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Welcome… But Later: Finnish PM’s Offer to House Refugees Put on Hold

© AFP 2023 / TIMO HEIKKALA / LEHTIKUVAThe country home of Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila is pictured in Kempele, 500 kilometres north of the Finnish capital
The country home of Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila is pictured in Kempele, 500 kilometres north of the Finnish capital - Sputnik International
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Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said on Sunday that his plan to accommodate a refugee family in his country house was being put on hold over security concerns.

“I asked security experts to evaluate whether it would be safe for a family with children to move in. Due to the heavy publicity, the situation is such that it would not be reasonable right now," Sipila told public YLE radio, adding that he would support a refugee family in other ways until the situation changed.

He did not specify what kind of security issues he meant, but there have been reports about asylum seekers' accommodations being attacked in various parts of the country.

Refugees walk through the pouring rain from a public transport centre to the Lappia-building refugee reception centre in Tornio, northwestern Finland, on September 2015 - Sputnik International
Finland to Reject Up to 20,000 Refugees Who Sought Asylum in 2015
In his Sunday interview Sipila, a former telecoms executive, dismissed a suggestion that his offer had led to a notable increase in the number of refugees coming to Finland.

Last September, Juha Sipila stirred controversy when he said he would make his second home in northern Finland available to refugees from early 2016.

Local media then said that the house in the town of Kempele, could accommodate about 20 people and that this number could eventually be increased.

The Finnish Premier has another residence in Sipoo and also a state-owned apartment in Helsinki.

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