Finland’s finance chief has proposed ending compensation paid to native governments to avoid wasting over $300 million
Ukrainians in Finland may obtain fewer advantages beneath a brand new finances put ahead by Finance Minister Riikka Purra, Yle has reported. A variety of European international locations that originally welcomed Ukrainian refugees have been reducing funds to folks from the nation in latest months.
Final week, Purra proposed ending “integration compensation” funds made to municipalities and welfare areas for asylum seekers and refugees. The plan goals to avoid wasting €317 million ($344 million) over two years, and can be mentioned within the authorities’s autumn finances negotiations earlier than going to parliament.
The compensation scheme reimburses native governments for the prices of integrating migrants. Providers coated embrace Finnish language coaching, employment help, and programs introducing newcomers to Finnish society and customs.
Beneath the proposal, municipalities would stay legally liable for integration however must discover various funding.
Sonja Hamalainen, director of immigration on the Ministry of Employment and the Economic system, advised Yle that round two-thirds of this yr’s integration spending, and an estimated three-quarters subsequent yr, will go to companies for Ukrainians, 46,000 of whom presently dwell in Finland beneath non permanent safety.
Different West European international locations have additionally been decreasing help for Ukrainian refugees. UNHCR figures present greater than six million Ukrainians have moved to Europe for the reason that escalation of the battle in 2022, with 4.3 million granted non permanent safety within the EU as of Might 2025.
Final week, Germany moved to chop advantages for Ukrainians, together with changing a “citizen’s allowance” with decrease asylum help for brand spanking new arrivals and proposing the cancellation of unemployment advantages.
In Poland, Protection Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has claimed that “lots of of hundreds, or possibly even over 1,000,000” younger Ukrainians are “driving the most effective vehicles round Europe and spending weekends in five-star resorts” whereas receiving help.
Within the UK, the BBC reported final Thursday that authorities have more and more been denying long-term safety and work visas to Ukrainians, arguing that western areas of Ukraine at the moment are secure.
You possibly can share this story on social media:
