The number of asylum seekers growing, accommodation capacity to increase
The Finnish Immigration Service has increased the number of accommodation places in the reception centres for asylum seekers by 527 in January–June. Of these, 37 are in group homes for unaccompanied minors.
Between January and May, the number of asylum seekers increased by 54 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year. On the basis of experience from previous years, growth in the number of asylum seekers can be expected to continue towards the end of the year. Therefore, a further increase of 800 accommodation places in the reception centres is planned by the end of September. Of these places, 155 will already be available in the beginning of July.
The Finnish Immigration Service predicts the number of asylum seekers to exceed 5,000 by the end of the year. In 2014, a total of 3,651 people sought asylum in Finland. The only year when the number of asylum seekers has exceeded 5,000 was in 2009 (5,988).
The number of asylum seekers grew further in May
In January–May, a total of 1,872 persons sought asylum in Finland. A year before, the figure was 1,215. In May, 518 asylum seekers arrived, while the monthly average for this year had previously been 338. Judging by early June, the number of asylum seekers seems to be increasing further.
The number of minor asylum seekers arriving unaccompanied in Finland has increased as well, with 141 arriving in January–May, while the corresponding figure for last year was 61.
The number of arrivals monitored closely
The Finnish Immigration Service closely monitors any variations in the numbers and profiles of asylum seekers in Finland and other Nordic countries. In Europe, the number of asylum seekers has recently increased overall. Developments in crisis situations around the world are an underlying cause: the security situation in, for example, Iraq, Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan is at least as poor as before, and a large number of asylum seekers come to Finland from these countries.
The number of places available at reception centres is increased and decreased in line with the varying inflow of immigrants, as it would be extremely costly to maintain accommodation capacity only to be on the safe side: each place costs more than 40 euros per day. Hence it would cost the Finnish Goverment approximately 15 million euros per year to accommodate for instance 1,000 asylum seekers.
The aim is to increase the number of places at existing reception centres. That makes it easy to decrease the number of places if the number of asylum seekers suddenly drops.
| Fact: reception centre, group home, support housing unit |
|---|
| Asylum seekers reside in reception centres until their asylum applications have been processed. Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers, aged 15 or under, are placed at group homes, those aged 16–17 in support housing units. Once asylum seekers have obtained a decision on their application, they move from the reception centre to a municipality or return to their country of origin. |
Further information for the media
Jorma Kuuluvainen, Director of the Reception Unit
Tel. +358 295 430 431, e-mail: firstname.lastname@migri.fi
