Authors

• Hiitola, Johanna (Migration Institute of Finland)
• Leinonen, Johanna (Migration Institute of Finland)
• Karimi, Zeinab (Migration Institute of Finland)

Keywords

bureaucracy, families, human trafficking, immigration, immigration policy, racism, refugees, war

Abstract

This dataset consists of 38 interviews on family reunification with people who migrated to Finland as refugees or asylum seekers. The interviewees had either not yet completed the family reunification process or had given up on bringing their family to Finland because the process had been too difficult. The data were collected as part of the 'Family Separation, Migration Status and Everyday Security: Experiences and Strategies of Vulnerable Migrants' research project funded by the Academy of Finland.

Main themes of the interviews included the interviewees' experiences of the family reunification process as well as their everyday life in their home country and in Finland. The interviewees were also asked how it felt to be apart from their family, whether the separation had affected their relations with their family, and whether they had found anyone in Finland who they could trust. Interview questions also focused on the interviewees' plans for the future.

Background information varied in each interview. All interviews included the interviewee's age group, gender, and original home country as background information. Additionally, many interviewees mentioned how far along they were in the family reunification process, as well as their mother tongue and family structure. The data were organised into an easy to use HTML version at FSD.

30 of the interview transcripts are in English and 8 in Finnish. The dataset is only available in the original languages.