Migri to closes 4 refugee centres

The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) has terminated the contracts of the refugee reception centres in Hyvinkää and Inkeroinen, said a Migri press release.

Their operations will close by the end of April 2018. Both the centres are maintained by Hoivapalvelu Metsätähti Oy. There are 180 beds in the Hyvinkää reception centre and 150 in Inkeroinen.

The Finnish Immigration Service will also close the reception centres maintained by the Finnish Red Cross in Kitee and Kotka. The Kitee reception centre has 300 beds, while the other reception centre in Laajakoski, Kotka has 250 beds. Their operations will close by the end of June 2018.

There are currently some 13,500 asylum seekers in Finland. A total of 55 reception centres are maintained for them, eight of which are intended for unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Approximately 4,320 asylum seekers are registered at reception centres but live in private accommodations.

The total number of refugees registered as asylum seekers in Finland is currently decreasing by some 500 persons a month. These asylum seekers are granted residence permits and move from reception centres to Finnish municipalities or leave Finland or stop receiving reception services for other reasons. Migri expects to have the need for a significantly smaller accommodation capacity at the reception centres by next summer.

During the peak refugee inflow in January to February 2016, MIgri had 247 different reception units with the capacity to accommodate more than 33,000 asylum seekers.

Migri has instructed 23 reception centres to reduce their accommodation capacity by more than 1,100 beds over this winter and spring 2018. The reorganisation of accommodation capacity at the reception centres is already going on. The reception centres will reduce their accommodation capacity in a way that permits Migri to increase their capacity again, if necessary.

It is estimated that several reception centres will be closed in the summer of 2018. This process is currently at the planning stage.