New reception centres are planned in Kontiolahti, Kouvola, Lappajärvi and Salo
Bulletin by the Finnish Immigration Service and the Finnish Red Cross:
This week, the Finnish Immigration Service will make a proposal to the Ministry of the Interior on the establishment of a reception centre for 150–200 asylum seekers in Paihola in Kontiolahti. The Ministry of the Interior is expected to make its formal decision on the matter within a day.
The premises have also previously been used as a reception centre, which was owned by the municipality of Kontiolahti. Now the Savo-Karjala District of the Finnish Red Cross will start maintaining the operations of the reception centre from the beginning of October at the latest. It is likely that the accommodation capacity is later increased by taking into use the premises of the nearby hospital that will soon close down.
A unit consisting of flats is planned to open in Kouvola
There are plans to establish a new reception centre also in Kouvola. Instead of being an institution-like centre, the unit in Kouvola would consist of rented flats in different parts of the city and accommodate all 250 asylum seekers that are planned to be placed in Kouvola.
The city executive of Kouvola will take a stance on the matter next week. The District of Southeastern Finland of the Finnish Red Cross would manage the operations of the centre.
New centres are considered in Lappajärvi and Salo
There are currently plans to open a reception centre for 150–200 asylum seekers in the old school premises at the Lappajärvi municipal centre and in the two multi-storey buildings in its vicinity. The municipal executive has made a decision to explore the possibility, but the municipality has not yet announced its final stance on the matter.
If the premises prove to be suitable as a reception facility and the municipality adopts a positive stance, the Finnish Immigration Service will make a proposal to the Ministry of the Interior on the establishment of the centre. The centre would start its operations during the autumn under the management of the Western Finland District of the Finnish Red Cross.
The possibility of establishing a reception centre in the Halikko Hospital in Salo is currently negotiated with the Hospital District of Southwest Finland. The City of Salo will take a stand on the matter in the near future.
The situation in the Helsinki metropolitan area is discussed on Thursday
The reception centre maintained by the City of Helsinki will open a temporary emergency accommodation unit in the old premises of the Koskela Hospital. As things look now, the unit will be active until the end of September. The premises can accommodate 240 asylum seekers. The first clients are accommodated in Koskela this week.
On Thursday evening, the Finnish Immigration Service will negotiate with the cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa on the possibility of expanding reception operations.
Other solutions are sought instead of Forssa
On Monday, the city executive of Forssa voted against the plan to establish an emergency accommodation unit in the Hotel Rantasipi’s empty premises. It was planned that 250 asylum seekers would have been accommodated in Forssa temporarily until the end of the year. The Finnish Immigration Service and the Finnish Red Cross are now searching for other alternatives in order to arrange emergency accommodation in the Helsinki metropolitan area and in its vicinity.
– We are expanding our search to the entire southern Finland. The important thing now is to find premises that are suitable as accommodation and that can be taken into use quickly, says Director or Reception Unit Jorma Kuuluvainen.
The number of asylum seekers has increased considerably
During the summer, the number of asylum seekers has increased considerably everywhere in Europe. By the end of last week, almost 6,000 people had sought asylum in Finland. In 2014, the total number of asylum seekers was 3,651. Most asylum seekers have arrived in Finland from Iraq, Somalia, Albania and Afghanistan. The number of Syrians has also increased during the summer. The number of those applying for asylum in Finland this year might go up to as many as 15,000.
There are currently 25 reception centres in Finland. The Finnish Red Cross maintains eleven of them. All reception centres are full at the moment and extra places are created in all of them to accommodate asylum seekers.
The Finnish Immigration Service aims to establish several new reception centres during the autumn. There are currently around 4,500 accommodation places and approximately 2,000 new places are needed. The state pays all reception centre costs.
Further information for the media
Finnish Immigration Service:
- Visa Knape, Senior Advisor, Reception Unit,
0295 430 431 - Jorma Kuuluvainen, Director, Reception Unit,
0295 430 431
Finnish Red Cross:
- District of Southeastern Finland: Executive Manager Arja Vainio, 0400 791 400
- Savo-Karjala District: Executive Manager Kaisu Haataja, 0500 322 910
- District of Western Finland: Executive Manager Pekka Annala, 0400 263 559
