Arrival of refugee kids from Greece deferred to July

The arrival first group of 25 children from Mediterranean refugee camps in Greece scheduled to arrive in Finland June has been deferred to early July, said the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) on Monday.

The first relocation originally scheduled for June had to be postponed due to practical reasons, said Migri in a press release, explaining that suitable representatives must be found for all unaccompanied minors, and all minors must be interviewed before they are relocated.

The exact date of the relocation, however, is not yet known. In addition to Greece, Finland will be receiving relocated asylum seekers from Cyprus and Malta.

The Finnish government decided on 27 February to receive 175 vulnerable asylum seekers from the Mediterranean region. Not all of them are coming to Finland at the same time. It is likely to take some months to complete the relocations.

“Greece, the European Commission and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) are working hard to get all unaccompanied minors moved from the Greek islands to the mainland and to prepare the children for relocation as soon as possible,” said Migri Relocation Liaison Officer Monna Airiainen.

Finland will receive a total of one hundred unaccompanied minors from Greek refugee camps. Single parents with their children can also be relocated from Greece. As far as Cyprus and Malta are concerned, the plan is to relocate both unaccompanied minors and single-parent families – a total of approximately 30 asylum seekers from Cyprus and approximately 26 from Malta.

The schedules of their arrival will be decided later.

The planning of the relocations will take the coronavirus situation into consideration. Each asylum seeker will undergo a medical examination, which includes a test for coronavirus, before they can be relocated. A second medical examination will be performed upon their arrival in Finland. While the pandemic is still ongoing, the examinations will focus on coronavirus symptoms in particular. Any symptomatic individuals will be retested in Finland.

The minors arriving in Finland will also be quarantined for 14 days before they can move into their new homes. In practice, they will spend the 14 days in conditions similar to those of an ordinary group home.