Number of challenging deportations of refugees on rise

A total of 1,540 foreign nationals deported by the police from Finland this year, police said.

Out of the deportees, almost a quarter, 350, required an escort. The number of escorted returnees was higher this year than the number of the previous year, said an official press release on Friday.

The proportion of escorted returnees remained below 20% until 2015.

In 2017, the police deported a total of around 2,600 foreign nationals who had received deportation decisions, 500 of whom were returned under escort.

The increase in the number of recipients of negative asylum decisions has increased the number or escorted deportations.

“Recipients of negative asylum decisions who came here three or four years ago are reluctant to return to their home countries and this can be seen in more frequent cases of resisting deportation, or their evading the authorities before they can be returned,” said Deputy National Police Commissioner of the National Police Board Sanna Heikinheimo.

Heikinheimo, however, pointed out that the vast majority of deportations performed by the police merely involve supervision. In such situations, it is the job of the police to ensure that the person boards a plane or ship.

A normal police escort consists of two officers and normally an escort is used due to the returnee’s own behaviour or previous crimes, or other threats to public safety, regardless of whether or not the person originally came to Finland as a tourist or an asylum seeker.

“The police are having to designate three or even more escorting officers to each returnee in more and more cases. More officers are needed if the destination is further away or the returnee is challenging,” said Mia Poutanen, the Chief Superintendent of the National Police Board.

On the other hand, the National Police Board has instructed police departments to prioritise the enforcement of deportations in the case of so-called risk persons.

Poutanen points out that people who have been assessed as posing a threat to internal security or who commit crimes while here are deported on an urgent basis.

“However, the police cannot affect whether or not a risk person will be returned successfully in every case. The recipient country plays a key role in the success of deportations,” said Poutanen.