We extended our previous study on questioning strategies used by asylum officials in Finnish asylum interviews, by investigating the content and characteristics of the answers provided by asylum seekers.

We coded transcripts for the number of information units obtained, answer type (detailed, yes/no, unanswered), answer content, uncertainty, if the answer matched the question asked, and interviewers’ reaction to answers.

Open questions elicited more new information and the amount of information elicited was positively correlated with case outcomes. Misunderstandings and difficult questions were alarmingly common.