ANNUAL POLICY REPORT Finland 2011 Riikka Asa ANNUAL POLICY REPORT Finland 2011 4 5 Table of content 6. Border control 60 6.1 Control and surveillance at external borders 60 6.1.1 Specific context 60 Executive Summary 6 6.1.2 Developments within the national perspective 61 1. Introduction: purpose and methodology followed 8 6.1.3 Developments from the EU perspective 61 1.1 Methodology 10 6.2 Cooperation with respect to border control 61 1.2 Terms and Definitions 11 6.2.1 Specific context 61 6.2.2 Developments within the national perspective 61 2. General structure of political and legal system in Finland 12 6.2.3 Developments from the EU perspective 62 2.1 General structure of the political system and institutional context 12 7. International protection, including asylum 65 2.2 General structure of the legal system 13 7.1 Specific context 65 3. General developments relevant to asylum and migration 15 7.2 Developments within the national perspective 65 3.1 General political developments 15 7.3 Developments from the EU perspective 69 3.2 Main policy and/or legislative debates 16 8. Unaccompanied minors and other vulnerable groups 70 3.3 Broader developments in asylum and migration 18 8.1 Specific context 70 3.4 Institutional developments 19 8.2 Developments within the national perspective 70 4. Legal immigration and integration 22 8.3 Developments from the EU perspective 70 4.1. Economic migration 25 9. Global approach to migration 70 4.1.1 Specific context 25 4.1.2 Developments within the national perspective 25 9.1 Specific context 71 4.1.3 Developments from the EU perspective 31 9.2 Developments within the national perspective 71 4.2 Family Reunification 32 9.3 Developments from the EU perspective 71 4.2.1 Specific context 32 10. Implementation of eu legislation 73 4.2.2 Developments within the national perspective 32 10.1 Transposition of EU legislation 2011 73 4.2.3 Developments from the EU perspective 34 10.2 Experiences, debates in the (non-) implementation of EU legislation 73 4.3 Other legal migration 34 References 75 4.3.1 Specific context 34 4.3.2 Developments within the national perspective 34 4.3.3 Developments from the EU perspective 36 4.4 Integration 37 4.4.1 Specific context 37 4.4.2 Developments within the national perspective 39 4.5 Citizenship and Naturalisation 41 4.5.1 Specific context 41 4.5.2 Developments within the national perspective 42 4.5.3 Developments from the EU perspective 44 5. Irregular immigration and return 45 5.1 Irregular Immigration 45 5.1.1 Specific context 45 5.1.2 Developments within the national perspective 46 5.1.3 Developments from the EU perspective 49 5.2 Return 49 5.2.1 Specific context 49 5.2.3 Developments from the EU perspective 56 5.3 Actions against human trafficking 56 5.3.1 Specific context 56 5.3.2 Developments within the national perspective 57 5.3.3 Developments from the EU perspective 58 6 7 Executive Summary filed on the grounds of family ties. In 2011, the Finnish Immigration Service processed some 9,300 residence permit applications on the grounds of family ties. Of this total amount, 6,300 were filed by Somali nationals. The police granted 1,386 first-time resi- The year 2011 in Finland will be remembered for the parliamentary elections and the dence permits within its jurisdiction in January-September 2011 to spouses, children or anti-immigration public dialogue preceding them. The anti-anti-immigration True Finns guardians of Finnish citizens and the children of foreign nationals. The number of student party was the undeniable winner in the elections with 39 seats. Finland’s slow economic residence permit applications filed in 2011 was about 10% higher than in the correspond- ing period in 2010. The factors behind the increase in the number of applications include recovery from the recession that began in 2008 was seen as a factor contributing to the 1 anti-immigration atmosphere in 2010. Economic growth slowed down in 2011, giving the internationalisation plans and objectives of Finnish universities. The number of asy- rise to fears of a new economic recession as exports and the construction sector suf- lum seekers decreased by 20% in 2011 compared to the year before. The total number of fered as a result of the EU debt crisis. asylum seekers in 2011 was 3,088. The most significant change in the profile of asylum seekers was the almost complete absence of EU citizens among the applicants (in 2010, asylum seekers in Finland included citizens of Bulgaria and Romania). The effects of the The new government of Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen will update the Future of Im- Arab Spring were evident in a slight decrease in the number of Syrian asylum seekers. migration 2020 strategy. The aim is to increase the employment rate of immigrants while The number of underage asylum seekers (150) declined in 2011 to less than half of the maintaining the