The need for revision of the UN Convention on Refugees is recognized. In Finland those who have been allowed to stay in the country on the grounds of needing protection or for humanitarian reasons are generally called refugees. An asylum seeker is a person who requests an asylum and residence permit in a foreign country. An asylum application has to be submitted on entering the country or as soon as possible thereafter. The applicant's refugee status is confirmed only after the decision on the application.
Repatriation is voluntary.
Migrant A returning migrant, who is not a refugee, is an expatriate Finn, who has been resident outside Finland for a shorter or longer period and who returns to Finland. Multicultural, multiethnic Culture is a system of knowledge, beliefs and values, through which people build up their experiences and observations, through which they operate and make choices between alternatives. Culture is transferred through communication and learning. Multiculturalism means equal coexistence of different cultures. Ethnicity means the way of an individual and a group to structure themselves in relation to each other.