Neighbours not panicked by prospect of refugee reception centre

Some concern voiced by Uudenmaankatu residents

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Irene Kristiansen steps out of the doorway of Uudenmaankatu 26. Her building is next door to Marttahotelli, a disused hotel that could be converted into a refugee reception centre.
      “I am afraid that the asylum seekers will cause problems and unrest here, because they have no money”, says Kristiansen, who has lived in the neighbourhood for 30 years.
      “In other respects, I am a warm defender of immigrants, but do refugees have to be placed right here in the centre?” Kristiansen asks.
     
In the same building, Teija Jones says that friends had told her about the city’s plans to open up a refugee centre nearby.
      “They asked me if I was not worried that asylum seekers were to be housed next door. I don’t see things that way. If they make some noise, it probably will not be any more than from remodelling taking place on the other side of the wall.”
      “And they have to live someplace”, Jones notes.
     
Upstairs neighbour Hannes Tuomi is more reticent.
      “My attitude is perhaps negative. Maybe they will bring unrest to the area”, he says, through a crack in his door.
      Esko Kettunen from nearby Tarkkampujankatu, is exercising to help his knee recover after recent surgery. He is not worried about the prospect of asylum seekers in his neighbourhood.
      “I think that Marttahotelli is a good option. We can’t send people who don’t speak the language into some snowbank in Kajaani”, says Kettunen.
     
At a shop selling military clothing and sportswear, Henri Eerola does not expect that the reception centre will affect his business in any way.
      “We have all kinds of extreme types as customers, and I don’t think that the people there would be any worse.”
      “But why do they have to be placed in the centre? Many local people here are losing sleep because of it”, Eerola adds.
      Timo Mehtonen, who works at the nearby Finnish Customs Administration, takes a positive view of the reception centre.
      “The centre is a good place. Services and officials are nearby. We simply need to accept the fact that there are people on the streets of Helsinki of different backgrounds.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Helsinki ready to expand reception facilities for asylum seekers (27.1.2008)
  Two Helsinki hotels to be converted into refugee reception centres (23.1.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat