It will soon be two years when large numbers of asylum seekers mainly from Iraq and Afghanistan came to Finland in hopes of moving to a country that would not only give them security but one that respects human rights and social equality. What they found, however, was totally different.
Migrant Tales as well as others have written about the spiritual squalor of the asylum reception centers that aim to humiliate and destroy asylum seeker.
Disagree? How is it possible that an asylum seeker that faced peril on his or her journey to Finland ended up in an asylum reception center for a period that feels daily as indefinitely? On top of this insult to the asylum seekers’ integrity and a total slap in the face of our laws and values, the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) and Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government wash their hands of the problem.
One asylum seeker explained his ordeal in Finland as an eternal nightmare he couldn’t wake up from.
Another one described his stay at the asylum reception center in the following words:
“Being at the asylum reception center has turned into a game of Russian roulette. You pull the trigger expecting the bullet to fire. But after a while, you notice that you’ve been fooled. There are no bullets in the revolver to put an end to [y]our suffering…”
One question that Migrant Tales’ Supermen, an investigative team, have been asking is if the long waiting periods for asylum seekers is part of a plan by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) and Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government to make life as miserable as possible for them. Are these people a part of Migri campaign to warn others not to come to Finland because “you’ll face hell.”
Although we still don’t know the answer, there is one matter that is certain: When a country like Finland treats asylum seekers in the way it does it reveals something very worrying about ourselves – outright hostility with a clear plan to kick as many as possible out from here.
The present government policy towards asylum seekers, which is seen in the tightening of immigration laws like family reunification, show that Migri and the government have lost touch with common decency and respect for asylum seekers. Allowing our hostility for asylum seekers to roam freely has made us much poorer as a society.
In 2015, thousands of asylum seekers started to come to Finland. Source: The Finnish Immigration Service.
Meanwhile, a young Iraqi asylum seeker aged about 20 years called Kareem passed away Wednesday. He wanted to return to Iraq but was too sick to travel to his home country.
“Imagine,” said a Iraqi resident of Finland. “He’ll be buried in Finland. His parents won’t be able to pay their last respects to their son.”
Migrant Tales doesn’t know all the details, but it appears that the young asylum seeker died because of a liver ailment.
We send our heartfelt condolences to Kareem’s parents in Iraq.