current system of determining the availability of labour on the domestic corresponding figure in 2010 (329). In response to the decline in the number of asylum labour market. The Government Programme highlights the integration of immigrants, the seekers, the Finnish Immigration Service cut the accommodation capacity of reception managed and systematic placement of refugees in municipalities, the acceleration of the centres by approximately 550 beds in 2011. processing of asylum applications, the prohibition of the detention of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers, aligning family reunification practices on those of other Nordic countries as well as clarifying statistics and research activities concerning immigration On the immigrant integration front, a significant step was taken in September 2011 and making them more efficient as focal points of its immigration policy. The government with the entry into force of a new Integration Act aiming to facilitate integration from the will evaluate the effectiveness, structure and need for improvements in integration ad- early stages of immigration and promote equality between immigrants and the original ministration during its term of office. population. Under the new Act, integration measures are extended to cover all immi- grants. The promotion of immigrant integration was also one of the objectives of amend- ing the Nationality Act. The amendments resulted in the duration of residence required Prime Minister Katainen appointed Päivi Räsänen of the Christian Democrats as Min- for obtaining Finnish nationality being changed from six years to five and temporary ister of the Interior. The position of Immigration Minister established by the previous residence in Finland being taken into consideration under some circumstances in mak- government was discontinued and the Minister of the Interior was assigned responsibil- ing decisions on granting citizenship. ity for immigration, the police, rescue services and the Border Guard, with the exception of matters under the Integration Unit. Matters related to the Integration Unit will be the responsibility of Minister of Labour Lauri Ihalainen. Immigrant integration affairs will be The number of irregular immigrants declined in 2011 until September, at which point transferred from the Ministry of the Interior to the Ministry of Employment and the Econo- the effects of the Arab Spring began to be reflected in a slight increase in the number of my at the beginning of 2012. The change is in line with the government’s aim to improve asylum seekers. As in previous years, the majority of irregular migrants entered Finland the employment of immigrants on the open labour market. from within the Schengen Area and the problems associated with irregular migration were primarily related to clandestine workers from other EU countries, such as Estonia. As a result of decreased immigration volume, the immigration administration’s budget will be cut by €20 million. In December 2011, the Ministry of the Interior set up a project Biometric residence permit cards will be introduced in Finland on 1 January 2012. The to improve the effectiveness of the administration of immigration affairs. The project will implementation of biometric residence permit cards is based on a Council Regulation assess the asylum process as a whole and determine what factors slow down decision- approved in 2001 (EC No 1030/2002) laying down a uniform format for residence per- making and the enforcement of decisions and prepare a plan to eliminate the factors or mits in the EU. The implementation of biometric residence permit cards aims to prevent reduce their impact. Cost savings are also sought through increased cooperation be- abuse of the residence permit system and illegal entry with falsified personal documents tween the authorities. In order to improve cooperation, the Ministry of the Interior set up through the use of a microchip with a facial photograph and two fingerprint images as a project with the aim of adopting a cooperative model between the Finnish Immigration biometric identifiers. Service, the Police and the Border Guard (FPB). The new cooperation model is sched- uled to be implemented in autumn 2013. According to Statistics Finland, total immigration decreased in 2010. Emigration from Finland to other EU Member States also declined, reaching the lowest level in twelve years. Preliminary statistics for 2011 though suggest that net migration to Finland exhib- ited a marked increase during the year to 15,770 persons, compared 13,750 the year before. According to the Finnish Immigration Service, the number of residence permit applications filed in 2011 was 23,725, a decrease of approximately 3% from the figure 1 The Finnish Immigration Service’s practices for collecting statistics were changed in the beginning of 2011. of 24,547 from the year before.