e Government has submitted a communication to Parliament on proposals concerning Home Affairs Funds for the EU’s next financial programming period 2021–2027. In future, there would be three Funds instead of the existing two. In general, they would cover the fields of the current Home Affairs Funds, but their structure would be changed, because the aim is to simplify and reduce the number of financial instruments.

A project appointed by the Ministry of the Interior on 3 July will investigate and draft possible amendments to the Aliens Act concerning the processing of subsequent applications for international protection and the implementation of the Finnish Immigration Service’s decisions enabled by the EU Asylum Procedures Directive. In connection with this project, an amendment required by the Court of Justice of the European Union will also be made to the Aliens Act. Under this amendment, the base date for assessing a refugee’s age in family reunification cases should be the date on which the application for international protection was submitted.

It is proposed that players of slot machines located across the country, excluding those located in game arcades, be required to identify themselves from the start of 2021. Compulsory identification would make it technically possible to introduce restrictions to manage at-risk gambling on slot machines too. At the moment, players must identify themselves when they play Veikkaus online games. The proposed legislative amendments concerning identification and the licence procedures for running lotteries were sent out for comments on 21 June.

The conflict between Palestine and Israel has continued for 70 years. The EUPOL COPPS civilian crisis management mission works to put to rest the long-lasting crisis and achieve basic security in the region. The Palestinian question was created by people, and people can also resolve it.

A new Migration Review has been published. The Review discusses labour migration developments in the light of statistics, the latest legislative changes that have facilitated work permit processes, the progress made in the reform of the Common European Asylum System by the EU and the latest trends in the asylum situation.

Finland's new National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security was published on Friday 13 April. This is Finland's third National Action Plan (NAP), extending from 2018 to the end of 2021. Through the NAP, Finland aims to contribute effectively to sustainable peace by strengthening women's participation.

The Government plans to strengthen the powers of the Finnish Border Guard to quickly and effectively intervene in hybrid threats. Better preparedness for hybrid threats would improve the Finnish Border Guard's crisis resilience and capacity to manage large-scale incidents. On 25 January, the Government submitted a proposal for necessary legislative amendments to Parliament. The amendments are scheduled to enter into force as soon as possible.

On 20 December, the Ministry of the Interior confirmed the decision of the ministerial working group on migration concerning the allocation of the refugee quota of 750 people for 2018.

A new national migration report — International Migration 2016–2017, Report for Finland — has been published and submitted to the OECD. The report provides a concise summary of migration policy guidelines, key legislative amendments and up-to-date statistics.