Submitting the refugee integration programme and the reception agreement concluded with the ELY Centre to the council for decision during 2021

Council initiative to bring the refugee integration programme and the reception agreement made with the ELY Centre to the council for decision during 2021.

The municipal integration programme was approved by the municipal council on 13 June 2016. At its meeting on 13 November 2017, the municipal council decided that Tuusula would enter into an agreement with the Uusimaa Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, valid until further notice, on the reception of persons receiving international protection, starting on 1 January 2018. At that time, it was decided that 15–20 persons would be received annually.

The municipality’s annual refugee quota in the integration programme for 2021–2022 is 20–30 quota refugees or asylum seekers who have been granted a residence permit each year. The ELY Centre and the municipality jointly assess the allocation each year in accordance with the prevailing situation and needs. The integration programme is updated in accordance with the Integration Act during each council term. Due to the postponement of the municipal elections, the new council will not begin its work until autumn 2021. The notice period for terminating the agreement concluded with the ELY Centre is 12 months. It is therefore essential to decide at the beginning of the new council term whether to terminate the agreement altogether or to reduce the number of quota refugees received each year. Significantly more resources have been invested in immigration services than in other employment services.

Human resources of the immigration team: 1 full-time immigration coordinator, 1 permanent refugee counsellor, 1 fixed-term refugee counsellor and a permanent, full-time social worker employed by the Keusote municipal consortium. In addition, the immigration team occasionally employs people in compulsory employment and wage-subsidised employment.

At the end of January 2021, there were 1,969 unemployed persons in Tuusula, which is 774 more than at the same time in 2020 (1,195 in 2020). The unemployment rate was 10.0% of the labour force.

There were 527 long-term unemployed people, 206 of whom were under 25 years of age. Long-term unemployment and youth unemployment play a significant role in municipal finances. The new council should seriously consider whether to direct the resources of employment services towards employing 200 young people and over 500 long-term unemployed people rather than providing integration services for 15-30 refugees.

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