The interior ministry's quota refugee plans for next year — which are currently being prepared — are likely discriminatory on religious grounds, the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman office has warned.
Last month, Finnish media reported that Finns Party ministers want to reduce the number of quota refugees Finland accepts from Muslim-majority countries, while increasing the number from more Christian countries.
Helsingin Sanomat reported that Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns) and acting interior minister Lulu Ranne (Finns) had directed officials to prepare to exclude quota refugees from countries such as Afghanistan and increase the number of those from Venezuela, for example.
The Non-Discrimination Ombudsman decided in October to examine the ministry's quota refugee plans, which had been reported in the news.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) suggested in July that Finland should prioritise quota refugees from Afghanistan and Syria, according to an ombudsman's office press release.
"However, the political leadership of the Ministry of the Interior instructed officials to prepare the quota distribution that deviates from the UNHCR proposal, so that Christian refugees would be prioritised and the places would be allocated to refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Venezuela, for example," the ombudsman's release explained.
"According to the Finnish Constitution and the Discrimination Act, no one may be treated differently on the basis of, for example, religion or origin without an acceptable reason," the statement added.
Deputy Non-Discrimination Ombudsman, Robin Harms, said the interior ministry's leadership instructed officials to prepare the quota refugee plan for 2025 in a way that is "in conflict with the prohibition of discrimination in the Constitution and laws on discrimination".
Harms noted that the ombudsman's office has expressed its concerns to the ministry's leadership as well as to the ministerial working group on domestic security. It further added that the Finnish Constitution, Finland's international human rights obligations as well as the nation's laws on discrimination need to be taken into account as the ministry prepares the quota refugee plan.
The Non-Discrimination Ombudsman's office said it plans to continue following developments in the matter and plans to ask the Ministry of the Interior for further clarification.
Article updated at 12:04 on 8.11.2024 to correct Robin Harms' name.