Source description last updated: 1 September 2020

In brief: The Finnish Immigration Service is a division within Finland’s Ministry of the Interior. Its responsibilities include decision-making in asylum procedures.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

COI reports and query responses

Covered quarterly on ecoi.net, for countries of priorities A–E (all available countries).

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

“The Finnish Immigration Service is a decision-making organisation in matters related to immigration, asylum, refugee status and citizenship and maintains the reception system. The agency implements the Finnish immigration policy and promotes controlled immigration, good administration and human and basic rights. […]

The Finnish Immigration Service participates as a specialist in the discussion about immigration.” (Finnish Immigration Service website: About the Finnish Immigration Service, undated)

“The Country Information Service of the Finnish Immigration Service produces Country of Origin Information (COI) especially on countries from which asylum seekers, quota refugees and immigrants come to Finland. […]

Country of Origin Information supports decision-making, especially decisions on international protection (asylum) applications but also on residence permits and citizenship. When an application is processed, account is taken of Country of Origin Information alongside information provided by the applicant.

Country of Origin Information is produced for the Finnish Immigration Service but also for national and international authorities, interest groups and organisations.”

The Country Information Service is tasked to:

  • “Acquire and produce reliable and up-to-date Country of Origin Information (COI) to support the decision-making of the Asylum, Immigration and Nationality units,
  • Maintain and develop the Tellus country information database meant for authorities,
  • Manage the collections and acquisitions of the Migration Library” (Finnish Immigration Service website: Country Information Service, undated)

Funding:

Finnish government funds

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: countries of origin of asylum-seekers to Finland

Thematic focus: political and socio-economic situation, human rights, security, national laws, geography, medical care, access to documentation etc.

Methodology:

As the Finnish Immigration Service states, “[t]he reports of the Country Information Service are general views on the situation of asylum seekers in their country of origin. They are not judicial assessments and do not assess whether a person coming from a certain country can be granted international protection in Finland based on his or her home region. An assessment of the security situation in the country of origin, based on up-to-date information, is carried out when a decision is made on each individual asylum application.” (Finnish Immigration Service website: Reports by the Country Information Service, undated)

Reports may be based on fact-finding missions either to the country in question (see, for example, Finnish Immigration Service: Afghanistan: Fact-Finding Mission to Kabul in April 2019, 15 October 2019 and Finnish Immigration Service: Iraq: Fact-Finding Mission to Baghdad in February 2019, 17 June 2019) or neighbouring countries (see, for example, Finnish Immigration Service: Eritrea: Fact-Finding Mission to Ethiopia in May 2019, 20 November 2019). During fact-finding missions, researchers from the Finnish Immigration Service may conduct interviews with international and local organisations, local experts and local officials (see, for example, Finnish Immigration Service: Afghanistan: Fact-Finding Mission to Kabul in April 2019, 15 October 2019 and Finnish Immigration Service: Iraq: Fact-Finding Mission to Baghdad in February 2019, 17 June 2019) or, in the case of missions to neighbouring countries, refugees and asylum-seekers (Finnish Immigration Service: Eritrea: Fact-Finding Mission to Ethiopia in May 2019, 20 November 2019). Some interviewees may be quoted without reference to their names or remain completely anonymous due to the sensitivity of the subject matter (see, for example, Finnish Immigration Service: Eritrea: Fact-Finding Mission to Ethiopia in May 2019, 20 November 2019, p. 1). Where necessary, information obtained from interviews may be supplemented with written source material (see, for example, Finnish Immigration Service: Afghanistan: Fact-Finding Mission to Kabul in April 2019, 15 October 2019, p. 2 and Finnish Immigration Service: Eritrea: Fact-Finding Mission to Ethiopia in May 2019, 20 November 2019, p. 4).

Other reports of the Finnish Immigration Service exclusively draw on written public sources consulted during desk research (see, for example, Finnish Immigration Service: Overview of the status of women living without a safety net in Iraq, 22 May 2018, p. 1).

Languages of publication:

English and Finnish

 

All links accessed 1 September 2020.