Refugees Receive Most Benefits in Finland
Image: YLE
Finland pays families seeking refugee status more in monthly assistance than any other EU country. According to an Aamulehti article based on a report by the Interior Ministry, benefits paid to asylum seekers in Finland are sometimes more than twice those paid in Sweden.
In Finland, a family of two adults and three children between the ages of 10 and 17 years receives a monthly income benefit of 1,277 euros, plus free accommodation.
In addition to financial support, asylum seekers at reception centres receive compulsory health care.
Under similar circumstances in Sweden, such a family would receive a montly income benefit of 531 euros if the family pays for its own food. In Germany, Italy and Britain the family would receive only food and housing support.
So far this year some 6,000 asylum seekers have applied for refugee status in Finland, while as recently as in 2007, the number was about 1,500.
The Aamulehti article quoted Senior Inspector Leena-Maija Qvist of the Interior Ministry as conjecturing that such sizeable benefits could entice people to enter Finland as refugees.
YLE, Aamulehti