legal and social conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in ...

SOCIAL CONDITIONS FOR REFUGEES
Introduction/legal basis
Housing
The Integration Act, which has been into force since 1 May 1999, regulates the measures for the
integration of refugees and the social benefits which they receive during the integration period.
The new Act also includes provisions for the payment of governmental subsidies to the
municipalities.
As far as social conditions are concerned, there is no differentiation between Convention status,
quota refugees and de facto refugees. In practice, there are also few differences between this
first group and aliens with other types of residence permits. However, only refugees receive
special financial assistance when they move into their own apartment, and the subsidies paid by
the state to the municipalities apply only for the above mentioned groups and not, for instance, to
persons holding a non-refugee residence permit under Section 20 of the Aliens Act (see under
“Other types of residence permits” above).
The authority responsible for the distribution of refugees to the different municipalities in Finland
is the Ministry of Labour and, on district level, the Employment and Economic Development
Centres, all of which have a special employee responsible for migration and refugee matters.
The municipalities are responsible for the settlement of refugees. They are free to decide whether
or not to accept refugees and the number of persons to receive. When accepting refugees the
municipalities are obliged to provide accommodation, usually in the form of rented flats owned by
the municipality. Government subsidies, lasting for a three-year period, are paid to the
municipalities which receive refugees. Thus, if a refugee moves to a municipality which does not
have an agreement with the Government, no subsidy is paid to that municipality.
Refugees may choose the municipality where they want to settle provided they find
accommodation by themselves. In practice, they often have difficulties in finding apartments on
their own and therefore they live in the municipality in which they are settled. However, many of
them move to larger cities after an initial period spent in the (smaller) municipality, where they
had been allocated.
The state pays to the municipality, each year for three years, FIM 11,300 [EUR 1,900] per
refugee over seven years of age and FIM 37,000 [EUR 6,223] for a refugee under seven years.
The state also covers the living allowance granted to refugees (living allowance is paid by the
municipality, other allowances e.g. the integration allowance are paid directly by the state).
Integration programme
All refugees – including those who wish to settle by themselves – come under a special
integration programme, which includes language tuition, adult education in Finnish society and
culture, vocational counselling and training and on-the-job training. If necessary, they may also
follow specific programmes intended to improve their readiness to working life and training.
The content of the integration programme is drafted by the refugee him/herself together with a
representative of the municipality and/or the employment office. The maximum period for this
integration programme is three years.
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Finland