Finnish court orders Migri to release Nigerian family from detention

April 10, 2025

A mother and her two young children were held at a detention unit in the east of Finland for nearly two months after their application for asylum was rejected.

The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal has ordered that a Nigerian woman and her two young children be released from a detention unit in Joutseno, near the city of Lappeenranta.

The woman and her children, who are two and six years old, had been held at the detention facility for almost two months. Under Finnish law, the detention of a child must only be used as a last-resort measure, and the period of detention should be as short as possible.

The appeal court’s ruling overturns the verdict of a lower court which had prolonged an ordeal the woman previously told Yle was “like being in prison”.

The family will now move to the Joutseno open reception centre while they await their re-application for asylum to be processed.

In its verdict, the appeal court ruled that the conditions for keeping the children in continued custody had not been met, especially as the period of detention had already lasted for almost eight weeks. In addition, the court noted that keeping the woman in detention would have been against the best interests of the children, as they would have to be separated from their mother.

Family resubmits asylum application

According to Yle’s information, the 27-year-old woman initially travelled from her native Nigeria to Italy in search of a better life. However, she ended up as a sex worker in Italy 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 first 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 to Yle that a second asylum application has now been submitted to the Finnish Immigration Service Migri — with a decision likely in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, the family will live at the Joutseno reception centre, where they must sign in twice a day.

“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,” Wehka-aho 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.

Source: YLE news