Posts Tagged: family reunification

Finnish parliament improves asylum rights, but there is still a long way to go

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Parliament voted Wednesday to lift some of the restrictions it imposed in 2016 during the government of Juha Sipilä, which, among other matters, lowered the deadline for appeals and legal assistance to asylum seekers., according to the Refugee Advice Council. One of these includes the deadlines for appeals originally reduced to 21 days from 30

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Welcome back Dana!

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Migrant Tales insight: Dana is a talented poet from Iran and a victim of the Finnish Immigration Service. I met her through this blog in 2012. I wrote back in 2015: “After a year and six months, I got an email from Dana, who has written many beautiful and powerful poems for us. I was

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Amnesty International 2020/21 report: Shame on Finland

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Amnesty International Report 2020/21 cites recurring problems with asylum seekers and children that the Finnish authorities continued to detain unaccompanied children and families. Finland continues to maintain strict rules in its immigration act approved in 2016 by Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government (2015-2019). Some observers believe that these restrictions, like shortened appeal times and strict

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: Of course a child needs a mother and father!

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“In today’s Finland, it is nothing uncommon for the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) to reject family reunification by a Finnish spouse on the grounds that the child does not need a father.Doesn’t need a father? Migri should ask Argentina’s Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo if the father, mother, and grandparents are key to a child’s identity and well-being.”

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Another case of an Iraqi asylum seeker married to a Finn with a five-month child who may face deportation

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Just like Abdul, the Iraqi asylum seeker who is married to a Finnish woman expecting their child in September, Ibrahim* is the latest case of another asylum seeker denied a Finnish residence permit by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri). The Iraqi asylum and his Finnish wife Inna have a five-month-old child.  

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Finnish Immigration Service: “Your wife’s unborn child can grow up without you; is the child going to be raised a Muslim?”

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 Apparently, there is no guarantee in Finland that marriage or having a child with a Finnish citizen will guarantee asylum and a residence permit. It is the case of Abdul,* who spoke on condition of anonymity, an Iraqi asylum seeker who came to Finland in 2015. Contrary to many like him, Abdul is married to a Finnish woman who is expecting their child in September. 

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