Reception centre in the form of containers opens in Eurajoki
A reception centre in the form of containers will be opened today in Eurajoki. During the weekend, 150 asylum seekers will be accommodated in the centre. Soft Landing Oy will begin to run the centre. The containers have originally been built to be used by workers at a nuclear plant construction site.
The Finnish Immigration Service is preparing to introduce new accommodation solutions now that the number of asylum seekers has begun to rise again. The Finnish Immigration Service is currently charting the preparedness of all reception centres to include emergency accommodation in their operations either in their current premises, or in the form of tents and containers.
Accommodation containers have already been tested in use in Siikajärvi in Espoo in the reception centre of Luona Oy. These can be taken into use as soon as the required permits by the Building Control Department of the City of Espoo are in order.
The possible consequences of the border controls that Sweden introduced yesterday cannot yet be seen in the daily operations in Finland.
Accommodation containers in Eurajoki. Photo: Juha Sinisalo
More efficient age testing of unaccompanied children
The Finnish Immigration Service will begin to enhance the efficiency of age testing of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. In the future, the first screening will be performed by the police or an official of the Finnish Immigration Service when the application is registered, or in connection with the initial hearing. If an applicant who claims to be a minor has no documents to prove his or her age, and there is probable cause to suspect that he or she is in fact an adult (over 18), the person will be sent to a medical age assessment immediately.
At present, the examination methods most commonly used include dental and carpal age determination by x-ray and clinical examination. If the asylum seeker refuses to undergo an examination without an acceptable reason, he or she will be treated as an adult.
In 2014, a total of 196 unaccompanied minors sought asylum in Finland. On the basis of the age assessment performed on 70 of them, 39 were found to be adults.
At present, almost 2,200 unaccompanied minor asylum seekers are awaiting a decision.
Guidelines regarding Afghanistan are being updated
The Finnish Immigration Service is currently updating its assessment of the security situation in Afghanistan. The guidelines for making decisions on asylum applications are updated on the basis of the information obtained. For the time being, decision-making concerning Afghan asylum claims have been frozen.
It is already clear that individual consideration and the person’s statement concerning personal persecution are given more emphasis in the examination of Afghan asylum applications, as was the case with the guidelines concerning Iraqi and Somali applications, which were updated in October. Thirty-six per cent of all Afghans who have received a decision this year have been granted asylum or a residence permit on the basis of international protection.
Further information for the media
Director General Jaana Vuorio, tel. +358 295 430 431, firstname.lastname@migri.fi
