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The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for the preparation of migration policy and legislation

Small ministry, large branch of government The National Police Board and the Finnish Immigration Service operate under the Ministry of the Interior. The agencies provide guidance within their scope of activities. The Finnish Border Guard is respon...

Smart Borders Package improves EU border management The EU has adopted a Smart Borders Package, which is to be introduced in 2025-2026. The Smart Borders Package aims to: facilitate border checks improve internal security by, for example, stronger...

Civilian intelligence protects Finland’s national security

Government Programme measures to reform migration policy The Government Programme’s objective is to reform Finland’s migration policy so that it offers assistance to the most vulnerable people and prevents abuse of the system. Finland’s asylum pol...

Questions and answers on gambling system reform General information on the gambling system reform Why switch over to a licensing system and retain a partial monopoly system instead of, for example, strengthening the current system based on the Vei...

10.12.2025 | The wellbeing services county reform is progressing towards the set objectives throughout Finland, but there are still many issues left to address. This is according to a broad-based interim evaluation of the wellbeing services county reform made by an independent expert group.

17.12.2024 | The Ministry of the Interior has submitted to the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman a follow-up report on the preparation of the allocation of the refugee quota. The report requested by the Ombudsman was also submitted to the Chancellor of Justice. As the matter is of major importance to society and of interest to many, the Ministry of the Interior will make the report available to the public.

3.7.2024 | The Ministry of the Interior is requesting comments on the draft government proposal for a new gambling act. The reform of the gambling system is based on the Government Programme. Under the proposal, Veikkaus Oy would no longer hold the monopoly to arrange betting and online slot machine games and casino games. These games would be opened up to competition by means of licensing as laid out in the Government Programme.

20.2.2025 | The Czech Republic's Minister of the Interior Vít Rakušan will visit Finland between 19 and 21 February. Minister Rakušan will meet Finland's Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen and travel with her to Vaalimaa border crossing point, where the ministers will be hosted by the Southeast Finland Border Guard District. The topics on their agenda will include discussions on Finland's action to combat the instrumentalisation of migrants. 

22.6.2022 | In future, the border procedure could be introduced by decision of the Government if an exceptionally large number of people were to arrive in Finland over a short period of time or if hybrid influence activities that exploit migration were directed against Finland. The Government submitted the relevant proposal for amending the Aliens Act to Parliament on 22 June. The purpose of the proposal is to make it easier to manage migrants who have made their way towards Finland.

11.11.2024 | Cashing Out Joint report by the Nordic countries on cross-border money laundering via cash transportation Foreword As the global economy is getting more and more digitized, criminals are still using cash to carry out their criminal activity, as ca...

10.5.2022 | The Ministry of the Interior has sent out for comments draft amendments to the Aliens Act that would enable the introduction of the border procedure. The border procedure would allow the processing of potentially unfounded asylum applications immediately at or in the vicinity of the border. This would prevent asylum applicants from travelling within Finland or from Finland to other EU countries. The deadline for submitting comments is 23 May.

12.9.2022 | The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and accelerating climate change have led to a situation in Finland and globally where the future seems rather uncertain. In the midst of uncertainty, decision-making is difficult. Finland will hold parliamentary elections in spring 2023, and the new Government Programme will outline policies for the next few years.

8.2.2024 | Unofficial international money remittances involve a very high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. In addition, public authorities responsible for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism and other key actors consider the risk to be high for virtual currency providers, banks and payment service providers.

15.12.2022 | On 15 December 2022, the Government decided that to ease the pressure on the reception systems in the EU Member States in the Mediterranean, Finland will take up to 175 asylum seekers relocated from the region. The asylum seekers can be relocated to Finland if they are likely to be in need of international protection. Priority will be given to vulnerable people, such as unaccompanied minors, single-parent families, persons with medical conditions and persons with disabilities.

20.12.2022 | The Ministry of the Interior has commissioned an external study on the organisation of migration administration. Requested by the leaders of the five government parties, the study aims to provide an overall picture of migration legislation, processes related to entry into and stay in Finland, and the roles of national authorities.

19.6.2018 | 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.

4.10.2019 | A third of municipal decision-makers and almost half of the Members of Finnish Parliament or their assistants have been subjected to hate speech due to their official duties or positions of trust. In addition, about a third of the decision-makers consider that hate speech in public debate has increased in recent years. These are the results of a recent study.

17.4.2023 | The final report of the preliminary study on the monopoly for gambling activities was submitted to the Ministry of the Interior on 17 April 2023. The objective of the project, for which the Ministry of the Interior appointed a research group on 5 January 2023, was to describe the current state of affairs and map out alternative models for the gambling system to support political decision-making.