Zaki Hussaini was taken from his home in Loimaa, south-western Finland, on Sunday and transferred to police custody. Police then placed him on a flight to Afghanistan early Tuesday morning as he had already seen two applications for asylum rejected.
Shortly after he left Finland, however, a court in Turku granted an order suspending his deportation order on the grounds that he had applied for a work permit.
The Employment Office had approved the application in June, but the Immigration Service was yet to rubber stamp the paperwork and provide Hussaini with a work permit. The court ruled on Tuesday that Hussaini should be allowed to stay in Finland awaiting a decision, but by that time he was already in Kabul.
Schengen ban
Now he has a two-year ban from the Schengen area, making it unlikely he'll be able to return to his job in Finland. Police and immigration officials, however, insist they followed the standard procedures.
"The police followed the law," said Marko Heikkilä, of south-west Finland police's immigration monitoring unit.
The application to stay the deportation order was, however, submitted before the flight left Helsinki. According to Liisa Lintuluoto of Helsinki police, officers cannot be expected to stay up to speed with legal actions started 'at the last minute'.
"Often applicants make these applications too late," said Lintuluoto.
Although she refused to comment on individual cases, Lintuluoto said that Hussaini's case history could play a role in the police decision to deport him.
"If there are cases where there have already been several earlier negative decisions, and deportation enforcement has not been stayed, the police are not going to wait to see what the decision might be this time," said Lintuluoto.
Work-based residence permit
Hussaini has not been granted protection from persecution, and he could not have stayed in Finland on that basis. The administrative courts granted the stay on the basis of a positive decision from the Employment office on a work permit application.
That decision does not mean he has a residence permit, however: those are granted by the Immigration Service, which makes its own assessment and has not yet handled his application.
According to Marjaana Laine of the Refugee Advice Centre it is not unusual for a deportation to be cancelled at the last minute—or even a little too late.
"Our experience is that there are more of these cases now than before," said Laine.
Laine says that poor communications between asylum seekers, courts, police and lawyers are problematic.
Irreversible consequences
"It would be relevant to make sure that all the important points had been considered by a court before someone is deported," said Laine. "It's in everyone's interests, including the police and society as a whole, that nobody is deported if they have the right to remain."
Laine emphasised that deporting a person to places where they might end up a victim of torture would breach one of the most important human rights.
"The consequences of an incorrect decision could be irreversible," said Laine.
Hussaini had lived with his Finnish 'mother' Helvi Klemetti in Loimaa. She and Hussaini had discussed his situation with Turku police last week, with no mention of a possible deportation.
Mother's reaction
"They asked nicely whether Zaki lives here, and I said yes, he does," said Klemetti. "The police asked Zaki to come and hear the deportation decision. We agreed to do that on Thursday. Why the huge rush to collect him on Sunday?"
His rapid deportation was a shock to Klemetti and other Finns who have helped the young Afghan over a period of more than a year.
The last time Klemetti saw Hussaini was at Turku police station, through Plexiglas in the holding cells. They could not have a conversation as the telephones did not work. Klemetti has her own theory about why the police acted so rapidly.
"This is now a kind of mother's reaction," said Klemetti. "But I would say that the head count on the plane had to be filled no matter what."
She has now spoken with Hussaini, who is considering his options in Afghanistan.
"He would like to come home," said Klemetti.