Introducing education prior to arrival for quota refugees selected for Finland

The Finnish Immigration Service and Finn Church Aid are introducing cultural orientation education for quota refugees. The first session will begin in Ankara, Turkey on 21 October 2013 and will involve quota refugees from various conflict regions already selected for admission to Finland. During autumn 2013, similar education sessions will also be held in Rwanda and Malawi.

Launched by the Finnish Immigration Service, the project is funded by the European Refugee Fund. It is a unique project, because such diverse instruction has not been provided before for quota refugees before arriving in their new home country.

The Finnish Immigration Service is partnered in the project by Finn Church Aid, whose subcontractors include the Diaconia University of Applied Sciences (Diak) and the Community Interpreting Centre for the Helsinki Area.

Finn Church Aid is coordinating the organising of the education at the various locations. Diak is responsible for the teaching and the teaching materials. The teaching itself will be given by teachers from Diak. The teaching will be interpreted into the native language of each refugee on site. The interpreting services will be provided by interpreters from the Community Interpreting Centre for the Helsinki Area and community interpreter students from Diak.

Course provides basic information on Finland, Finnish society and the Finnish language

The purpose of the orientation course is to acquaint refugees with the country to which they are about to relocate. The education provides a wide range of basic information about Finland and Finnish society, including an introductory course in the Finnish language and basic vocabulary. The education also includes a review of the physical and mental process of change involved in settling in Finland.

Finn Church Aid is Finland’s largest development aid organisation and second largest giver of humanitarian aid. The organisation has extensive experience in working with refugees around the world. Diak has extensive experience in providing education for immigrants in Finland and also has a training programme for community interpreters.

Further information to the media:

Project manager: Marjo Mäkelä, Senior Adviser, Finnish Immigration Service
firstname.lastname@migri.fi, tel. 071 873 0431

Miina Puntila, Head of Unit for Programme Planning and Coordination, Finn Church Aid
firstname.lastname@kirkonulkomaanapu.fi, tel. 020 787 1200