Finnish authorities foresee a decline in the arrival of asylum seekers in the near future. For that reason, they have just announced the closure of three reception centers and cuts in the capacity of five others. The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) expects to reduce the total capacity of these establishments by 800 beds.
The Finnish Immigration Service announced that has decided on reductions in the accommodation capacity at reception centres and on terminations of contracts. "The total reception centre capacity will be reduced by approximately 800 beds", says on a press release.
The Immigration authority explained that this measure has been taken because the number of arrivals of new asylum seekers has remained fairly moderate. Migri estimates that this year they will be less than 3,000, and the number of subsequent applications submitted will be approximately 2,000.
5,600 living in reception centres
According to the data published, approximately 9,500 asylum seekers are currently registered in the Finnish reception system, and around 5,600 of them live in the different types of reception centres.
The Finnish Immigration Service aims for the reception centre capacity to correspond to the existing need for accommodation. At the moment, there are approximately 400 extra beds at the reception centres, and according to the agency’s estimates the need for beds will decrease with an additional several hundred during the second half of 2019.
According to Migri, the reception centres to be affected by closures or reductions in capacity are the following:
Reception centres to be closed down:
- Karkku Reception Centre (Sastamala), Pihlajalinna Terveys Oy, 120 beds. The unit will be closed by 1 October 2019.
- Kauhava Reception Centre, Finnish Red Cross, 200 beds. The unit will be closed by 1 January 2020.
- Valolinna Reception Centre (Heinola), Hemcare Heinola Oy, 170 beds. The unit will be closed by 1 January 2020.
Reductions in capacity:
- Kristinestad Reception Centre, Finnish Red Cross. Reduced by 50 beds. The new capacity will be 250 as of 1 October 2019.
- Pori Reception Centre, Finnish Red Cross. Reduced by 50 beds. The new capacity will be 200 as of 1 October 2019.
- Vaasa Reception Centre, City of Vaasa Reduced by 50 beds. The new capacity will be 200 as of 1 October 2019.
- The capacities of the reception centres on Robert Huberin tie (Vantaa) and in Nihtisilta (Espoo) will be reduced during September–October 2019 in a manner that will be agreed upon separately.
