Rapper Milan Jaff during a hearing on a case involving a shooting between street gangs at the Helsinki Court of Appeal on 4 September 2024. Photo: Mikko Stig / Lehtikuva
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Milan Jaff, 25, has been deported from Finland to Iraq following a Frontex-led operation, according to information obtained by Iltalehti. The deportation took place during the night between Monday and Tuesday, ending a years-long legal and criminal history in Finland.
The removal flight departed from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport at 03:48 on Tuesday. The aircraft, operated by Freebird Airlines, made stops in Malmö and Vienna before landing in Baghdad at 14:15. According to a passenger on the same flight, the operation included dozens of deportees and approximately 150 officials.
The Helsinki Police Department confirmed a joint deportation flight involving individuals from multiple countries. Head of the permit and immigration unit, Chief Superintendent Simo Kauppinen, told Iltalehti that several individuals on board had deportation orders for criminal convictions.
Milan Jaff, originally from Iraq, had his residence permit revoked earlier this year by the Finnish Immigration Service. The agency ordered his removal and issued a permanent entry ban covering the entire Schengen Area and EU member states. He lodged an appeal with the Helsinki Administrative Court, which was rejected. A further appeal was made to the Supreme Administrative Court but did not suspend enforcement of the deportation.
According to Iltalehti, Jaff had been held at the Joutseno detention centre in Lappeenranta since his release from prison in August. He had told media he did not wish to return to Iraq, claiming no ties to the country. He first arrived in Finland as a 17-year-old in 2017 during the refugee influx.
Over the next eight years, Milan Jaff accumulated a significant criminal record. He received his first conviction at 19 in 2019. He was later sentenced for attempted manslaughter, rape, and drug offences, as well as for planning an armed attack on the Kaivohuone nightclub in Helsinki. He was also convicted of firing shots at a house party in Espoo.
In October 2022, the District Court of Eastern Uusimaa sentenced Jaff to 10 years in prison. In 2024, the Helsinki Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to six years and two months, ruling that the so-called Kurdish Mafia group was not a formally organised criminal organisation.
While incarcerated, Milan Jaff was the victim of a violent assault in 2023. He was released from Turku prison in August 2024 and immediately transferred into immigration detention.
Jaff’s involvement in violent crime and his role as a figurehead in the Kurdish Mafia gang made him a central figure in the national debate on street crime. A 2024 non-fiction book Like brothers – the truth about Finland’s street gangs described Jaff as a frontman rather than a decision-maker, possibly used as a shield by others in the group.
During the return operation, he was reportedly escorted by multiple officers and then transported by car from Baghdad to the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. A family member told Iltalehti that his return was a surprise to relatives, especially to his mother.
The deportation was part of a coordinated Nordic removal effort under the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex. It involved deportees from several countries.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
