Asia

Asia

Finland again suspends deportation of elderly disabled Russian

16 June 2010 01:57 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Finland has once again suspended the deportation of an 82-year-old, disabled Russian woman, a spokesman for the Leningrad Region administration said on Tuesday, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.
"The deportation has been postponed. We have received this information," the spokesman said. He said the decision had been taken due to Irina Antonova’s condition.
However, the Antonova family said they were not aware of the decision.
Irina Antonova arrived in Finland on a tourist visa to visit her daughter, Natalia Kaarik, in February 2008. Her deportation was scheduled for June 16.
Although she has no relatives left in Russia, Finland’s migration service ruled that Antonova could not be permitted to stay in the country and must be deported for violating visa regulations.
Her daughter, who has lived in Finland for over 20 years, repeatedly appealed the decision by the migration service and asked for a residence permit for her mother, but to no avail.
A number of human rights activists and politicians, including Finnish President Tarja Halonen, have criticized migration officials over the decision.
On May 31, thousands of people took to the streets in Helsinki to protest the decision.