One week ago the Helsinki Administrative Court overturned a decision by the Finnish Immigration Service to deny asylum to a Sunni Muslim who had fled to Finland from the Iraqi city of Mosul. Mosul is now a theatre of war where Iraqi government troops and Islamic State militants are waging a fierce battle for control.
In spite of the very real and present danger, immigration officials had previously said that civilians escaping the conflict could relocate to Baghdad. However the agency said that it intends to abide by the administrative court’s ruling.
Internal relocation no longer an option
The decision means that officials can no longer propose internal relocation in Iraq as an option for similar applicants, but must approve their requests for asylum.
"In future decisions involving similar applicant profiles we would have to abide by the view of the administrative court. If it is necessary to update the decision making process this will happen immediately after the court’s ruling," said head of the agency’s asylum seeker unit Esko Repo.
In July Finnish media widely reported on a decision by immigration officials to propose internal relocation as an alternative to an architect who had been persecuted by Islamic State. The administrative court’s decision suggests that this decision may also be overturned in court. Repo said that it is difficult to estimate just how many asylum seekers the policy shift will affect.
Finnish Immigration Service division chief Juha Similä told the daily Helsingin Sanomat that there might be hundreds of asylum seekers with similar backgrounds who had appealed rejected applications. On top of that, the agency still has not processed another 8,000 asylum cases.
New policy expressly targets civilians fleeing IS
The policy change will only affect applications that feature the same circumstances as the case that the administrative court considered. In other words, it will affect Sunni Muslims who have fled IS-controlled areas.
In spite of that, Repo said that applicants from Mosul may still have their asylum requests turned down.
"But it would have to be a special case for that to happen. The situation in Mosul has deteriorated. And in Baghdad Sunnis could be targeted by Shi’a militias," he noted.
The court decision will not automatically convert the immigration agency’s previous rejection. Rather, the application will return to the agency for urgent review.
