Finland MUSLIM SETTLERS

Finland: 2015 Iraqi Asylum Seekers gaining citizenship in record numbers…….


 

The disaster of 2015-16 is still upon us…

 

Iraqis seeking more Finnish citizenship – asylum seekers arriving in autumn 2015

Nearly 2,500 new asylum applications were registered in Finland last year. The number of confirmatory applications was over 2,000.

Residence permits

Citizenship applications filed by Iraqis are on the rise in Finland, says the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) in a news release (switching to another service).

 

In 2018, 1,588 Iraqis applied for Finnish citizenship, compared to 972 in Iraq in 2018.

 

Last year, 3 248 Iraqi citizens applied for a permanent residence permit, compared with 735 in 2018. A total of 11 699 applications for a permanent residence permit were made last year.

 

A total of just over 10,000 people were granted Finnish citizenship in 2019, compared with just over 9,600 in the previous year.

 

The increase in the number of applications made by Iraqis is due to the fact that persons who arrived in Finland in 2015 and who have subsequently been granted asylum can now apply for Finnish citizenship or a permanent residence permit.

 

In both cases, the residence requirement for beneficiaries of international protection is four years. In 2015, more than 32,000 asylum seekers arrived in Finland, most of them Iraqis.

 

Autumn 2015 is still showing up in applications

In 2019, 4,550 asylum applications were filed in Finland, of which 2,083 were confirmatory applications and 2,467 new asylum seekers.

 

Before the record year 2015, 3,000–4,000 asylum applications were submitted annually in Finland.

 

According to Antti Lehtinen, head of the Migra Asylum Unit, Iraqis arriving in the fall of 2015 remain the largest group of applicants in the statistics, as they submit a large number of confirmatory applications. There are relatively few new asylum seekers from Iraq.

 

A confirmatory application is an application for asylum lodged by an asylum seeker with at least one application for asylum after a final negative decision.

 

Last year, the largest numbers of new asylum seekers came from Russia and Turkey. According to Mr Lehtinen, the majority of Turkish applicants pleaded for the actual or supposed membership of the Gülen movement and therefore for the threat they faced.

 

– More Jehovah Witnesses from Russia have come than in previous years, but last year there were many applications, Lehtinen says in the release.

 

A record number of workers applied for a residence permit

In 2019, the most common application for a first residence permit was work, whereas in the past it had been for family. Nearly 12,700 first residence permit applications were submitted last year on the basis of work. In 2018, the figure was just over 10,800.

 

The number of residence permit applications increased last year by nearly 5,000 applications from 2018. In total, over 71,000 people applied for residence permits.

 

Finland made 1,839 expulsion decisions last year on the basis of unauthorized residence. In most cases, expulsion decisions were taken against Uzbek citizens on the basis of illegal residence. 124 expulsion decisions were taken.

 

According to the Immigration Service, expulsion decisions have been taken against Uzbek workers, including because of fake school certificates.

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