Interior ministry to run independent study

The interior ministry will carry out an independent study on the assessment made by the Finnish Immigration Services (Migri) of different war-torn regions, reported the local media on Saturday.

Interior Minister Kai Mykkänen late Friday night confirmed the decision of conducting the study on Migri’s assessment, reported the national broadcaster Yle quoting a twitter post of the minister.

The ministry took the decision following a strong demand made by the Amnesty International Finland Chapter to stop deportation to Afghanistan, which was supported by a number of politicians from different opposition parties.

Mykkänen told Yle that the interior ministry is currently considering which organ would be the best to execute the larger study.

“We are now determining what kind of form it will take and whether it will be the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR or another of our cooperative partners that carries it out,” the Yle report quoted the minister as saying.

Earlier, on August 29, the Finland Chapter of Amnesty International urged the Finnish authorities to refrain from deporting rejected asylum seekers to Afghanistan.

Talking to Yle Radio 1, Amnesty International Finland Chapter Director Frank Johansson reiterated the demand for stopping all repatriations of asylum seekers to Afghanistan.

“We’ve had a clear stance on this for more than a year. This is a very strong position, as we don’t make the same demand about any other country,” the Yle report quoted Johansson as saying.

Meanwhile, the Finnish authorities have been issuing contradictory statements about the security situation in Afghanistan in the recent period, said the Yle report.

At the same Yle Radio 1 programme, Finnish Ambassador to Afghanistan Hannu Ripatti claimed the situation in Afghanistan at this moment is not bad.

He said the situation had been exaggerated by the media. The envoy also claimed that the human casualties in road accidents in Afghanistan are higher than the number of causalities in fighting.

However, a few days ago, Olli Ruohomäki, a senior advisor to the foreign ministry, said the conditions in Afghanistan were worsening and that there was no safe corner in the country.