The Eastern Finland Court of Appeal has ruled that a Nigerian woman and her two children must be released from the Joutseno detention centre, where they had been held for nearly two months following the rejection of their asylum claim.
The woman and her children, aged two and six, will now be moved to the nearby Joutseno open reception centre while their second application for asylum is processed.
The court stated that the legal conditions for keeping the children in detention had not been met. It also ruled that separating the children from their mother would not have served their best interests. Finnish law states that detention of children is only permitted as a last resort and for the shortest possible period.
The ruling overturns an earlier decision by a lower court that extended the family’s detention. The woman previously told Yle that the experience felt “like being in prison”.
The 27-year-old woman arrived in Finland last year from Italy, where she had originally travelled from Nigeria. She told authorities she fled Italy to escape an abusive husband after being forced into sex work. In her initial asylum application in Finland, she did not disclose her background as a victim of human trafficking.
The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) rejected her application on the grounds that she already held a residence permit in Italy. However, her legal representative, Emmi Wehka-aho, has since submitted a new application, which includes information about her history of exploitation.
Speaking to Yle, Wehka-aho said she was satisfied with the Court of Appeal’s ruling. “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,” she said.
While awaiting a decision, the family will be required to report to the Joutseno centre twice daily. A decision on the new asylum application is expected in the coming weeks.
The family previously lived in Pori, a city in western Finland, where they had started to establish a support network. According to Wehka-aho, they would prefer to return there if granted permission to stay.
The case has highlighted concerns over Finland’s treatment of families in the asylum process, particularly the use of detention for children. The appeal court’s decision underscores the legal requirement to consider the welfare of children above other factors in such proceedings.
