National Report on the Governance of the Asylum Reception System in Finland

Abstract

The system of governance of the national reception system in Finland can be described as a centralised state–led system with a top-down decision-making, where the municipalities and civil society are key partners in implementation processes, but they can only indirectly influence the governance of the reception system. Reception and integration are formally two different areas of practice, with the state as responsible for reception measures and the municipalities responsible for integration measures. The centralisation of the system has involved the strengthening of the role of the Finnish Immigration Service. The administrative reforms involve a long history of centralisation and Europeanisation of the administration, which predates the so-called migration crisis of 2015. A convergence of the functioning, accessibility and quality of reception services is an aim of the centralised national system. Yet, the system also involves structural conflicts of interest between local and national perspectives, which are strengthened by the legal and administrative division of reception and integration into two different areas of practice.