Reception centre operations to end at five centres

The contracts of four reception centres will be terminated. The Finnish Immigration Service has informed those in charge of the reception centres about the terminations. In addition to the four terminated contracts, the fixed-term contract of the Kaarlenkatu Unit of the Helsinki Reception Centre will expire. In total, the accommodation capacity will be reduced by 630 beds by the end of June 2019. Those in charge of the reception centres will carry out employee cooperation negotiations with the staff at the centres.

The reason for these adjustments is the estimated reduced need for accommodation in the beginning of the year. Maintaining unnecessary accommodation capacity is expensive, which is why the goal of the agency is to keep the number of beds as close to the real demand as possible at all times. The goal of the Finnish Immigration Service is to maintain a 90 per cent occupancy rate at its reception centres.

At present, there are approximately 7,800 beds at the reception centres.

The following reception centres for adults and families will be closed down due to termination of contract:

• Helsinki/Metsäläntie, the Helsinki and Uusimaa district of the Finnish Red Cross, 100 beds, by 30 april 2019
• Kankaanpää, Medivida Oy, 90 beds, by 30 June 2019
• Kokemäki, Pihlajalinna Terveys Oy, 90 beds, by 31 March 2019
• Raseborg, Medivida Oy, 150 beds, by 31 March 2019

The following unit will be closed down due to expiry of fixed-term contract:

• Helsinki/Kaarlenkatu Unit, City of Helsinki, 200 beds, by 31 May 2019

Further information for the media

• Director of Reception Unit Pekka Nuutinen, tel. 0295 430 431, email: firstname.lastname@migri.fi