HELSINKI, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Finland has found itself beleaguered by concerns that it may have violated human rights when processing the asylum applications, since an Iraqi was reportedly killed in Baghdad weeks after being deported from Finland.
Afghanistan asylum seekers are to stage several demonstrations against deportation in several places across Finland over the weekend.
A gathering of 400 protesters in central Helsinki on Saturday aroused a war of words with a counter demonstration nearby. More demonstrations are scheduled in four more cities on Sunday.
Last Monday, Finnish national broadcaster Yle reported that an Iraqi asylum seeker was shot dead on December 17, 2017, three weeks after being deported from Finland. Finnish Minister of Interior Kai Mykkanen claimed that the asylum application had gone through all legal proceedings in Finland.
Three days later, Mykkanen admitted that the current processes and availability of legal aid in assessing the grounds for asylum need to be investigated. He underlined that he would not take further stands before such an investigation is made.
News reports reached Finland this week that French courts have stopped the authorization of sending refugees to Finland.
Under the Schengen passport treaty, asylum seekers apprehended elsewhere in the Schengen area should be sent back to the Schengen country they first enter. But several local courts in France have determined that asylum seekers sent to Finland may not have enough legal protection.
Similar French decisions have targeted Norway and Sweden.
Outi Korhonen, professor of international law at Turku University, said earlier this week that the political opinion climate should not be allowed to affect juridical considerations.
"The courts must consider whether the applicant would be in danger in his or her country of departure. This will be an individual assessment of the applicant, totally irrespective of how many other applicants there are or what Finland can afford", she told national broadcaster Yle.
Commenting on the stands taken in France, Korhonen said that in countries where large number of asylum seekers arrive, judges have carried out this debate long before, and the criticism against the situation in Finland can be attributed to that background.
Marjaana Laine, the leading lawyer for the Finnish refugee aid association, said the Finnish policy of repatriation is not on a solid ground. She told newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that in her opinion the legal security of asylum seekers has been impaired in Finland.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mykkanen said that during his first week as interior minister he has been surprised with the polarization in Finland about asylum seekers. He reminded that the Finnish constitution guarantees certain rights also to those arriving in Finland, but he added that those "just wanting to improve their quality of life through coming to Finland" should not be allowed to remain.
