

A. says that he complained about the violation of deadlines to the office of The Non-Discrimination Ombudsman and received an evasive answer in the way of “We are sorry, but we can't do anything”.

B. went so far as to appeal to the Administrative Court of Northern Finland, which refused to consider the case of time violation as outside its jurisdiction. In total, B. has appealed to 19 institutions in Finland and the EU, but has not yet received any significant result in his case.

Aleksanterinliitto ry addressed both the Migration Service and the Ministry of the Interior as a higher authority for clarification. There was no response from the Migration Service for more than a month. But the Ministry of the Interior sent a message, which boils down to the following: the consideration of applications from Russians was suspended until sufficient information about the situation was obtained. Later it was decided to develop a unified strategy of the European Union to assess the grounds for international protection in respect of Russian citizens, but in October 2023, this decision was cancelled, that is, they returned to the standard practice of individual decisions.

Conclusion No. 1: nothing was done for a whole year.
Conclusion No. 2: the problem lies in the Russian citizenship of the applicants, no matter how much the official authorities try to avoid it in their answers.

Additionally, the Interior Ministry says that Migri has taken a number of measures to speed up the process, and all applications left pending due to the need for information will be processed by the end of November 2024*.

Alas, this looks technically impossible. In order to make a decision on asylum, applicants are given a special interview, and more than one. And only after the final protocol is signed can a decision be made. To date, some applicants have not been invited to a single interview in two years.

Is there no mechanism in Finland to urge the State Migration Service to respect the deadlines set by the State and its law for processing the case and making a decision?

The asylum seekers' appeal to the Chancellor of Justice shed a little light on whose competence such cases fall under. The Chancellor referred them to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. We also referred the question to the ombudsman's office. Unfortunately, there has been no reply for more than a month now. But according to Article 21 of the Finnish Constitution: “Everyone has the right to have his or her case duly and without undue delay examined by a court or other authority competent by law.

For all asylum seekers we have talked to, Migri has postponed the deadline for making a decision to 30.11.2024, as indicated in the reply of the Ministry of the Interior*. That would already amount to about 26-28 months, instead of the statutory 21. But none of the applicants is sure that the deadline will not be postponed again.

Aleksanterinliitto ry calls on the Migration Service to follow the legal deadlines and the order of processing cases and making decisions.

We also call on all state and public institutions to pay attention to this problem and demand that the Migration Service process applications pending since 2022 in the first place. Giving asylum seekers with Russian citizenship the opportunity to live and work in the society they have chosen and want to support is first and foremost beneficial for Finland itself.