Finland plans to review benefits granted to asylum seekers, says Astrid
Thors, Minister for Migration and European Affairs. The Minister’s
comments come in the wake of a report issued by the Interior Ministry.
The report indicates that asylum seekers in Finland receive more
financial benefits than in any other EU country. According an Aamulehti
article based on the report, refugees in Finland receive twice as much
monthly financial support as those in Sweden, while refugees in Germany
receive only food and housing.
Somali family reunification challenging social services
The first Somali refugees arrived in Finland 20 years ago. Thus far in
2009, the figure for Somali asylum-seekers has been more than 1,000, of
whom the number of minor asylum-seekers without a parent or guardian is
nearly 200.
In the next few years, Finland is expected to receive thousands of
Somalis, as the number of asylum-seekers has turned upwards. Over the past couple of years, Finland has received a couple of
thousand asylum-seekers from Somalia alone. They have now begun to be
granted residence permits, along with which they are entitled to apply
for family reunification.
18.5.2010
At the beginning of the year Finland had 11,881 residents speaking the Somali language as their mother tongue. About three fifths of them were born in Somalia. Nobody knows what the figures will show ten years from now. In recent years the number of Somali-speaking people in Finland has increased by nearly ten per cent in a year. Some of them are asylum seekers, and some are people who have been granted residence permits on the basis of family ties, while many are children who were born in Finland.
In the Helsinki region, about half of the growth in the Somali population involves children born in Finland.
Nearly all Somali asylum seekers whose applications are approved apply for residence permits for family members as well. At the end of this year, there were about 6,000 applications for immigration based on family ties, says Heikki Taskinen, director of the immigration unit of the Finnish Immigration Service.. At this rate, there will be thousands of newcomers in the coming years.
The Finns attitudes towards immigration has changed rapidly:
In 2007, 56% supported more immigration and 36% were against. Today, there's a complete reversal: 36% support more immigration and 59% are against.
Where the hell Finland is heading to??? Why Finnish government wants so many refugees in country from Africa or Middle East? Why Finland wants to help refugees, which already in many countries in the world are taken care of, but doesn't help to Finno-Ugric people in Russia to support their languages, schools etc.?
EU or not EU, but Finns are too much waiting and looking on other countries. My impression is that Finns will start to care about Finno-Ugrics only after Swedes or Britons will start to do it.