The dimensions and main features of the inflow of refugees and other migrants

• Author: Mehtonen, Susanna
• Pages: 8-13

IPOL | Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies

8 PE 638.397

1. THE DIMENSIONS AND MAIN FEATURES OF THE INFLOW OF

REFUGEES AND OTHER MIGRANTS

1.1. Evolution of the inflows of refugees and other migrants in the

country since 2010

Finland applies a two-tiered system to refugee protection. Refugees may be accepted for resettlement

as quota refuge es or m ay rece ive i nternational prote ction as a result of an ap pli cati on for inte rnati onal

protection. Quota refugees are mainly received through the UNHCR resettlement system. The number

of quota refugees admitted per year is decided by the Parliament in conjunction with the annual

budge t1. Since 2010, the refugee quota has been set at 750 – 1,050 refugees per year. The focus of the

refugee quota is set on aiding vulnerable refugees such as families with children and vulnerable

women. Individuals applying for international protection may not be admitted in the refugee quota.

The annual number of asylum applications in Finland has stayed more or less stable in the years

2010 – 2018, apart from the year 2015 when the number increased almost tenfold. However, the year

2015 has st ayed as a statist ical anomaly, al ready i n 2016 the number of applications had decreased to

5,646. By limiting the analysi s to the years 2010 – 2018, one could conclude that the num ber of

app licati ons has sinc e rise n from ar ound 3 ,000 – 4,000 applicants to over 5,000 applicants per year.

However, it must be noted that already in 2009 there were 5,988 a ppli cations, and there fore, one

cannot draw the co nclusi on that t here would have b een a s teady i ncre ase si nce 201 0. On the cont rary,

the number of applications is inconsi stent (Figure 1. Applications for international protection

2010 – 2018).

Another noteworthy issue is that the numb er of renewed appl ications has ris en sinc e 20 15, which

indicates that the numbe r of app lications for international protec tion does not corresp ond to the

numbe r of annual arri vals. In 2015 there were 518 renewed applications, in 2016 834, in 2017 1,845 and

in 2018 1,909 up to 11/20182. Taking into account these rene wed applications, and de ducti ng the

renewed applications from the total number of applications, the number of first time applications in

2017 was 3,201. (Figure 2. Renewed applications 2015 – 2018)

In the begi nning of the 2010 ’s there was a ste ady incre ase in r ecogniti on rates, which is a ttributable

both to the transposition of the Status Determination Directive (Directive 2011/95/EU of the European

Parli ame nt and of t he Counci l of 13 De ce mber 2 011 on st andards for the quali ficat ion of third-c ountry

nationals or stateless persons as benefici aries of international protection, for a uniform status for

refugee s or for per sons el igible for s ubsidi ary protecti on, and for the conte nt of the prote cti on granted

(recast)), which, according to the Immigration Service, consolidated protection statuses as well as t he

devel opment of reasonings for decisions of the Immigration Service3. (Figure 3. Recognition rates for

international p rote cti on in Finland). The decrease in recognition rates in 2015 and 2016 can be

exp lai ned in p art b y the rem oval of one prot ect ion stat us: humani tari an prot ect ion, which i n pre vious

years had a ccou nted fo r 0.1 – 11 % of al l recognised applicants. The normalised amount of applications

1 Ministry of Interior, Kiintiöpakolaisten vastaanotto on tapa auttaa kaikkein haavoittuvimmassa asemassa olevia.

Avail able at : htt ps://i ntermin.fi/ maahanmutto/t urvapaikanhaki jat-ja-pakolaiset/ki intiopakol aiset, acces sed on 2 8 Dec ember 2018 .

2 Upon submi ssion, data w as only avail able until 11/2018. Upon review, the report will be completed to correspond to data containing

12/2018, subject to availability.

3 Migri, 13.2.2013, Turvapaikkayksikön tilastokatsaus, available at :

https://migri.fi/documents/5202425/6165022/2012+Turvapaikkayksikön+tilastokatsaus+%28fi%29.