Afghans in Finland


Afghans in Finland or Finnish Afghans are people who have a background from Afghanistan and who live in Finland. People can be born in Afghanistan, have Afghan ancestors and/or be citizens of Afghanistan., there were 10,936 persons born in Afghanistan living in Finland. Similarly, the number of people with Afghan citizenship was 9,237.

Migration

In late 2015, about half of all the asylum seekers in Finland were Afghans, of which most have arrived through Sweden to Tornio. A large portion of Afghans in Finland are ethnic Hazaras. In 2018, Migri temporarily froze all Afghani applications. Deportations of Afghani asylum seekers has drawn criticism in Finland and other European countries. In 2018, 62% of Afghans asylum seekers received an asylum in Finland.
On 9 July 2021, Finland halted deportations to Afghanistan after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. In August 2021, in the aftermath of the 2021 Taliban offensive, Finland evacuated a total of 330 people from Afghanistan to Finland during a ten-day operation. 250 of them were Finnish citizens, people with residence permits in Finland, people who had worked at the Finnish Embassy in Kabul and their family members. 80 of them were Finland's quota evacuees consisting of Afghan workers for the European Union and NATO and their family members. A day after the operation, the total number of evacuees increased to 413 when 83 Finnish Embassy's security guards and their family members were evacuated to Finland with the help of the United States.

Demographics

People born in Afghanistan and living in Finland, according to Statistics Finland.
MunicipalityPopulation
Whole country10,936
Helsinki2,350
Espoo1,566
Vantaa1,430
Tampere1,379
Turku580
Jyväskylä383
Hämeenlinna207
Lahti201
Oulu199
Vaasa172
Kerava153
Järvenpää129
Pori120
Hyvinkää106
Mikkeli91
Rovaniemi91
Kirkkonummi85
Kuopio82
Jakobstad78
Kotka67
Salo60
Tuusula55
Nokia52
Ylöjärvi52
Iisalmi48
Raisio48
Lohja46
Pirkkala44
Joensuu43
Kajaani42
Sipoo38
Kaarina37
Uusikaupunki36
Kouvola35
Seinäjoki35
Pieksämäki33
Porvoo33
Kangasala30
Nurmijärvi29
Äänekoski29
Lappeenranta28
Raahe28
Savonlinna26
Kauniainen25
Kokkola25
Mäntsälä25
Rauma24
Jämsä22
Kemi22
Karkkila19
Tornio19
Loimaa17
Sotkamo16
Heinola15
Lempäälä13
Valkeakoski13
Lieto12
Riihimäki12
Pudasjärvi11
Huittinen10
Kristinestad10
Korsholm10

People with Afghan citizenship living in Finland according to Statistics Finland.
MunicipalityPopulation
Whole country9,237
Helsinki1,727
Espoo1,351
Vantaa1,169
Tampere1,082
Turku443
Jyväskylä374
Lahti217
Oulu194
Hämeenlinna170
Vaasa165
Kerava154
Mikkeli126
Järvenpää121
Pori120
Jakobstad112
Kuopio89
Kotka75
Rovaniemi75
Iisalmi62
Kirkkonummi62
Kajaani53
Salo53
Hyvinkää52
Pirkkala45
Sipoo44
Joensuu43
Kouvola42
Tuusula41
Kauniainen40
Lohja35
Uusikaupunki32
Karkkila31
Nokia31
Kokkola30
Raisio30
Mäntsälä29
Pieksämäki29
Porvoo28
Äänekoski27
Jämsä26
Raahe26
Rauma26
Nurmijärvi25
Loimaa23
Savonlinna23
Heinola21
Kangasala19
Lappeenranta19
Tornio18
Kaarina17
Korsholm17
Seinäjoki17
Kemi16
Pudasjärvi15
Sotkamo15
Hollola14
Hirvensalmi11
Kristinestad11
Orimattila11
Riihimäki11
Ylöjärvi11
Lieto10

Organizations

  • Association of Finnish Afghan Associations.

Notable people