Dozens Int´l students denied entry, deported from Helsinki Airport

A significant number of international students, who got admitted to different educational institutes in Finland this year were denied entry into the country and deported from the Helsinki Airport during the recent period despite having a valid residence permit.

The students, mostly from Asian countries were deported due to various reasons including lack of proper qualification, insufficient fund and giving false and misleading information, students and Border Guard sources said.

The increasing number of foreign students at the Finnish educational Institutes, particularly, some Universities of Applied Science (Polytechnic Institutes) and vocational institutes raised question about the admission process and the qualification of the students.

Some of the educational institutes allowed students without IELTS (International English Language Testing System) and held admission tests online creating opportunity for irregularities in the admission system.

Sources said some vested groups allegedly took the opportunity to send people to Finland and Schengen area using the relaxed criteria.

“Finnish Border Guard has deported a few dozen people who have been arriving to study during the current year,” an official of the Finnish Border Guard told Daily Finland, adding that the majority of the deportees who came to study arrived from the countries of South and Southeast Asia.

Replying to queries by email, the official, however, did not disclose the exact number of the deportees and names of the countries.

“A person arriving in Finland for the first time with a student residence permit must still meet all the conditions for granting a residence permit. The person's sufficient funds for subsistence are verified at border checks. Most of the deportees who came to study have not been able to prove that they have the necessary funds to make a living in Finland,” the Border Guard official added.

“A foreigner can be deported, for example, if he does not meet the conditions for entry laid down in the Aliens Act or if he has given false information when applying for a residence permit,” said the official.

Some students said that they were denied entry into Finland on charges of providing the Finnish embassies abroad with fake evidences, lack of adequate language skill in English and failure to show adequate money.

National broadcaster Yle published a news in Finnish last month about misuse of the admission system to get entry into the Schengen area.