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

SOCIAL CONDITIONS FOR PERSONS UNDER TEMPORARY PROTECTION
Introduction/legal basis
Housing
So far there are no specific provisions on temporary protection in Finnish legislation. The Ministry
of Interior has made a proposal for incorporating a temporary protection system in the Aliens Act,
but no developments are expected in the near future.
Temporary protection has been granted twice: to Bosnian medical evacuees during the war in
Bosnia-Herzegovina and to 1,032 Kosovo Albanians who came to Finland under the UNHCR
Humanitarian Evacuation Programme in spring 1999.
Bosnians were issued with residence permits renewable every six months and were entitled to
permanent residence after two years.
Kosovo Albanians were issued with normal (non-refugee) time-limited residence permits, valid for
11 months, but were given some special rights, which are normally not given to the holders of
such residence permits, including for example the right to family reunification without any special
requirements.
Kosovo Albanians have been accommodated in refugee reception centres. Some centres were
established specifically for this purpose, whereas others were “normal” reception centres.
Kosovo Albanians were not able to choose the centre in which they wanted to stay. In addition,
having been granted residence permits for 11 months, they cannot become resident in a
municipality, as this requires a residence permit of at least one year. Therefore, they are not
entitled either to social security services at municipality level.
Financial assistance
Work
Persons under temporary protection receive the social benefits as asylum seekers.
Persons under temporary protection are allowed to work and do not need a work permit. In
practice, however, it is very difficult for them to find jobs.
Access to the adult education system
In principle, persons under temporary protection may have access without restrictions to the adult
education system. In practice, this may depend on the school’s policy and the entrance
requirements. No special financial assistance is available for this category.
There are some special reintegration programmes/courses – most of them with EU funding –
designed for persons under temporary protection in order to facilitate their re-integration in the
home country following repatriation.
Language tuition
Some basic Finnish and/or Swedish language courses are offered in the reception centres.
Attendance is not compulsory.
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Finland