Finnish local authorities are facing a severe shortage of housing for refugees who've been granted asylum in the country, new figures show.
So far around 4,000 homes for refugees have been found across the country by the public sector, although this falls well short of the 10,000 places that are expected to be needed.
In the capital region, pressures on housing are even more extreme. As of the end of May, local authorities had placed 696 refugees in public housing, which works out at less than a quarter of the 2819 homes required.
Some asylum workers have now warned that exploitative letting agents are taking advantage of refugees in need of housing.
Time gets lost
Musaab al Rubaei from Iraq was one of the asylum seekers who, in May, got the news he had been hoping for - permission to stay in Finland, for four years.
“I feel that I've got hope in my life. Now I want to carry on studying and working. Finally I can do at least some of what I've been dreaming of,” he told Yle.
However, al Rubaei’s joy quickly became tinged with frustration, as he fears he will have to carry on living in Vantaa's Auramo reception centre for months to come, until he can find accommodation.
The manager of Auramo reception centre, Nelli Kasurinen, said that the crisis shows no sign of abating, with all of the homes they have managed to find so far for successful asylum applicants having come through private individuals, many of whom got in touch to say they wanted to rent to refugees.
Kasurinen said the situation has led to the rise of exploitative agents charging a fee to find people somewhere to live. "We've tried to warn people against this, but the housing shortage is so severe that it's a niche market for agents," she says.
And among successful asylum claimants such as Musaab al Rubaei, the desire to get away from life in a reception centre is pressing. ”I want to get on with my life. Inside the reception centre, it feels like time just gets lost,” he said.
Refugees not accepted
In April this year, a spokeswoman from the Ministry of Employment, the department in charge of arrangements for refugees once they are granted asylum, said the shortage of municipal housing is widespread.
"We are far behind our goal; several thousand municipal placements short of our target in fact. The situation is very worrying," Sonja Hämäläinen said.
Part of the problem is that, under the government’s voluntary system, some municipalities do not want to accept as many refugees as the ministry has asked them to.
For example, the municipality of Askola in the southern region of Uusimaa rejected the suggestion that it offer nine municipal placements.
"Askola has no viable accommodation to offer asylum seekers at present. We have a long line of people waiting for any rental housing that frees up. There is nothing available," municipal head Olavi Merihaara said.
In order to alleviate the shortage, the government is looking at ways of incentivising municipalities to settle more refugees. One possibility is to increase the allowance – currently 2,300 euros per refugee – that central government pays to local authorities.
