Reception centre operations to end in Siikajärvi

The Finnish Immigration Service has discontinued the contract of the reception centre in Siikajärvi, Espoo.

Operations at the reception centre which is maintained by Luona Oy will end by the end of June 2018, said the immigration service in a press release.

The accommodation capacity at the centre in Siikajärvi is 330 beds.

The total number of persons registered as asylum seekers in Finland is currently decreasing by several hundred persons per month. These asylum seekers are granted a resident permit and moved from reception centres to Finnish municipalities, or they leave Finland or stop receiving reception services for other reasons. The Finnish Immigration Service expects to need a significantly smaller accommodation capacity at reception centres by this summer.

It is expensive to maintain accommodation capacity and that is why the goal is, at all times, to keep the number of beds as close to the real demand as possible. The goal of the Finnish Immigration Service is to maintain on average a 90 per cent occupancy rate at the reception centres.

At the moment, around 13,300 persons are within the reception system for asylum seekers. A total of 56 reception centres are maintained, eight of which are intended for unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Approximately 4,200 asylum seekers are registered at reception centres but live in private accommodation.