Finland suspends deportation of Iraqi asylum seekers

Finland will suspend deportation of Iraqi refugees following the accusation of human rights violation by the European Court of Human Rights in respect of the death of a rejected Iraqi asylum seeker.

“Police are refraining from deporting the asylum seekers to Iraq for an interim period,” Helsinki police said in a twitter post on Saturday.

Police, however, said that that the suspension will not be applicable for the convicted criminals.

Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo in a twitter post said that Finland will now have time to investigate the case of Ali, an Iraqi man who was denied asylum in 2017, deported to Iraq and killed a few weeks later, reported National broadcaster Yle.

”I’ve asked leading civil servants to explain how we can ensure this never happens again,” said the Yle report quoting Ohisalo as saying.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday accused Finland of violation of European Convention on Human Rights in respect of the death of a rejected Iraqi asylum seeker in his country in 2017.

The ECHR ordered the state to pay the applicant EUR 20,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage and EUR 4,500 in respect of legal costs, said a press release issued by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

"The judgment of the court is extremely weighty and significant. It is a very serious matter that our country that is governed by the rule of law has failed, in this case, to protect the most important right of all, the safeguarding of life. I immediately raised this matter at the ministry, and we will look carefully at how we can ensure that this will not happen again,” Ohisalo said on Thursday after the judgement.