Return - IOM Publications - International Organization for Migration

Return Migration: Policies and Practices
in which people have applied for asylum in Finland two to three times, although official statistics
are not available.
Cost Effectiveness Analysis
Involuntary returns can involve prolonged legal battles and stays at reception centres, which are
very costly compared to voluntary return services provided by IOM. Additionally, an overwhelming
majority of asylum seekers in Finland receive a negative decision, and the cost of
enforcing the removal runs into the millions. In 2002, for instance, about 2,300 of the 3,400
asylum applications were refused. 10 In 2002, it was estimated that the cost of deporting an
unsuccessful asylum seeker, usually with two escorts from the police department, was over
EUR 2 million.
TABLE 2
EXPENSES OF POLICE REMOVALS:
2001-2003
Year € €/person
2001 1,300,000 1,239
2002 2,100,000 872
2003 (est.) 2,350,000 No information
available
Source: Finnish Ministry of Interior.*
* Voluntary Return of Asylum Seekers Working Group suggestions on
arranging voluntary returns in Finland (abbreviated translation from the
Finnish language by Harri Kiviniemi), Finnish Ministry of Interior, 2003.
2. ASSISTED VOLUNTARY RETURN
2.1 POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND PROVISIONS
Finland closely adheres to UNHCR principles in its refugee policy, including returns of rejected
asylum seekers. This means that the return must be voluntary, and must occur in dignity and
under safe conditions; and in this respect the Finnish government has implemented a number of
assisted voluntary programmes, in cooperation with IOM. The components of assisted return
migration schemes have been extended from post conflict emergency orientation (e.g. the
Humanitarian Evacuation Programme, which evacuated over 1,000 Kosovo Albanians from
Kosovo) to focus more on sustainable return, including services such as information and assistance
upon return (e.g. upgrading or providing skills towards effective reintegration or reconstruction
in the country of origin).
The general trend has been the implementation of specific projects to address the current immigration
situation in Finland. Some of the major assisted voluntary return programmes have
included the Return and Reintegration Programme for rejected asylum seekers implemented in
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