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Finland cuts allowance for asylum seekers

Xinhua, August 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

Finland has cut the financial support for asylum-seeking families by about 10 percent from 2009's level, reported Finnish national broadcaster Yle on Thursday.

In 2009, a five-member asylum-seeking family arriving in Finland received up to 1,277 euros monthly allowance, which covered food and other basic living expenses, according to Yle.

The Finnish Immigration Service told Yle that currently such an asylum-seeking family receives only 1,140 euros per month, which are about 10 percent less than in 2009, even though the cost of living is rising in Finland.

Accommodation is free of charge for asylum seekers in reception centers.

Jorma Kuuluvainen, director of the reception unit of the Finnish Immigration Service, said that the support is designed to cover those families' essential living cost, including food, clothing and basic hygiene.

He added that asylum seekers can also receive some degree of health care in case of acute needs.

With increasing number of asylum seekers swarming into Finland, the country is in short of funding despite the reduction of the financial support for refugee families, according to Kuuluvainen.

The Finnish immigration authorities will ask for an additional 19 million euros from the government to finance reception centers and other related services.

If the current trend continues, even the additional funding may not be sufficient, said Kuuluvainen.

The European Union (EU) is struggling with an unprecedentedly tough migrant crisis this year with some 340,000 migrants crossing Europe's external borders, said Frontex, the EU agency for the management of cooperation at the external borders of the member states.

The Finnish Immigration Service estimated that by the end of this year, Finland will have received 4,121 asylum seekers, most of whom are from Somalia and Iraq. The figure was 3,651 in 2014. Endit