Asylum and migration in Finland
The Policymaking Process Today
Regarding the parties and the processes in Finland, the parliament is responsible for making the legislative decisions, while the preparation of draft laws is under the Immigration Department of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Labor, and, to a lesser extent, the other ministries such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Refugee Quotas
In addition to approving asylum applications, the government sets annual refugee quotas that determine the ultimate number of forced migration-related entries to Finland per year. The quota, which varies between 500 and 750 refugees, is typically to protect people from the Middle East's most conflict-torn areas. The government typically fulfills the quota through selecting vulnerable refugees from the region's refugee camps.
Three statistics indicate the relatively strong impact of today's immigration:
The number of foreigners legally living in Finland without citizenship increased four-fold between 1990 and 2003, from 26,300 to 107,100.
The number of foreign-born Finnish citizens and residents doubled between 1991 and 2003, from 77,000 to 159,000, which is three percent of the total Finnish population.
The number of residents whose first language is not Finnish has tripled between 1992 and 2004, from 43,000 to 128,000.
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