When the prime minister of Finland, Juha Sipilä, announced that he would give out his house to accommodate asylum seekers, it was soon on everyone’s lips in Iraq. Unlike other European countries, Finland was granting automatic asylum to refugees from certain parts of Iraq and the information spread throughout the country. Due to that the biggest group of refugees to enter Finland has been Iraqis and the amount of asylum seekers from Iraq increased rapidly during late summer. When before the monthly amount of Iraqis coming to Finland was less than hundred, in September it was already 9000. The light red line shows the amount of Iraqis asylum seekers from the year 2014, the dark one from the year 2015.

Graphics of Iraqis asylum seekers in Finland. (Source: The Foreign Ministry of Finland.
The way people interact and receive information has completely changed within past few years when social media has become one of the most important tools of communication. Due to that smartphones are very crucial also to asylum seekers. They help to keep in touch with friends and family at home and are used to share the documented trips on Facebook for others planning the long journey through Europe. Phones are used to access maps and information when trying to plan the way across water and land borders and of course importantly social media offers an access to a large support network. Smart phones have indeed become essential for those on the road as they provide all the information from welfare to travel advises, even the GPS coordinates for smuggler boats.
While social media is very helpful for asylum seekers, it also creates lot of problems. Internet and the feature of it that anyone can provide any information with anonymity is widely taken advantaged. The dreams and hopes of those planning their new life in Europe, the false information provided by smugglers and the updates of those who have reached their destination, create a mixture which is often very far from the reality. Rumors leave people to read endless posts and comment threads and make their own choices based on the mixed information. ICT has not only changed the way refugees move and communicate but also how they think. Social media and the wide range of posts there, create a reality, where many young people think they need something else. It’s like advertising, creating a need in peoples mind.
Facebook group for Iraqis refugees that has more than 200 000 members was openly advertising Finland as the place to go:
بمجرد حصولك على الاقامة يتم ترحيلك من المخيم واعطاؤك شقة ويكون الاجار والخدمات عليهم ويتم صرف مبلغ من 300 يورو الى 500 يورو .
“After getting the residence permit, the applicant is given an apartment. Rent doesn’t need to be paid, and the applicant also gets 300-500 Euros in a month.”
The site offers precise advises how to get the asylum, listed reasons why exactly Finland is the place to go and clear instructions how to behave and what to say in front of the officials. They advertise how Finland is the easiest country for Iraqis to get the asylum and how the government pays all the expenses of asylum seekers. It is stated that even if the finger prints of refugees are taken in Greece, Finland won’t use this information.
The illusion of Finland spread on social media during the summer and caused thousands of Iraqis to leave their homes and make the long journey through Europe to reach the northern heaven. But the reality was not what was expected. On the Facebook page that shares information among Iraqis in Finland and those who are planning the trip to Europe many Iraqis started sharing their experiences from Finland. Many were considering returning to Iraq. They were disappointed. Several people told they had made their decision based on the news of the prime minister giving out his house for the asylum seekers. Clearly false information had been spread in social media.
On September there was a video on the site made by three asylum seekers from Iraq which shared a message how coming to Finland was a huge mistake. Video filmed in the center of Helsinki gives advises to the people thinking about leaving. Men speaking Arabic are saying: “You, who are considering leaving: Seriously, don’t! We are already thinking about returning to Iraq. We regret we ever came to Finland. We were wrong! Paid huge amount of money for nothing. In Iraq people think that there are so many wonders in Europe. Really it’s just normal here. Don’t think that Europe is something special. Seriously, situation in Europe is hard. Of course you can be safe here, but toilets are dirty, there are no clothes, food is expensive. It was so much better to live in Iraq. It’s dangerous, but let it be. Seriously, I’m going to return. I rather die in the homeland. It’s so terrible here. Situation is tough, you can have anything, but you just choke here.”

Screenshot from the Facebook page.
The images and expectation about Finland have been far away from the reality. The power of social media is enormous. After the critical information of Finland started to spread on Facebook, the amount of Iraqis refugees dropped. The amount of Iraqis asylum seekers cancelling their application for asylum increased. Buses carrying Iraqis coming from Sweden started turning back at the border. Because of the Internet and smart phones, information moves fast and refugees change their plans with dispatch. The government of Finland has also noticed this and created their own social media campaigns to warn refugees about the false information on the Internet and to recommend them not to come to the country. More about how the government is using social media as a tool during the refugee crises on our next post.