Challenging deportations have increased

Of the around 1,540 foreign nationals deported by the police this year, almost a quarter, 350, required an escort. There was a relative increase in the number of escorted returnees during the last year.

The proportion of escorted returnees remained well below 20% until 2015.

In 2017, the police deported a total of around 2,600 foreign nationals who had received deportation decisions, 500 of whom were returned under escort.

Vast majority of deportations are supervised

The increase in the number of recipients of negative asylum decisions has increased the number or escorted deportations. People who have arrived in Finland to seek asylum are deported, on the basis of an official deportation decision, to their home countries and EU countries under the so-called Dublin Regulation.

“Recipients of negative asylum decisions who came here three or four years ago are reluctant to return to their home countries and this can be seen in more frequent cases of resisting deportation, or their evading the authorities before they can be returned,” says Deputy National Police Commissioner Sanna Heikinheimo of the National Police Board.

However, Heikinheimo points out that the vast majority of deportations performed by the police merely involve supervision. In such situations, it is the job of the police to ensure that the person boards a plane or ship.

Several escorting officers in challenging cases

A normal police escort consists of two officers.

In general, an escort is used due to the returnee’s own behaviour or previous crimes, or other threats to public safety, regardless of whether or not the person originally came to Finland as a tourist or an asylum seeker.

“The police are having to designate three or even more escorting officers to each returnee in more and more cases. More officers are needed if the destination is further away or the returnee is challenging,” says Chief Superintendent Mia Poutanen of the National Police Board.

“More escorting officers are often needed in situations where the returnee has shown, by their own behaviour or previous actions, that they are a risk to flight safety or the safety of other passengers. Account must also be taken of the occupational safety of police officers when considering the number of escorting officers,” Poutanen says.

Deportations are also performed on charter flights

The behaviour of a returnee may lead to the postponement, but not the cancellation, of their deportation. If a person cannot be deported on a normal scheduled flight, the police can book a charter flight or use a joint European flight organised by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency.

In the current year, the police have recorded 30 reported offences involving violent resistance to public officers involved in escort duties, resistance to a public officer or obstruction of a public official.

The enforceability of decisions is ensured

The police are the enforcing authority in the deportation of foreign nationals. The police only enforce decisions when they are enforceable.

The police ensure that the deportation decision is legally enforceable prior to its implementation.

“People who, according to the law, have no right to reside in Finland are deported. This is done regardless of why the recipient of a deportation decision originally came to Finland. If grounds arise for the interruption of the return, the police will suspend it,” states Deputy National Police Commissioner Heikinheimo.

Such grounds could, for example, be an injunction, issued by the Supreme Administrative Court, prohibiting enforcement.

The police direct returnees to the voluntary return programme

The primary means of return is voluntary return and assisted voluntary return in every case in which the returnee is entitled to this under law. The police direct recipients of deportation decisions to the voluntary return programme when the latter are entitled to and suitable for the programme.

“The police hope that as many recipients of deportation decisions return under the assisted voluntary return programme as possible since this is, in many ways, the most flexible and advantageous option from the returnee's point of view,” Heikinheimo points out.

Persons posing a risk are prioritised

Recipients of deportation decisions are generally deported in the same order in which the deportation decisions are forwarded to the police for enforcement and the practical arrangements for the deportation can be made.

On the other hand, the National Police Board has instructed police departments to prioritise the enforcement of deportations in the case of so-called risk persons.

Poutanen points out that people who have been assessed as posing a threat to internal security or who commit crimes while here are deported on an urgent basis.

“However, the police cannot affect whether or not a risk person will be returned successfully in every case. The recipient country plays a key role in the success of deportations,” says Poutanen.

The Finnish Immigration Service draws up deportation statistics

The police record deportation information in the UMA system maintained by the Finnish Immigration Service, from which the police can obtain various statistics for their own use. Statistical information on deportations will also be added to the police’s statistical bulletins published every six months.

Police held a press conference on deportations in the spring. Material on the press conference can be found at https://www.poliisi.fi/en/national_police_board/press_releases/1/0/the_police_are_preparing_for_an_increase_in_the_number_of_removals_from_the_country_69411