People & Places
The image on the right is Mariwan Mahmood Awla in his family home in Darbandikhan, and the image on the left shows the scars of surgeries on his spine following the fall that led to his disability. Photo: Submitted
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Finnish authorities last week deported a disabled Kurdish man back to the Kurdistan Region after a 19-year stay. The man claims he was forced to sign papers stating his will to return voluntarily.
Mariwan Mahmood Awla, 44, from the town of Darbandikhan in the Kurdistan Region’s southern Sulaimani province reached Europe through smuggling routes in 2001. At the age of 21, he arrived in Greece where he spent four years in refugee camps.
Awla told Rudaw English that in 2005 he got to Finland, where he spent two years in camps, “I was issued a residence permit, type B. I could not work or provide for myself,” he said.
In Darbandikhan, Awla played as a defensive midfielder for Qandil, a local football team in the town. In Finland, his passion for the game was still ablaze and he pursued what he loved in a local football team.
“I asked my coach to help me get a type A residence permit,” Awla said, and in 2007 his wish was granted when he obtained a type A residence permit for four years, which was renewed in 2011 until 2015. In Finland, an A permit constitutes a continuous residence permit, while a B permit only allows temporary residence.
In 2015 Awla applied for a permanent residency which was rejected multiple times, “I kept applying every year since then, and they kept rejecting,” he said.
According to the Finnish Immigration Service, an individual can ask for Finnish citizenship after having stayed in the country for five consecutive years without interruption, and upon meeting specific conditions such as sufficient language skills and a means of livelihood.
Awla said he could speak and understand Finnish, but struggled to read and write, also admitting knowing he was not eligible to apply for citizenship despite his long stay.
Awla, who became disabled following a fall from the roof of his house in Finland, said that in December Finnish police evicted him from his home, sending him to a deportation camp.
After five weeks in the camp, on Wednesday, two police officers asked him to sign a paper which stated that he agreed to be sent back to Iraq. Awla claims he refused to sign the papers.
“They sat me on a chair and handcuffed me tightly from behind. I was clenching my hands in a fist so no one could make me sign anything. One of the officers forcefully unclenched my fist, grabbed my thumb, and dipped it in ink,” Awla said, recounting the moment he signed the document in which he agreed to be deported with his fingerprint.
The Finnish authorities, Awla said, promised to pay him 2000 euros as a form of compensation.
“They paid me 200 euros on the plane, and I am still waiting for the remaining 1800 euros,” he said, adding that he has the papers to prove he was promised compensation.
Rudaw English contacted Finland’s foreign ministry for a comment regarding the case of Mariwan Mahmood Awla, but they were not immediately available.
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