Baltic and Nordic Region

Baltic and Nordic Headlines

A summary of asylum and refugee-related stories in regional media.

Thursday 11 March to Friday 12 March 2010

Finland

Finland is once again accepting quota refugees from Afghanistan

Finland’s refugee quota will remain the same as last year, 750 refugees. Finland has not accepted Afghan quota refugees since 2005, as the situation in the country was thought to have improved rapidly. Now the conditions in Afghanistan and Iran have become more difficult, and many refugees are not able to return home. On Thursday, the group of Ministers that is responsible for immigration issues supported the Ministry of Interior’s proposal, according to which Finland will receive 200 Iraqi refugees from Syria, 150 Burmese refugees from Thailand, 150 Congolese refugees from Rwanda and 150 Afghan refugees from Iran. In addition, Finland is prepared to take 100 refugees requiring urgent placement.
Helsingin Sanomat 11 March 2010 (in Finnish)
YLE 11 March 2010 (in Finnish)

Latvia

Reform of the Naturalization Board

The head of the Naturalization Board (NB) Igors Gorbunovs believes that reform of the NB and its merger with the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs have not hindered the examination of applications for naturalization. According to Gorbunovs, there is a small increase in the number of applicants for naturalization. A new tendency is that a majority of the applicants are men, while during the previous years there were more women applicants. Also, some applicants want to receive naturalization in order to leave the country.
Integration and Minority Information Service 11 March 2010 (in English)

Norway

Northern Iraq will not accept forcibly returned asylum-seekers

The authorities in the Kurdish north of Iraq refuse to let chartered aircrafts with deported asylum-seekers land, despite the fact that Norwegian authorities have made a return agreement with the central government in Baghdad. Northern Iraqi authorities believe that the agreement is in violation of human rights. Kaveh Mahmoud, a spokesman for the Kurdish regional government, says that they have sent a message to the airports in the area asking that them not to accept refugees who have been sent back involuntarily. Mahmoud agrees with the UN’s assessment that the area is not secure. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is surprised that the northern Iraqi government refuses to accept Norwegian aircrafts. Norwegian police, who are responsible for the deportations confirms that they know that the Norwegian charters with forcibly returned asylum-seekers are unwanted in the area. The deportations to Northern Iraq will continued in a more anonymous way through regular scheduled flights.
NRK 11 March 2010 (in Norwegian)
Verdens Gang 11 March 2010 (in Norwegian)

Sweden

Lack of control in housing soultions for refugee children

According to a new study, the reception of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children has major flaws. In most cases, when a child is placed in a foster family, homes are investigated in advance by the social services. However, in the case of refugee children, the best case scenario is that this is done retrospectively. Municipalities will now face stricter regulations. The most acute cases are when children are placed with relatives or friends immediately upon arrival, or that they are already in a home when they register as asylum-seekers. Often, these are families that already are living under tough conditions, and who may feel forced to take in the children.
Dagens Nyheter 12 March 2010 (in Swedish)

Sharp reaction to Billström’s statements

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, reacted sharply to the statements made by the Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy Tobias Billström in the TV-programme Konflikt on Saturday. According to Hammarberg, Sweden does not have to comply with the Dublin Regulations and return underage asylum-seekers to inhuman conditions in Malta. Hammarberg stressed that Sweden should follow the UN refugee agency UNHCR's recommendations on the handling of asylum cases. In the programme, Billström said that Sweden, under the so-called Dublin Regulation, has returned unaccompanied refugee children into the first country they have sought asylum in, although some countries are in breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and do not meet human rights standards.
Sveriges Radio 10 March 2010 (in Swedish)

Family reunification rules tightened

The Riksdag voted 152-144 in favour of a proposal that says that anyone living in Sweden and wishing to bring relatives from another country to live there, must be able to support the relatives and provide housing of adequate standard. The change will come into effect on 15 February. The opposition voted against the proposal. A number of exemptions will be made. These include: children, individuals with refugee status or in specific need of protection, individuals who have been permanent residents in Sweden for a minimum of four years. The aim with the change is to encourage more immigrants to live in areas where there are jobs and housing.
Dagens Nyheter 11 March 2010 p:9 (in Swedish)

