Red Cross and reception operations
The Finnish Red Cross districts currently maintain six reception centres across Finland. Under the Ministry of the Interior, the Finnish Immigration Service guides, plans and monitors the reception system and its costs.
The operations of the Red Cross are steered by the organisation’s most important principle: aiding people in need. The district-run reception centre operations by the Red Cross provide assistance and protection to vulnerable people. Our organisation has long experience and strong expertise in welcoming asylum seekers and meeting their basic needs. At the reception units, the Red Cross takes care of the accommodation of the asylum seekers, distributes food and provides urgent health checks for them.
Our diverse team of volunteers can meet the support needs of vulnerable people. Our volunteers visit both the reception centres run by the Red Cross districts and those run by other operators.
In the event of large-scale migration, the Red Cross is prepared to provide humanitarian aid, both to support the authorities and independently, depending on what is needed. This preparedness is based on the planning and competence that the Red Cross maintains around Finland.
How are the reception centre operations’ costs generated?
The Finnish Immigration Service is responsible for the decisions to establish and close down reception units, the costs of the reception operations, and the processing of asylum applications and their decisions. In 2022–2024, the Finnish Immigration Service put the reception centre operations out to tender.
The Finnish Red Cross is a non-profit, charitable organisation. Any funds potentially generated by the reception centre operations will be used in the long term to maintain the Red Cross’s readiness and preparedness and for other humanitarian activities. The Finnish Immigration Service will cover the costs of reception operations in accordance with the contract awarded following the call for tenders.
The Act on the Reception of Persons Applying for International Protection and on the Identification of and Assistance to Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings (Reception Act) states that the services provided by reception centres include accommodation, a reception allowance and the necessary social and healthcare services. In addition, the cost structure of reception operations includes e.g. personnel and facility expenses.
