UNHCR’s Representation for the Nordic and Baltic Countries has submitted its observations on the Proposal to amend the Finnish Aliens Act (Hallituksen esitys eduskunnalle laiksi ulkomaalaislain muuttamisesta)
The Proposal aims to enhance the removal of people staying irregularly in the country, to better protect public order, public security and national security and to enhance the preparedness for “unpredictable” situations. The Proposal seeks to among many elements to add new grounds for detention, set a maximum duration of detention for a child with a guardian, introduce ex officio periodic reviews of detention decisions and allow deviation from certain detention standards in exceptional situations.
UNHCR is concerned that the proposed new grounds may lead to arbitrary detention, if no less coercive and intrusive means to resolve the situation are considered. UNHCR is concerned that by combining separate elements from different pieces of legislation, the Proposal has not fully considered that these separate grounds were drafted to target distinct group of individuals in distinct circumstances. Furthermore, UNHCR’s position is that children should not be detained for immigration related purposes, irrespective of their legal/migratory status or that of their parents, and detention is never in their best interests.
UNHCR recommends that the Government of Finland review the proposed new grounds for detention to ensure that asylum-seekers may only be detained according to the grounds exhaustively set out in the EU Reception Conditions Directive and to ensure the procedural guarantees and conditions for detention set out in the EU Reception Conditions Directive are respected at all times for forcibly displaced persons. Furthermore, UNHCR recommends Finland to refrain from detaining children. Lastly, UNHCR recommends adjusting the frequency of the periodic review of detention decisions according to good practice.
UNHCR’s observations can be found here.
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