HELSINKI, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Thousands of Iraqi refugees who arrived in Finland last year have decided to cancel their asylum applications and to return home voluntarily, citing family issues and disappointment with life in the frosty Nordic country.
Europe is in the grip of its worst migrant crisis since World War Two, with more than a million people arriving last year, fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East and beyond.
Germany and Finland’s neighbour Sweden have taken in many of the migrants but Finland too saw the number of asylum seekers increase nearly tenfold in 2015 to 32,500 from 3,600 in 2014.
Almost two thirds of the asylum seekers last year were young Iraqi men, but some are now having second thoughts, so Finland will begin chartering flights to Baghdad from next week to take them home.
Officials said about 4,100 asylum seekers had so far cancelled their applications and that number was likely to reach 5,000 in the coming months.
“My baby boy is sick, I need to get back home,” said Alsaedi Hussein, buying a flight back to Baghdad at a small travel agency in Helsinki.
Somalia-born Muhiadin Hassan who runs the travel agency said he was now selling 15 to 20 flights to Baghdad every day.
“It’s been busy here for the past few months,” he said.
A majority of the home-bound migrants have told immigration services they want to return to their families, but some expressed disappointment with life in Finland.
“Some say the conditions in Finland and the lengthy asylum process did not meet their expectations, or what they had been told by the people they paid for their travel,” said Tobias van Treeck, programme officer at the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
“TOO COLD”
Echoing that comment, travel agent Hassan said: “Some say they don’t like the food here, it’s too cold or they don’t feel welcome in Finland. There are many reasons.”
Nearly 80 percent of the migrants returning home are Iraqis. Just 22 of the 877 Syrians – whose country is racked by civil war – and 35 of the 5,214 Afghans who sought asylum in Finland last year have asked to return to their home country.
Along with other Nordic states, Finland has recently tightened its immigration policies, for example requiring working-age asylum seekers to do some unpaid work.
Hostility to migrants has also increased in Finland, a country with little experience of mass immigration and which now has economic problems.
Germany too, which took in 1.1 million people in 2015, has seen small numbers of Iraqi refugees choosing to go home.
Finland had been preparing to reject up to 20,000 asylum seekers from 2015, but the number of voluntary returnees could significantly reduce that figure.
“The number of returnees is increasing steadily … All asylum seekers are informed about the options for voluntary return and about the available financial assistance,” said Paivi Nerg, a senior official in the Finnish interior ministry.
However, most Iraqi returnees pay for their own flight home or seek help from Iraq’s embassy in Helsinki, she added.
Last year the Finnish government and the IOM provided financial help to 631 returnees and a similar number is expected this year.
The charter flights will carry up to 100 passengers back to Baghdad from Helsinki every week for as long as demand lasts, officials said.
I wish the wetbacks here in the US would take a tip and a trip back home because of the cold winters here. And on their own dime.
The feds here obviously offer far better incentives than the Finnish feds.
Easy to do when it’s our bottomless pockets and it will get the fed’s desired results.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! The scumbags can’t handle a little cold air after living in 100 degree temperatures all their lives.
Wish the illegal immigrants would do the same. Of course, we know our foreign government in occupation would just give them free healthcare and lots of warm lodging at taxpayers expense, so that’s one of the reasons why they’re still here and not bitching about it in places like Michigan, New York, Massachusetts and so on.
Even if this does or is happening in our country, you’ll never hear of it being reported by our lovable MSM who will stop at nothing to make sure they stay here by reporting on countless incentives that they will give them.
One of these days they won’t have any incentives left to give them and that’s when the elite will lose and we’ll take our country back and exterminate every last one of them treasonous, Commie bastards.
BWAHAHAHAHA “citing family issues and disappointment with life in the frosty Nordic country”
BULLSH*T….Freezing their dashiki wearin asses off and little freebies…..
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Thanks for the entertainment!!!!!!!!!!
(Laughing)…..You know it…..I got a kick out of it myself……
“TOO COLD”
I guess they didn’t like the gefeltafish.
Plus they wouldn’t adapt and wear their fins.
If your gonna live in Finland. .ya gotta put em on.
I guess the winter scenery is a little to “white”.
Do Finns eat gefilta fish, flee? I though that was Jewish food.
Nothing in the Finland bio about that, JR.
Lakes in Finland provide many opportunities for fishing and fish has always been an important protein source. Several ways to prepare fish are used, including frying, boiling, drying, salting, fermenting, cold smoking or simply slicing sea fish and eating it raw. Salmon is a popular choice, both as kylmäsavustettu lohi: cold smoked salmon, lox, or served raw with lemon juice as graavilohi (gravlax in Swedish). It is common to smoke any types of fish, like salmon, zander, pike, perch and Baltic herring. A popular dish among the Swedish-speaking population is smoked herring (Finnish: savusilli, Swedish: böckling). There are many styles of pickled herring which is a common appetizer and also served around Midsummer accompanied by small potatoes called uusiperuna [nypotatis in Swedish] which literally means ‘new potato’, usually the first harvests of potato. Whitefish and vendace roe are Finnish delicacies served on top of a toast or with blinis. Crayfish can be found in many lakes and streams in Finland and, in August especially, the Swedish-speaking population often arranges parties centered around eating crayfish and drinking.
“My baby boy is sick, I need to get back home,” said Alsaedi Hussein, buying a flight back to Baghdad at a small travel agency in Helsinki.
Which proves they’re not refugees at all, but just invading other countries to see who’s dumb enough to feed them.
18 below zero in little Finland on the Great Lakes this morning, so I don’t expect them to come here, either.
“TOO COLD”
Yeah, one generally doesn’t see much snow in the desert.