Local authorities should prepare for receiving immigrants
Information from the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities
At least 10,000 immigrants will be moving to Finland's municipalities next year. The number is many times higher than in previous years, owing to the increase in the number of asylum applicants. It is advisable for local authorities to prepare for an increased need for placement of immigrants in the municipalities. The Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities have sent a letter on the matter to Finnish local authorities on 22 September 2015.
According to current predictions, about 25,000–30,000 asylum seekers will arrive in Finland this year. The rise is caused by a number of conflicts that have driven unprecedented numbers of people to seek safety outside of their home regions. Many of the applicants are likely to get a residence permit in Finland. In addition to asylum seekers, placement is needed by quota refugees, comprising about 800 persons each year.
When the asylum process ends, it is important to ensure that those who have been granted residence permits can get a placement smoothly and quickly. The goal is to make relocation in municipalities a controlled process based on voluntary agreements reached in advance with the local authorities.
It would be good for local authorities to start planning for the receiving of immigrants already now. It is important for the state, municipalities, organisations, and the rest of civic society to work together in receiving refugees and to create prerequisites for good integration.
The state supports municipalities in integration
Persons who are granted a residence permit, who move into a municipality are residents of that municipality and are entitled to basic municipal services, such as schools and social and health care. In addition, state-organised TE Services as well services promoting integration, such as language teaching and employment promotion, are underscored.
The state gives local authorities economic support in receiving immigrants. Computational compensation is paid to municipalities for persons who are granted international protection. In addition, local authorities are compensated for certain expenses linked with social services and health care according to cost for a fixed period of time, as well as interpretation and translation services. Immigrants are taken into consideration in the state subsidy system as raised coefficients when determining state subsidies for municipalities. However, local authorities should also prepare for a need for other municipal funding for the integration work.
Directing immigrants to municipalities is the responsibility of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy together with the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centres). At present the ELY Centres are making agreements for 1,300 municipal placements a year. In addition, most of the asylum seekers who have been granted residence permits move to the municipalities independently.
The letter sent to the local authorities and the attached material is available on the MEE website as attachments to the press release (in Finnish).
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Inquiries:
Sonja Hämäläinen, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, tel. +358 29 504 7112
Sanna Sutter, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of the Interior, tel. +358 29 548 8633
Anu Wikman-Immonen, Coordinator for Immigration, Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, tel. +358 50 5252 874