Anyone who has had a refusal to emigrate from Finland has the problem of not organizing his or her defense at the appeal stage of the Finnish courts. Unfortunately, many are getting their applications for asylum rejected by the court. It is important to obtain support and information on the closure of the asylum case in Finland after all stages of the judicial appeal are exhausted.
There is more than meets the eye on this issue. We at Migrant Tales claim:
– Lawyers representing asylum seekers: Very few of them care to check the asylum seeker’s interview, read between the lines and highlight the important points. Instead, they just present the case to the court and make easy money;
– Lack of trust as asylum seekers rightly feel that their lawyers would care less about their case. They do not ask clients the right questions that would strengthen their cases.
– Lawyers have a huge number of clients and therefore have no time to study each case effectively and represent the asylum seeker in need;
– Poor interpreters that do their job inefficiently and that fail to convey the right idea. Many asylum seekers told us that the interpreter twisted their statements and told the opposite of what they were saying.
Read the full story (in Arabic) here.
To clarify what is the role of a lawyer, we highlight the different appeal stages:
1st stage
The rejected asylum seeker appeals to the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) so that it can review its decision again before sending the appeal to the Immigration Tribunal. At this stage, the lawyer’s skill is crucial in preparing the appeal. “A legal defense rejecting the reasons of refusal and supported by documents and evidence to show the extent of danger to the rejected asylum seeker if deported and returned to his former homeland.”
2nd stage
A Finnish Immigration Court hearing shall decide whether oral proceedings and are held in the presence of the asylum seeker or not. They rarely summon the asylum seeker for an interview. A court judge, three jurors, are mostly involved in addition to Migri representatives study the case.
The Migri representative explains its view of the deportation and expulsion of the asylum seeker usually in the absence of the asylum seeker or his lawyer.
3rd stage
If the asylum seeker gets approval, Migri can appeal to the Immigration Supreme Court’s ruling. It could mean that the decision may change again. If Migri does not submit a request to appeal the decision within three weeks, the decision will be effective.
If the decision was a rejection, it means that Migri’s decision stands.
The decision of the Supreme Immigration Court is appealable to the supreme court, but not all cases are heard by it. They only look at cases where there are strong and very compelling reasons or if there is something legal to consider.
If the third refusal decision is issued or no appeal was made, the file will be transferred to the Finnish police to implement the decision.
The Swedish Daily News, citing Amnesty International, suggests the following alternatives: As of the beginning of 2017, the Finnish Immigration Service issued new instructions and work regulations for those who got their asylum application rejected:
– Remove the refugee from the residence;
– Cutting of monthly aid and Stop health care;
– Non-renewal of asylum;
– Not renewing the work permit ( if the refugee is employed).
Category: W. Che