Finland to take 170 from Afghanistan

The government on Sunday decided to admit a maximum of 40 additional current and former Afghan employees and their families.

The government in an extra-ordinary meeting took the decision, which added to the earlier government’s decision taken on 13 August to admit 130 persons to Finland, said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a press release late Sunday night.

This means that 170 persons can be relocated from Afghanistan to Finland.

Under 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.

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

In the first phase, the Finnish Immigration Service is responsible for receiving the relocated employees and their families in Finland. They will be granted a residence permit, the press release added.