Proposal to tighten the provisions on international protection sent out for comments

The Ministry of the Interior has sent out for comments a proposal for a legislative amendment that would shorten the length of international protection permits to the minimum allowed by the Qualification Directive. The deadline for submitting comments is 12 March 2024.

The Ministry of the Interior’s proposal would help implement the entries in the Government Programme that concern introducing more stringent provisions on international protection within the scope permitted by the Qualification Directive. The Directive lays down provisions on the grounds for granting international protection.

According to the proposal, the first residence permit on the basis of refugee status would, in future, be valid for three years instead of the current four years.  The length of the extended permit would be shortened from the current four years to three years.A residence permit on the basis of subsidiary protection would be issued for one year instead of the current four years. An extended permit based on subsidiary protection would be issued for two years instead of the current four years. 

The planned changes would make it possible to carry out more frequent assessments of the need to continue international protection in line with the Government Programme. The requirements for issuing extended permits would also be tightened and clarified.

New provisions on ending and revoking a person’s international protection status

The Ministry of the Interior’s proposal would also amend the provisions on ending and revoking a person’s international protection status as enabled by the Qualification Directive. In future, it would also be possible to end a person’s international protection status after they have been granted protection status. This could be done by applying exclusion clauses. For example, in future, it would be possible to end international protection status which has already been granted when there is reason to suspect that a person who has international protection status has committed a war crime or an act which violates the purposes and principles of the United Nations.  
Refugee status could also be ended if the foreign national can be considered a danger to national security or they have committed a particularly serious crime and therefore constitute a danger to society. A person could also be refused refugee status on these grounds. 

A residence permit on the basis of subsidiary protection could be refused in future if the foreign national is considered to endanger national security. The permit could also be refused if the person had left their country of origin only to avoid criminal sanctions.

The principle of non-refoulement will not be violated. The Ministry of the Interior proposes new grounds for granting temporary residence permits in situations where a person’s international protection status is ended or revoked or a person is not granted refugee status but where the person cannot be removed from the country because they are under the threat of the death penalty, torture, persecution or other treatment violating human dignity. A temporary residence permit would secure those minimum rights that the person must be granted under the Qualification Directive when they reside in Finland.
 

Inquiries: 

Milla Väisänen, Senior Specialist, [email protected], 0295 488 698