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Municipalities to receive temporary additional support for the reception of refugees

The Ministry of Employment and the Economy in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior is currently investigating how quota-based funding from the European Refugee Fund (ERF) can be used to enhance the placement of refugees in municipalities next year.

The Finnish Government decided in September that Finland will establish an additional quota of 300 refugees to be received from Syria in 2014. At the same time, a decision was made to reserve 200 places in the annual quota of 750 refugees to Syrian refugees. Minister of Labour Lauri Ihalainen will invite the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities to negotiations in order to ensure that a municipality of placement can be located for all of the refugees received.

The European Union allocates quota funding through the European Refugee Fund to all member states receiving a quota of refugees. The sum is determined based on the size of the member state's quota for refugees and the type of refugees received by the member state. The funding allocated to Finland is approximately EUR 2 to 4 million per year. Now the plan is to use this funding to provide temporary additional support to municipalities that will receive refugees in 2014.

There has been a constant lack of placements for refugees in municipalities in recent years. Negotiations between municipalities and the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment have yielded only approximately 60 per cent of the places needed.

Additional Information: Tarja Rantala, Project Coordinator, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, tel. +358 29 506 0085