Supreme administrative court suspends deportation of Sudanese asylum-seeker

From the (English-language) international edition of Finland's "Helsingin Sanomat" (thanks to Sudanese Online)...

The Supreme Administrative Court [of Finland] has suspended the deportation order on Sudanese woman Anna Lado. An Administrative Court had previously handed Lado a negative asylum decision. The Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE first broke the news yesterday [Thursday].

The Lutheran congregations of the eastern city of Kuopio responded to the Lado case in July by offering her asylum. With the help of the congregations, Lado applied for permission to appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court.

Dean Jaana Marjanen is well pleased with the decision. According to Marjanen, the church’s mission is to provide shelter and protection to those who ask for it, and in a democratic constitutional state, at times, even to disagree with the authorities’ prevailing practices regarding asylum-seekers and immigration policy.

At the end of May, the Finnish Ecumenical Council published general instructions for the country’s Christian communities regarding asylum-seekers in Finland.

The latest decision means that Lado must not be deported before her case has been handled in court. Anna Lado arrived in Finland a year and a half ago to look after the small daughter of her late sister, who had died of cancer.

Last week, the Helsinki Administrative Court ruled that an order to deport Iranian asylum-seeker Naze Aghai should not be implemented for now. Aghai was scheduled to be returned to her home country this week. Aghai sought asylum from the St. Michael's Parish in Turku, and her case has received widespread attention and public sympathy.