How about the violation of the sensibilities and rights of the taxpayer forced to pay for all this crap?
The Finnish Immigration Service has called on the Kangasvuori reception centre to respond to two of the complaints. It has also conducted routine inspections of the facility and has found that it operates by the book.
Complaint: Jyväskylä reception centre violating asylum seeker rights
Private individuals have lodged complaints with the Parliamentary Ombudsman over the treatment meted out to asylum seekers at the Kangasvuori reception centre in Jyväskylä. The complaints claim the facility run by the Finnish Red Cross, SPR, has infringed on occupants’ rights. The SPR has refuted the allegations.
The office of the Parliamentary Ombudsman has confirmed receiving complaints charging that a Jyväskylä asylum seeker reception centre has been violating residents’ fundamental rights by actions such as refusing required medical care. The complaints describe the atmosphere at the Finnish Red Cross-run Kangasvuori reception centre as shuttered and “prison-like”.
The grievances also refer to several instances in which occupants felt that they had not been provided with adequate care for conditions such as mental health problems, chronic illnesses or dental care issues.
Complaint a year-long process
The complaint was filed by six private individuals from central Finland, some of whom have a history of volunteer work.
The complainants are calling for an independent inquiry into the state of affairs at the reception centre. However they said that they are not aware of similar problems at other local reception centres.
“There have been problems with health care, and apparently some sort of violence, nighttime raids and police intervention. The asylum seekers don’t feel safe,” said one of the centre’s critics, Jyväskylä’s Left Alliance city councillor Irma Hirsjärvi.
According to Hirsjärvi the complaint was based on accounts provided by asylum seekers, as well as employees and volunteers working at the facility.
Yle interviewed one resident who had been granted asylum. He claimed to have gone without required medical treatment during his stay at the centre. He added that the atmosphere had been tense.
“There are people whose behavior is inappropriate. They only give us instructions, nothing else. Some of them [deliberately] try to provoke us,” the young man said.
Hirsjärvi said she hopes the allegations will be thoroughly investigated.
“The complaint has been the result of a process lasting nearly one year, during which time there were first discussions with Kangasvuori, the Finnish Immigration Service and even within the Finnish Red Cross. Some efforts have been made to remedy the situation, but in some fundamental respects it is still the same,” the councilor noted.
SPR dismisses allegations
The management of the Kangasvuori reception centre and SPR’s western Finland chapter have refuted the claims presented in the complaint. The reception centre would only respond to Yle via email.
Reception centre director Matti Hautala said that the relationship between his staff and the centre’s residents is constructive and professional, and he added that issues such as health care services have not been a problem. Hautala said that police had been summoned to the centre primarily to deal with tensions arising from residents’ use of alcohol.
The Finnish Immigration Service has called on the Kangasvuori reception centre to respond to two of the complaints. It has also conducted routine inspections of the facility and has found that it operates by the book.
