What does a comment by a police service official say about our country if he obstructs an asylum seekers’ right to justice? Migrant Tales understands that an Iraqi family, made up of a husband, wife, mother-in-law and a child, was told the following by a police official after receiving their first rejection for asylum from the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).
“Don’t appeal the decision [to the district court] because you’re going to get a negative decision anyway,” the police official is said to have told the family.
What does the answer from the police official reveal about his knowledge of our legal system and who has access to it?
Children demonstrating in May at the Kolari asylum reception center that led to the sacking of the deputy manager.
The police official’s answer to the family reveals, in our opinion, not only contempt for the asylum seekers but for our laws and institutions.
If we have police officials that advise and give legal counsel to asylum seekers as if they had a crystal ball, it’s clear that we’re in trouble. We are in a predicament because for the police official to give such advice it means that their is widespread complicity.
We have always been proud of the fact in Finland that we are a country that functions on the rule of law. or oikeusvaltio. Everyone, irrespective of their background, has the right to a lawyer and access to our legal system. The basis of our legal system is the following, which is a human right as well: We are innocent before proven guilty.
With respect to asylum seekers in Finland, it’s clear that asylum seekers are guilty before proven innocent.
What the police official told the asylum seekers is a clear example that certain people and groups have greater access to the law than others.
If what the police told the asylum seekers is true, Finland is not a country that abides by the rule of law.
Category: The Supermen