The Finnish Immigration Service states in a report (see page 4) that at the end of 2011 there were a total of 6,100 family reunification applications by Somalis living in the country. Even so, only 329 family reunifications took place on average annually between 1999 and 2010, according to the Refugee Advice Center. No matter how one…
Tag: family reunification
Finnish Lutheran Church says family reunification from Africa is costly and dangerous
Archbishop Kari Mäkinen said that family reunification of Africans with their families in Finland is not only costly but dangerous, reports YLE. Since Finland does not have an embassy in war-ravaged Somalia, Somalis are required to apply for residence permits in neighboring Ethiopia or Kenya. The Finnish Immigration Service has a backlog of about 10,000…
Feeding Somalis and poor immigrants to the loan sharks of Finland
Migrant Tales wrote in May about the high cost, hassle and red tape some Somalis face to bring their relatives to Finland. Since it appears that the aim of the immigration authorities and politicians is to make family reunification as expensive and difficult as possible, some immigrants are being fed to the loan sharks as…
Migrants’ Rights Network: The battle on family migration will be a long one, but we can win
By Ruth Grove-White Every now and again there are changes to the immigration rules which even writers for the Daily Mail voice their objections to. The new rules on family migration to the UK, which came into force on Monday, represent a major assault on family life for Brits and migrants alike. Campaigners now need to…
The long and costly ordeal of family reunification from Somalia to Finland
Ever wondered about the hassle and red tape a Somali resident of Finland must face to bring his family here? Apart from the long two-and-a-half year wait on average, the whole process is especially costly for a person from Somalia, where annual income totals about $600 (471 euros), according to the CIA Factbook. There are…
Family reunification in the UK: ‘Keeping families apart’ – MRN briefing on family migration policy
The MRN (Migrants’ Rights Network) campaign on family migration releases a new briefing paper showing that a higher income threshold for family migration could shut out 50% of the UK working population from bringing a spouse or partner here – with ethnic minorities, women and children particularly hit.
Finland & Cultural Diversity 2011
In many respects 2011 was a watershed year for Finland and Europe concerning the rise of anti-immigration parties and xenophobia. The biggest news to hit Finland this year was without a doubt the April 17 election, which saw the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS) party win 39 seats compared with only 5 in 2007. On July 22 Anders Breivik gunned down most of his 77 victims in Norway.