Riihimäki works for the Ukrainians

Ehompi is a story series in which the mayor Jouni Eho talks about his everyday life, work and Riihimäki.

A year ago in the spring, Finnish cities and municipalities got to feel the effects of the Russian war of aggression concretely, when Ukrainians fleeing the war began to seek asylum all over Europe. I also saw this in Finland and Riihimäki. The reception center located in Riihimäki currently accommodates around 700 Ukrainians who fled the war. Compared to the city's population, the number of Ukrainians is large when compared to other cities in Finland.

Active integration work

The city has done active counseling and integration work. I have written to welcome the Ukrainians to Riihimäki. We have organized information events for Ukrainians, and the city's management team has followed the development of the situation and prepared to organize the city's service production, taking into account Ukrainian children and young people, for example, in early childhood education and basic education.

Immigration coordinator Juha Hiltunen and I also went on MTV3's Huomenta Suomi morning broadcast to talk about the importance of Ukrainians to the city of Riihimäki. I am happy that according to our survey, three quarters of Ukrainians staying in Riihimäki are willing to make Riihimäki their home municipality. The survey was conducted in February.

The city cooperates for the living conditions of Ukrainians

In recent days, the media and people from Riihimäki have been talking about the living conditions of Ukrainians in the reception center in Riihimäki. I want to open up the situation, because there have been many different interpretations of the situation. The spectrum of different interpretations is no wonder, because there are several parties in the matter and it can be difficult to grasp the overall picture.

Since the city has a strong will to help Ukrainians settle in Riihimäki, I was worried about the claim that some Ukrainians have a pest problem in their apartment, which has not been responded to.

There are many sides to this issue. The reception center is maintained by Kotokunta Oy on behalf of the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri). The reception center has rented most of the apartments from Kotikulma Oy, a subsidiary of the city of Riihimäki.

I immediately discussed the claim with the CEO of Kotikulma Oy. It turned out that Kotikulma had contacted pest control professionals during the same day when the observation of pests in the apartment rented by the reception center came to Kotikulma's attention. Pest control measures were started on the same day. Residents were instructed in Ukrainian in the situation. The pest control professionals found a few pests on the site and the poisoning was started. During the visits, not as many pests have been found as the public has made it clear.

The city made a request to the environmental healthcare unit for inspections of the healthiness of living conditions. The first inspections will be done this week (week 12). This is a drastic measure, but all means are used for safe living conditions.

After the situation emerged, we contacted the Immigration Office and continued active discussions with the reception center so that all parties share the same picture of the situation, regardless of authority boundaries.

Three T's of action

The city will continue the conversation with all parties so that we can improve the living conditions of Ukrainians with the means that we need based on the facts. Our operation is based on the three T model, i.e.:

– Acquisition of information

– Information

- Leading with knowledge

I would like to thank all the volunteers, companies and communities who have actively worked for Ukrainians who fled the war. The city also continues its own integration work with a strong investment.

I am proud of Riihimäki, which has welcomed those who fled the war of aggression. Let's continue to make Riihimäki the best place to live in Finland for everyone!