Finnish PM Juha Sipila Offers His Home To Refugees To Do His Part, Finland's millionaire Prime Minister Juha Sipila is opening his home to refugees fleeing wartorn Syria.
Sipila told the national broadcaster YLE that his private residence was going unused, and could be ready to house asylum seeks from the start of 2016.
"We should all look in the mirror and ask ourselves how we can help," he said. The house is in Kempele, in the north of the country. Sipila's family lives in another family home east of Helsinki, the capital, and Sipila also has access to an official government residence. Sipila was a wealthy telecommunications executive prior to his election.
He called on others in Finland to join him in opening their doors. Finland, a country with a similar population to New Zealand, now estimate there are 30,000 asylum seekers in the country, up from 3,600 last year. The large number of refugees is reportedly causing some problems for Sipila's centre-right government.
Sipila also told YLE an EU plan to distribute 120,000 refugees arriving in Greece, Italy, and Hungary among other member nations should be voluntary.
His comments come as other world leaders are being criticised for not doing enough to help Syrian refugees. Some in Britain have called for their PM David Cameron to open his 10-bedroom country retreat to asylum seekers, while New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has belatedly agreed to accept more of the burden.
After the calamity last week, Hungary has relaxed its attempts to stem the progress of refugees, allowing Austrian citizens to pick up refugees from train stations.
Germany, which provided refuge to over 100,000 migrants in August alone, seems set to take on more, with Chancellor Angela Merkel setting no numerical limit.
"As a strong, economically healthy country, we have the strength to do what is necessary," she said.
Sipila told the national broadcaster YLE that his private residence was going unused, and could be ready to house asylum seeks from the start of 2016.
"We should all look in the mirror and ask ourselves how we can help," he said. The house is in Kempele, in the north of the country. Sipila's family lives in another family home east of Helsinki, the capital, and Sipila also has access to an official government residence. Sipila was a wealthy telecommunications executive prior to his election.
He called on others in Finland to join him in opening their doors. Finland, a country with a similar population to New Zealand, now estimate there are 30,000 asylum seekers in the country, up from 3,600 last year. The large number of refugees is reportedly causing some problems for Sipila's centre-right government.
Sipila also told YLE an EU plan to distribute 120,000 refugees arriving in Greece, Italy, and Hungary among other member nations should be voluntary.
His comments come as other world leaders are being criticised for not doing enough to help Syrian refugees. Some in Britain have called for their PM David Cameron to open his 10-bedroom country retreat to asylum seekers, while New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has belatedly agreed to accept more of the burden.
After the calamity last week, Hungary has relaxed its attempts to stem the progress of refugees, allowing Austrian citizens to pick up refugees from train stations.
Germany, which provided refuge to over 100,000 migrants in August alone, seems set to take on more, with Chancellor Angela Merkel setting no numerical limit.
"As a strong, economically healthy country, we have the strength to do what is necessary," she said.
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