Necessities and basic care to be accessible to illegal residents in Finland

Finnish government confirmed on Friday that illegal residents in the country have the right for "necessary subsistence and care" from public funds.

The policy guidelines published on Friday determines that "residents without authorization" will be given "emergency accommodation" that will also include food and necessary medication.

The ruling is based on the Seventh Chapter of the Finnish constitution that assures basic care.

Municipalities have been urging a government policy to be defined. In practice, municipalities face an acute situation concerning the asylum seekers, and several municipalities have worked out their own criteria. For example, some municipalities have paid half of what a legal resident would get and only for four days at a time.

Currently, there are some 11,000 persons in Finland with negative asylum decisions.

While the government was slow in giving guidelines, the Minister of the Interior Paula Risikko said earlier that she thought the assistance "should be less" than what the standard Finnish municipal subsistence would give.

Legislative work will begin in 2017 to define what is the actual level of the service for illegal residents.

The government announcement on Friday had been delayed for weeks as there had been political pressure within the coalition in favor of stricter treatment, and some populist politicians simply said no assistance should be given.

However, during the delay, many people and organizations showed a different attitude towards illegal residents regarding whether they should have access to necessities. For example, this week the Chief Doctors of University Clinics for Children published a statement in leading newspapers that children in need of medical help would be treated in their clinics irrespective of their status as a resident.  

source: Xinhua