OUR VISIT TO THE REFUGEE CENTRE IN OULU

On Wednesday 27^th November we started from our schoolyard to Heikinharju and the refugee centre. We were eleven students in our bus. We found the right place after some trouble and in front of us we found a high, yellow building which used to be a mental hospital for several decades before it started as a refugee centre. Behind the main building there were several white store houses. Those buildings seemed to be quite old. The place was situated quite far away from the town in the middle of a forest.

We went in and in a hall we were welcomed by the staff. The director of the place Veikko Nevatalo gave us some information about the place. In the hall there was a kind of reception where people could get their mail. We went into a meeting room with Tarja Pihlajisto and Jaana Karhu.

INFORMATION

We found out that the building was founded already several decades ago but in 1991 the refugee centre moved into this building. As late as in, 1991 a part of the building was a mental hospital. The centre is funded by the state.

The main idea is that people coming to Finland as refugees can live in the building in little rooms for two persons for about two years. They can eventually have work as a cleaner or a helper in a school or kindergarten. Children must go to school where they can learn Finnish. Refugees can get 1800 mk a month from the state and 1550 mk more if he or she has family and still 500-1000 mk more per child. But that is all. They can go to work after they have got a permission from officials, but usually it is very difficult to get work.

This year there (2001) have been 2000 people coming to Finland as a refugee. Most of them come from Russia. More than 100 have come from Georgia and from Slovakia, Iraq, and Turkey more than 60 persons. No refugees have come from Hungary to Finland.

People come to Finland mainly because of war, race or religion. Life has become too dangerous to them in their country. They give their applications to the police or boarder guards. The officials interview them and they go to special refugee centres or back to the country from where they came. It takes about two years to get a permission to stay in Finland. If you are not allowed to stay, you can leave a new application to the police and the new decision comes in six months.

One part of the refugees coming to Finland are situated straight in municipalities. Officials go abroad and take these people with after negotiations with for example UN.

There are altogether eight people working in the Oulu Refugee Centre and there are always two persons working at the same time. The work itself is very varying.

THE EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE CENTRE

The rooms where refugees live are quite small. There are two persons living in the same room and in the room there is a window, two beds, a little table and a fridge. There were some cups and plates and a sauce pan too. In one department there live 36 persons and they have a common WC and a bathroom and a kitchen. The kitchen was quite large but modest with two ovens, micro oven and some other kitchenware.

In the department there was a room for some activities, for sewing and handiwork. On the first floor there was a coffee bar where Hassan from Morocco was selling coffee and candies, and some rooms for handiwork, playing billiards and music.

On the fist floor we found a quite big room where they can have discos and other festivities. We decided to come and have a disco here with our Hungarian friends in March. Unfortunately we could not meet refugees during this visit but we are coming here on February 19^th to plan our disco and other activities concerning our project.

Unfortunately we just got a message from Hungary that their visit to Finland has been postponed until September 2002! However we will continue our project as we planned.