This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS HELSINKI 000810
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PREL FI IDP
SUBJECT: FINLAND: LIKELY TO ACCEPT UZBEK ASYLUM SEEKERS
REF: A. SECSTATE 120958
B. SECSTATE 131485
(U) Poloff delivered points in reftels to Finnish officials
in the MFA's Refugee Affairs Office. The Finns were aware of
the situation and said that it was likely Finland would
accept a limited number of the Uzbek asylum seekers, perhaps
10-15. According to Finnish officials, the country had only
a small remaining number of "discretionary" spaces in its
quota system for asylum seekers/refugees, and was already
processing several other cases as well. Moreover, a certain
number of spaces were probably going to be reserved for
possible "Mari" refugees (NOTE: The 'Mari' are a small
Finno-Ugric ethnic group on Russia who have recently made
headlines in Finland alleging discrimination by Russians
against them). The Finnish MFA said that it was already
working with the UNHCR on logistics regarding the Uzbeks.
WEISBERG