Luona Oy, a private company that provides reception centres for asylum seekers, made a profit of over €3 million in 2016.
Sampo Terho, the Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sports, is astonished by the profits made by Luona Oy, a private company that runs asylum seeker reception centres. This comes after Suomen Kuvalehti announced on its website that Luona made a profit of nearly €3.2 million in 2016.
Terho spoke out against "the idea of a migration crisis and national emergency being used for economic gains."
He continued: “The asylum system must also be fair to the Finnish taxpayer and it is imperative that humanitarian asylum should not be used to make millions in profit. In the interest of the public, the reception centres cannot be compromised.”
According to Terho, it is clear that asylum seekers must be provided with adequate accommodation. However, he went on to state that handing over an open cheque from Finnish taxpayers to companies like Luona was a mistake that won’t be repeated in the future.
Reception services are available to purchase from the Finnish Immigration Service, which operates under the Ministry of the Interior. Luona Oy is the largest single supplier of these services, as is shown in the State Procurement List. In 2017 alone, Luona Oy has supplied nearly €20 million worth of reception centres. The second major supplier is the Red Cross, which is divided into different regional organisations that have altogether spent slightly under €30 million on reception centres during 2017.
