Disagreements between the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of the Interior have significantly slowed down the selection of refugees to be settled in Finland on the basis of the annual refugee quota.

So far this year Finland has taken in 75 “quota refugees” - exactly one tenth of the allotment of 750. “Our problems are national. The world has not run out of refugees”, observes Mervi Virtanen, head of the political section of the Ministry of Labour.

Virtanen’s views are echoed by Ilkka Rentola of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Both say that disagreements between the Labour and Interior ministries led to delays in making decisions early in the year. Helsingin Sanomat was not able to reach representatives of the Ministry of the Interior who took part in the discussions.

These three ministries are supposed to decide from among options put forward by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on what areas Finland’s quota refugees should come from this year.

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