Migri to close refugee centre in Espoo, clip capacity in Vantaa

The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) will close down the refugee reception centre at Nihtisilta Luona Oy in Espoo with the capacity of 450 places.

The unit will be closed down by 30 June 2021, said Migri in a press release on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the capacity of the reception centre at Robert Huberin tie in Vantaa will be reduced by 75 places. Its new capacity will be 375 as of 1 April 2021.

Migri terminated its contract with the reception centres and the accommodation capacity for asylum seekers in the capital region will decrease by 525 places in total.

Last year, the number of new asylum seekers hit a record low. The number of first asylum applications was around 1,150 between January and November 2020.

Around 6,500 asylum seekers are currently registered in the reception system, with around 3,300 of them living in different types of reception centres. The number of available places now is around 1,500.

Migri aims for the capacity of reception centres to correspond to the existing need for accommodation.