Finland Times

A number of refugee reception centres run by Luona Oy are suffering from various irregularities and serious shortcomings, said current and former employees of the company requesting anonymity.

The workers mentioned the shortcomings in an interview with the Finnish language daily Helsingin Sanomat.

Luona last autumn opened the reception centres in the capital city region.

According to the interviewees, the company hired many unqualified and inexperienced persons to work at the centres.

They said organising social and health services for the residents of the reception centres was particularly problematic.

The interviewees said Luona did not follow the monthly guidelines set by the Finnish Immigration Service which states that a reception centre should have one nurse and a social worker for every 150 residents.

According to one person, even visits to doctors by asylum seekers had to be avoided.

Luona Oy Chief Executive Officer Milja Saksi, however, said all acute cases were treated accordingly.

According to the report, a 21-year-old asylum seeker died in January from brain haemorrhage at a reception centre at Nihtisilta in Espoo.

The asylum seeker had informed the authorities about severe headache for long before his death, said one of the persons interviewed. The case is under investigation.

The interviewees said after that incident, the social and health care conditions at the reception centres started to improve.

The security situation at the reception centres was cited as another huge problem.

Sometimes, there was only one security guard at night.

Moreover, a number of security guards were found to show racist attitudes openly and some of them used unnecessary force against the inmates.

According to Saksi, the problems with the security guards were isolated incidents which have been addressed.

Saksi said no one had been fired, but some of the work contracts were not renewed.

There is also a huge difference between the employees in terms of salary.

Some of immigrant background workers were paid only 10-12 euros per hour.

Luona is a subsidiary of Barona Group. A few well-known political figures such as Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coaltion Party) lawmaker Sanna Lauslahti and former Helsinki social director Paavo Voutilainen seat on Luona’s board.

The Helsingin Sanomat did not reach Barona CEO Markus Oksaa to have his comment on the issue.

The newspaper interviewed 10 former and current Luona employees.

The persons were interviewed anonymously because their employment contracts prohibit them from speaking publicly about the company’s affairs.

The problems at the Luona reception centres were previously reported by the national broadcaster Yle.