According to the Swedish newspaper Göteborgs-Posten Sweden has decided to allow the forced repatriation of a man who had fled Somalia.

   

According to Swedish immigration officials, the situation in Somalia has calmed down so much that the man in question has no cause to fear clan violence in his home region.

   

Finland's Directorate of Immigration says that no Somalis have been sent back home from Finland.

Arja Kekkonen of the Directorate

of Immigration notes that the sending a foreigner back home falls into two categories: there is sending back an asylum-seeker whose application has been rejected, and deportation, which is resorted to if a foreigner has committed a serious crime in Finland.

   

Two decisions on sending back Somalis have been made, and are awaiting implementation.

   

However, the Directorate of Immigration and the various courts have made careful distinctions on what parts of Somalia are seen as safe enough for a returning refugee.

   

Kekkonen notes that the situation in the regions of Somaliland and Puntland has been considered stable enough to send people there.

   

However, Southern Somalia has not been seen as a safe place for the return of refugees.

   

Last year the Helsinki Administrative Court found that a Somali who was to be deported had presented evidence that he would have been in danger of suffering serious human rights violations if he were sent back. He was allowed to stay in Finland.

Helsinki police say that

a few decisions have been made to deport Somalis who have had a residence permit in Finland. However, there are technical and logistical problems surrounding the actual deportations.

   

Veijo Rissanen of the Helsinki Police says that the police have been looking into the actual means of getting the deportees to Somaliland, and to make sure that there will be someone there to receive them.

   

According to Rissanen, there is no airport in the area, and there is uncertainty about how local officials will function. "If things go well, we can at least try it this year, but I cannot say it for certain", Rissanen says.