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Ombudsman criticises officers at Helsinki harbour after expulsion of Kurds

By Liz Fekete

1 April 1995

The parliamentary ombudsman has criticised passport officers at Helsinki harbour following two cases that involved the expulsion of five Kurdish asylum-seekers.

The first case occurred in October 1992 when a Kurdish woman from Iraq who came to Helsinki harbour via Estonia was simply sent back the next day. A month later another ship brought a group of four Iraqi Kurds, two of whom were minors, all of whom were summarily expelled but managed to appeal against the decision claiming that as they had asked for asylum in their own language the officers had not understood them. Parliamentary ombudsman, Jacob Söderman has criticised the officers involved for not providing an interpreter and for failing to take into account the fact that two of the applicants were minors. Four border control officers were given an admonition and the Ministry of the Interior was asked to clarify expulsion regulations in order to take better account of the UN Refugee Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The passport control officers have defended their actions by saying that the Kurds did not ask for asylum, identification papers were not in order and they did not have enough money to support their stay. But the ombudsman has pointed out that it is unlikely that the Kurds would have come to Finland as tourists or businessmen.

Helsingen Sanomat 2.1.95

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