Government raises number of Afghans to be evacuated to Finland to 170

The Finnish government decided at an extraordinary meeting on Sunday 15 August that Finland can admit a maximum of 40 additional current and former Afghan employees and their families.

The decision adds to the government’s decision of 13 August to admit 130 persons to Finland.

This means that 170 persons can be relocated from Afghanistan to Finland, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Under section 93 of the Aliens Act, the government decided that Finland will admit a maximum of 5 additional locally recruited Afghans, including their families, who are currently employed by the Embassy of Finland in Kabul and a maximum of 35 additional Afghans, including their families, who were employed by the Finnish Embassy in Kabul between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2020.

The decision affects the employees, their families and also includes unmarried adult children living in the same household.

These individuals have asked the Finnish government to admit them to Finland. This quota of 40 persons includes the employees and their family members.

A charter flight

In the first phase, the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) is responsible for receiving the relocated employees and their families in Finland.

They will be granted a residence permit in accordance with section 113 of the Aliens Act.

The transfer of these people to Finland will be carried out on a charter flight organized by the State, the same one planned for the first 130 Afghans accepted.

According to the text of the decision, published on the website of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the preliminary estimated cost of the evacuation remains around 700,000 euros.