Tightened family reunification requirements for Somalis

From now on it will be more difficult for Somalis to reunite with their families in Sweden. On Thursday the Migration Board made a decision on how applications from relatives of Somalis who have been granted asylum in Sweden should be handled. The decision is a consequence of two rulings of the Migration Court of Appeal in January. For applicants from Somalia it is sufficient if they can prove their identity, but for family reunification, the asylum-seekers relatives need to possess a valid passport. In Somalia, where one of the world's worst civil wars has raged since 1991, there are no proper passports. Before the new rulings the Swedish authorities had lower identity requirements for family members of asylum-seekers. Somalis are the largest group of asylum-seekers in Sweden. Last year, 5,874 Somalis sought asylum in Sweden and the number of family reunifications amounted to 9,562.
Dagens Nyheter 11 March 2010 (in Swedish)

Ambassador concerned over sudden Roma influx

Sweden's ambassador in Belgrade Krister Bringeus has expressed concern over the number of Serbian citizens seeking asylum in Sweden in the wake of a recent relaxation of visa restrictions. According to Ambassador Bringeus there are currently 770 Serbian citizens in Sweden, most of whom are Roma, who are requesting political asylum. He notes further that all 770 persons came to Sweden in the last two months.  He believes that none of them will be granted asylum and that all will be sent back home in the coming days. Travel agents are suspected to have set up bus tours to EU countries luring locals with stories that they would get political asylum, a job and a house there. Macedonia and Serbia have agreed to investigate the possibility of prosecuting the organizers of the bus lines.
The Local 11 March 2010 (in English)
Sveriges Radio 11 March 2010 (in Swedish)

Crowded at a reception centre in Gävle

Within two weeks, about 1,000 persons from the Balkans have come to Sweden to seek for asylum. The majority of them have come by bus via the Öresund Bridge and the ports of Malmö and Gothenburg. In order to help the Migration Board Units in Southern Sweden, the Asylum Procedures Unit in Gävle received nearly 200 of these persons last week, which is significantly more than during a normal week. In December, the visa requirements for Serbs who want to travel to an EU country were dropped, which is seen as a likely cause to the increased influx of refugees from that area. According to information provided to the Migration Board, there are organized bus trips from the Balkans to Sweden.
Gefle Dagblad 10 March 2010 (in Swedish)
Arbetarbladet 10 March 2010 (in Swedish)

Iraqi refugees in a nationwide action

A nationwide operation "Aktion 2010" will bring together hidden Iraqi refugees to write new asylum applications. These persons are primarily from Iraq's minority communities. Lena Blom from the Swedish Church estimates that there are nearly 3,500 Iraqis living in hiding in Sweden. She believes that many of them will join the campaign. Figures provided by the Police show that approximately 9,000 persons have gone into hiding in Sweden after having received negative decisions on their asylum applications. A large proportion of them are Iraqis.
Sveriges Radio 12 March 2010 (in Swedish)

UNHCR in the news

Cycling to South Africa for refugee awareness

The world’s refugees are getting support from a Norwegian footballer’s World Cup travel plan. This year's FIFA World Cup will be the first one to be held in Africa, and former footballer Bjørn Heidenstrøm is doing his best to make his trip to South Africa a memorable one. The Norwegian is cycling and hitchhiking to the tournament from Oslo in an effort to raise awareness of refugee issues, using the generosity of what he enthusiastically refers to as “the football family” to help smooth his path. When Helsinki Times caught up with Heidenstrøm he was in the Sudanese capital Khartoum plotting his next move with the experience of a man who has already passed through three continents on his epic journey. Heidenstrøm explains that UNHCR will help him from Sudan to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and introduce some of the organizations work to him.
Helsinki Times 10 March 2010 (in English)

UNHCR bears no responsibility for the accuracy and content of the press summary, which is based on external news services and does not reflect the views of UNHCR.

External Relations Unit
UNHCR Regional Office for the Baltic and Nordic Countries, Stockholm
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