Tuesday, April 15, 2025 - The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal has ruled that a Nigerian woman and her two children must be released from the Joutseno detention centre, where they had been held for nearly two months following the rejection of their asylum claim.
The woman, Mary
and her children, aged two and six, will now be moved to the nearby Joutseno
open reception centre while their second application for asylum is
processed.
The Finnish
media reported last week that the court stated that the legal conditions for
keeping the children in detention had not been met.
It also ruled
that separating the children from their mother would not have served their best
interests.
Finnish law
states that detention of children is only permitted as a last resort and for
the shortest possible period.
The ruling
overturns an earlier decision by a lower court that extended the family’s
detention.
The family will
now move to the Joutseno open reception centre while their re-application for
asylum is to be processed.
According to
reports, the 27-year-old woman initially travelled from Nigeria to Italy in
search of a better life.
However, she
ended up as a s3x worker and fled to Finland last year to escape her violent
husband.
She applied for
asylum in Finland but her application was immediately rejected on the grounds
that she had already received a residence permit in Italy.
In her last
application to the Finnish authorities, the woman did not mention that she had
been a victim of human trafficking.
The family's
legal advisor, attorney Emmi Wehka-aho, confirmed that a second application has
now been submitted to the Finnish Immigration Service Migri - with a decision
likely in the next couple of weeks.
“I am happy
with the Court of Appeal's decision, which considered the matter from the
children's point of view. The obligation to sign in, on the other hand, is
unreasonable,” the lawyer said.
She added that
the family would like to stay in Finland, and specifically in Pori, where they
have previously lived and have built a support network.
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