Reception system monitoring report 2022: Reception centre operations developed last year
According to the Finnish Immigration Service’s recent reception system monitoring report, the year 2022 was very exceptional and extraordinary from the perspective of the reception system.
Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, which started in late February 2022, and the practically immediate major influx of Ukrainian refugees had a significant impact on the operation of the reception system. Monitoring focused especially on directing the dozens of new reception centres that started operating on a short notice, directing the employees of these reception centres and supporting the launch of operations.
The number of customers within the scope of reception services increased to a record-breaking level during 2022. At the beginning of the year, their number was approximately 5,000; at the end of the year, it was already about 43,500.
The Finnish Immigration Service is responsible for monitoring reception centres that provide services to asylum seekers and applicants for and beneficiaries of temporary protection as well as for monitoring reception centre operations in practice. The aim is to monitor reception centres and their practical operations on a broad scale.
The goal of monitoring is to ensure and improve the quality and harmonisation of reception centre operations and to detect potential deficiencies and shortcomings and act on them.
Challenges caused by the steep and rapid increase in customers and operations
At the end of 2022, the reception centre capacity had grown more than eightfold when compared to the beginning of the year. Altogether 85 new reception centres had been established and at the end of the year, there were a total of 112 reception centres in operation.
Many new reception centres were established very quickly under exceptional circumstances. During the year, these reception centres were provided with a lot of operational guidance and training regarding the basics of reception centre operations and services.
“Monitoring detected a lot of good, high-quality operations but also deficiencies and operations that are still developing. The general impression was that reception centres worked actively to take control of the exceptional situation and to arrange services and operations quickly,” says Olli Snellman, Head of Section at the Reception Unit.
During the year, altogether 24 complaints related to reception centre operations were submitted to the Finnish Immigration Service. The topics included, for instance, the availability of health care services and referral to care, accommodation arrangements, the quality of food, transport connections to and from the reception centre, access to social services, the arrangement of work and study activities as well as matters related to the reception allowance. In spring 2022, there were delays in the processing of reception allowances as more than 20,000 new customers entered the system over the course of two months. The Finnish Immigration Service investigated the complaints and reception centres amended their operations as necessary according to the Finnish Immigration Service’s instructions.
“The year 2022 was highly exceptional in the context of the Finnish reception system and operations. The quick, large-scale influx of Ukrainians fleeing the war posed unprecedented challenges to the system. As a result, errors also happened and they were resolved together. From our point of view, reception centre operations as a whole developed well last year,” says Elina Nurmi, Director of the Reception Unit.
Read more about monitoring:
Reception system monitoring report 2022 (in Finnish)
Reception system monitoring programme 2019 (in Finnish)
FACT: The Finnish Immigration Service is responsible for directing, planning and supervising
- The Finnish Immigration Service is responsible for directing, planning and supervising the operations of the reception centres in practice. In the Finnish Immigration Service, this is especially the duty of the Reception Unit.
- Reception centres in Finland are run by several operators, municipalities, companies and organisations.
- More information about reception centres and their monitoring can be found in the newsroom.
Media enquiries
- Olli Snellman, Head of Section, e-mail: firstname.lastname@migri.fi, tel. 0295 433 037
- Press release 26 May 2023: Second set of reception centre operations put out to tender, 17 new reception centres to open
