News / EU

Finland set to expel 20,000 of asylum seekers

Thursday, 28 January 2016 7:11 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 28 January 2016 7:12 PM ]

Refugees walk through a field after crossing into Serbia via the Macedonian border near the village of Miratovac on January 28, 2016. ©AFP

Finland is set to expel tens of thousands of the asylum seekers who arrived in the country last year amid the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe.

Paivi Nerg, Finnish Interior Ministry’s administrative director, announced on Thursday that Helsinki expects to expel nearly 20,000 refugees out of the 32,000 it received in 2015.

The official stressed that each application was being evaluated individually.

“In principle we speak of about two-thirds, meaning approximately 65 percent of the 32,000 will get a negative decision (to their asylum application),” said Nerg, adding, “In previous years around 60 percent (of applicants) received a negative decision but now we have somewhat tightened our criteria for Iraqis, Afghans and Somalis.”

Nerg further said at least two charter flights to deport Iraqis were planned within the following months.

Earlier in the day, Swedish Interior Minister Anders Ygeman said Stockholm intends to expel as many as 80,000 refugees whose applications for asylum have been rejected.

“We are talking about 60,000 people, but the number could climb to 80,000,” said Ygeman, adding that the government has asked authorities in charge of refugees to organize their expulsion.

Germany’s government has backed a new draft law to make it easier to deport foreign nationals who commit crimes in the country. The proposal made by justice and interior ministers will expedite the deportation of non-EU foreign nationals found guilty of committing physical and sexual assaults.

Human Rights Watch says European governments have responded to an influx of refugees by cracking down on basic freedoms.

Members of the Greek Red Cross and other volunteers help refugees to disembark from an inflatable boat after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos, on January 26, 2016. ©AP

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a Tuesday statement that more than 45,000 refugees have entered Greece by sea so far this year. The statement added that some 90 percent of the new arrivals are Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans.

Greece served as the main entry point for more than a million refugees who reached the EU last year.

Austria and Sweden have recently threatened Athens with potential expulsion from Europe’s passport-free travel zone unless it does more to stem the refugee influx into the continent.

The current refugee crisis that Europe faces is the worst one being experienced by the continent since World War II.

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