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Finland to make room for potential Syrian refugees

20 September 2013 21:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Finland decided on Friday to make more rooms to take in potential incoming Syrian refugees, as the U.S. carries on with its limited attack threat against Syria, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The interior ministry suggested that 200 places out of the quota of 750 should be allocated to Syrian refugees, as the government decided to enlarge the designated space for a total of 500, the government said in a press release.

"Although Finland faces its own economic difficulties, we must be ready to help those in the middle of an extreme human suffering," says Interior Minister Paivi Rasanen, referring to the continuous national recession and reduced state budget.

The 300 more refugees will cost roughly 1.5 million euros in additional budget for 2014, and around 2.8 million for the period from 2015 to 2017, according to the press release.

UN refugee agency UNCHR said over 2 million Syrians have fled the war-torn country in the past two and half years, and the number is expected to increase.