Practice of Imprisoning Deportees Draws Fire

This year, 500 to 600 such cases have been reported so far.

Foreign nationals can be placed in the detention centre if they are to be deported, or if authorities need to establish their identity. This can include asylum seekers or non-EU citizens.

Although these people are not guilty of any crime, they are often housed in police facilities until the country’s only official detention centre has room to accommodate them. The detention centre can house just 40 people.

Juha Holopainen of the Immigration Police says Finnish officials are not always to blame for the backlog at the detention centre.

”Often the delays are not due to Finnish officials. For example, collaboration between officials at transport firms and the destination countries takes time.”

This year, stays at the detention centre have increased by around a month. Meanwhile, time spent in police custody has also lengthened. On average, these people have to spend a few days in prison-like facilities. In rare cases, they could be there for weeks.

According to the law, persons at detention centres should be able to move about, go outside, visit with others, exercise and have access to the internet.

The UN Committee Against Torture reprimanded Finland for the stays at police facilities a couple years ago. Finland vowed to solve the problem by building more detention centres.

”We have estimated that we would need three million euros to do this,” says Sirkku Päivärinta, the head of the immigration unit at the Ministry of the Interior.

Construction would provide accommodation for dozens of more people. However, the proposal was axed from next year’s budget.