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| Europe |
| Five U.S. citizens seek asylum from Finland |
| 2007-09-20 |
| All in a day's work, they say, but it was not exactly a routine occurrence for the immigration officials at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport on Tuesday evening, when a family of five United States citizens asked for asylum in Finland. The group arrived in Finland from another Schengen country. This is unlikely to improve their prospects of being granted asylum, owing to the terms of the Dublin Convention, which generally assumes that someone seeking asylum is required to apply in the member-state first entered. The authorities are not at liberty to divulge the reasons given for the application for asylum, but at least according to current information it is not believed to have any connection with the war in Iraq. It is quite exceptional for US nationals to seek asylum in Finland. According to the statistics of the Directorate of Immigration (UVI), before Tuesday's events just one American citizen had filed an asylum application here during the current decade. The Directorate will now consider the latest application. The story was first reported on the online portal of Ilta-Sanomat on Wednesday. |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #8 Some how this country managed with the departure of over 100,000 Tory loyalist after the American War of Independence. There's only so much tolerance. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-09-20 22:55 |
| #7 If we could get MoveOn to move on... |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2007-09-20 17:37 |
| #6 Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-09-20 17:35 |
| #5 Please let this be the start of a trend. America would be a better place if more of those people sought asylum elsewhere. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-09-20 17:27 |
| #4 You can have them |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-09-20 15:42 |
| #3 Buh-bye... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-09-20 14:15 |
| #2 There's also your occasional murderer or child-rapist who runs off to hide behind Europe's skirts. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2007-09-20 13:42 |
| #1 It is quite exceptional for US nationals to seek asylum in Finland. I would say it is quite exceptional for US nationals to seek asylum at all unless you consider draft dodgers heading to Canada. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-09-20 13:14 |