Immigration security

Finland's anti-immigrant bill 'imperils mixed families'

Annastiina Kallius and Babak Arzani met in a theatre group in Hungary five years ago and fell in love shortly afterwards.

The Finnish-Iranian couple, who are also activists, have been sharing a life together since, with a dream of moving to Finland when the right time comes.

"We fell in love in the backstage of the theatre production, and revealed it to the other people in the group only in the opening night," Kallius, a 29-year-old student recruitment coordinator, says.But their dream of moving to Finland might face a serious obstacle, if a bill drafted by the interior ministry is passed by the Finnish parliament and becomes law.

The bill, which is currently at the consultation stage, demands high levels of income for Finns and foreigners under humanitarian protection (refugees, asylum seekers and protected immigrants) holding a residence permit, who want to live in Finland with their non-EU citizen spouses and children.