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The Deaconess Institute reports that the underage residents include a 15-year-old girl who is pregnant, and six children under the age of ten.

The emergency housing was offered to the itinerant Roma who have come to Finland to beg, because of the ongoing bout of cold weather.

The Roma had initially been resistant toward the idea of leaving the camping caravans where they were living.

The emergency housing has been set up in Munkkisaari in a former drug treatment facility. The rooms would be available for around a month. Authorities say the housing period could be extended if need be.

Pekka Tuomola, who's in charge of housing at the Helsinki Deaconess Institute, said on Tuesday that while some families promised to consider the move, others refused outright.

Tuomola says that many Romanian Roma are very suspicious of officials and feel that charity is a way officials can exert pressure on them.

Indeed, once they move into the housing, social workers plan to speak to the families about their living situations and try to direct them back to their home countries.

Social workers say about 15 Roma children currently live in caravans in the Kalasatama district, and ten of them are under the age of ten.

City authorities say children will not be allowed to overnight in their caravans during the cold weather.

No place for kids

Buse Printisor, a Roma man living in the Kalasatama district, says he plans to spend the winter in a caravan. However, he says he did not bring his child here.

”I wouldn’t take a child here because even fathers are cold here. This is not the right place for children.”

Printisor earns a living by collecting bottles in Finland. He says he does not plan to return to his home country in spite of the cold.