In 1968, Finland acceded to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which provides the internationally recognised definition of a refugee and outlines the legal protection, rights and assistance a refugee is entitled to receive, and to the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, which expanded the Convention to apply universally and protect all persons fleeing conflict and persecution.

Regarding statelessness, Finland also acceded to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons in 1968, which established a framework for the international protection of stateless persons. In 2008, Finland acceded to both the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which set rules for the conferral and non-withdrawal of citizenship to prevent cases of statelessness from arising and the 1997 European Convention on Nationality, which established principles and rules on nationality.

In addition to these international protection frameworks, and as part of the European Union (EU), Finland is bound by the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) which aimed at introducing EU-wide standards for the equal treatment and protection of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers entering the EU. The system is governed by five legislative instruments and one agency:

• Asylum Procedures Directive, aiming at setting out the conditions for fair, quick and quality asylum decisions; 
• Reception Conditions Directive, providing common standards for reception conditions across the EU;
• Qualification Directive, clarifying grounds for granting international protection;
• Dublin Regulation, establishing the State responsible for examining the application;
• EURODAC Directive, governing the EU database of asylum seekers fingerprints;
• European Union Agency for Asylum, providing operational and technical assistance to EU Member States in the assessment of applications for international protection.

The CEAS has been reformed by the New Pact on Migration and Asylum (the Pact), approved in 2024 and set to take effect in 2026. The Pact presents a complex package of ten legislative files intended to reform the EU’s migration and asylum system by establishing new EU-wide solutions to long-standing migration challenges. 

While the Pact has been presented by EU institutions as delivering the intended results while remaining grounded in European values, human rights organisations and migration experts have long opposed and criticised its reforms. Here you can find a point by point analysis of the Pact by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles.

Finland is also obligated to respect the international customary legal principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits any country from deporting any person to a country where they face the threat of persecution. However, in July 2024, Finland implemented an emergency immigration law, allowing it to turn away asylum seekers at the Russian border. The law and issues around it are explained more here.  This was widely criticised for being inconsistent with EU law and the principle of non-refoulement.

Finland has a well-established asylum system in place, and the Finnish Aliens Act contains most of the domestic legal provisions relating to asylum. The Ministry of the Interior has the overall responsibility for the issues covered by the Act. The Finnish Immigration Service is responsible for handling all asylum applications. 

Finland also resettles refugees through a “quota programme” with UNHCR, as defined by the Finnish Aliens Act. Through quota programmes, refugees identified as most in need by UNHCR can be resettled in countries with these programmes. The quota amount is set by the Finnish Parliament. UNHCR then refers a list of refugees to the Finnish Immigration Service who conduct interviews and decide on these quota cases. A number of quota spots are set aside for emergency and urgent cases which are processed more quickly and without interview. UNHCR is not directly responsible for the asylum procedure in Finland – their role is to ensure that Finland fulfills its duties under international and European standards. 

Your asylum application must take place within Finnish territory, if Finland is to be responsible for your application. Adult asylum seekers must inform border control authorities or police that they want to apply for asylum. This official will register you, taking your personal details, fingerprints, signature, and photograph. You will then be directed to a reception centre. If it is determined that Finland is to be responsible for the application, you will then be invited to an interview and the Finnish Immigration Service makes a decision on the application.  

For unaccompanied children, there are some additional steps in the process. After being directed to a reception centre, children are assigned a representative by the district court. This representative accompanies children to their asylum interview. If Finland is determined to be responsible for the application, the Finnish Immigration Services request an assessment of the child’s best interests by a social worker at the reception centre, and if it is deemed to be in the best interest of the child, the Finnish Immigration Service attempts to trace the parents or guardians of the child. 

Official guidance on the asylum application process can be found here. The Finnish Immigration Service’s YouTube channel also has videos covering the asylum application process, available in Finnish, English, Arabic, Dari, Persian, Somali, Turkish and Russian.