The global refugee situation discussed during the High Commissioner for Refugees' visit to Finland

High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) will visit Finland on Wednesday 9 December. High Commissioner Guterres will meet Prime Minister Juha Sipilä, Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini, Minister of the Interior Petteri Orpo and representatives of Finnish civil society organisations.

The topics of discussion will include the international humanitarian situation, the refugee situation in Europe and Finland, as well as the EU's actions to manage the migratory flows. Other matters to be discussed are the relations between UNHCR and Finland and the World Humanitarian Summit to be held in Istanbul in May 2016.

The United Nations Refugee Agency is mandated to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its activities focus on field work. UNHCR is one of the biggest humanitarian aid agencies and Finland's main channel of funding for humanitarian purposes. Finland's funding to the agency in 2015 has been over EUR 20 million.

High Commissioner Guterres' term in the leadership of UNHCR started in 2005 and will expire at the end of this year.  

Inquiries:

Matters concerning meeting with Prime Minister Sipilä: Anna-Kaisa Heikkinen, Special Adviser (International Affairs), tel. +358 40 748 3867, Prime Minister’s Office

Matters concerning meeting with Minister Soini: Riikka Taivassalo, Special Adviser to the Foreign Minister, tel. +358 46 923 4581, Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Matters concerning meeting with Minister Orpo: Jenna Kuitunen, Planning Officer (international affairs) tel. +358 50 399 7925, Ministry of the Interior