Applicants for political asylum being housed in the Turku region have been given less money for their personal use than those in other parts of the country.

   

The Ministry of Labour wants to see if smaller cash handouts might lead to a decrease in the number of unfounded applications, and to shorter processing times.

   

"Genuine asylum applicants suffer from unfounded applications. It is awkward for Finland to get applicants who have had their applications rejected in other countries", says Maija Pentikäinen, a researcher at the Ministry of Labour.

The Turku refugee reception centre has set up a first-stage unit in nearby Naantali, where asylum applicants are housed during the initial police investigation into their applications. At the unit, the applicants get meals, in addition to a per diem of EUR 2.50 a day, totalling EUR 35 in two weeks.

   

At the ordinary reception centres indigent applicants get more cash - a total of about EUR 150 in two weeks - with which they are expected to buy food themselves.

   

After an average 13 days in Naantali they are transferred to reception centres, where they are eligible for the higher payments.

Maija Pentikäinen says that police can usually determine in a couple of weeks if the application is clearly without foundation, and if the applicant has sought asylum in another EU country.

   

If this is the case, processing the application usually takes a much shorter time, and the applicants can accumulate less cash.

Matti Heinonen of the Directorate of Immigration says that reducing cash handouts has cut back on the number of bogus applications in some other countries.

   

Heinonen says that after Belgium stopped giving money to the applicants in 2002, asylum applications went down by 50% within a few months.

"We will go through the results during the spring. If they are positive, the practice can expand to other cities as well. At least the police and the Directorate of Immigration are satisfied", Maija Pentikäinen says.

   

Nearly one in three asylum applicants last year had applied for asylum in some other EU country before coming to Finland. In November some 65%, and in December 49% of applicants in Finland had done so.

   

"If an asylum-seeker submits applications in two or more countries within a short period of time, we can ask with good reason if it is necessary to give him or her money immediately when the application is being made", Matti Heinonen points out.