Proposal of the Ministry of the Interior to reduce reception allowance circulated for comments

The Ministry of the Interior has sent out for comments a government proposal that would provisionally amend the Act on the Reception of Persons Applying for International Protection and on the Identification of and Assistance to Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings. The deadline for submitting comments on the proposal is 13 March 2024.

The proposal to be circulated for comments implements the entry in the Government Programme according to which the reception allowance will be reduced to the minimum amount permitted by the Constitution and the Reception Directive. The aim is to reduce the level of financial support for persons who do not permanently reside in the country but are entitled to reception services. In addition, the aim is to attain the financial savings set out in the Government Programme. The savings target for the reception allowance is EUR 13 million for 2024 and EUR 8 million for 2025.

The proposal suggests that the amount of reception allowance and spending allowance granted to applicants for international protection, beneficiaries of temporary protection and victims of human trafficking with no municipality of residence be reduced. According to the Reception Directive, the reception allowance must be tied to national social security. In the proposal, the urgent social assistance that is granted to secure indispensable subsistence and care for, for example, persons staying temporarily in Finland, is proposed as the point of comparison in national social security. Urgent social assistance is also granted to those who are in the country illegally.

The proposal has been prepared on a provisional basis. The basic component of the reception allowance will be subject to an index freeze in 2024–2027. The purpose of the provisional nature of the proposal is to ensure that the amount of the basic component of the reception allowance does not fall below the urgent social assistance as a result of the freeze. The amount of the reception allowance will be reassessed during the Reception Act reform project, which will begin in the spring of 2024. 

Reception allowance is granted temporarily for the duration of the reception process   

The reception allowance is a reception service laid down in the Act on the Reception of Persons Applying for International Protection and on the Identification of and Assistance to Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings. Reception allowance is granted on a provisional basis to a person registered as a reception centre client in order to secure indispensable subsistence and to promote independent living if that person is in need of support and cannot secure a means of support through gainful employment, from other income or assets, through care provided by a person liable to provide maintenance, or in some other way. The amount of the reception allowance is affected by the income and funds the individual concerned and their family have at their disposal.  A spending allowance is granted to an unaccompanied child if the reception centre arranges full maintenance for the child.

The reception allowance consists of a basic element and a supplementary element. The basic component of the reception allowance covers clothing expenses, minor health care expenses, expenses arising from the use of local public transport and a telephone, and other similar expenses that are part of the daily means of support of a person and a family, and food expenses when the reception centre does not arrange a meals service. Supplementary reception allowance is a discretionary benefit that can be granted for expenses arising from the specific needs and conditions of a person or family that are deemed necessary.  No financial support is granted for accommodation, but accommodation is provided at a reception centre. 

Inquiries:

Tiina Järvinen, Senior Specialist, [email protected] 
Sanna Töykkälä, Senior Specialist, [email protected]