In March, more than 800 applications for asylum or temporary protection have been submitted to Western Uusimaa Police Department. Of the applicants, the majority are adult women and children under 18 years of age.
In Western Uusimaa, services for persons applying for asylum or temporary protection are mostly provided by the Espoo Main Police Station and the Lohja and Raasepori police stations. The services have been centralised for practical reasons: at these police stations, the police can process the customer’s application for asylum or temporary protection from beginning to end, so that the customer need not transfer from one police station to another.
The majority of Ukrainians having used police services in the area of Western Uusimaa Police Department have arrived on their own, accompanied by family members, or in a small group. In addition, some larger groups have been brought to the police stations by bus, for example.
“In order to be able to provide as fluent service as possible for everyone arriving in a large group, we would appreciate receiving a notification of the group’s arrival at least a few working days in advance. The person transporting the group or otherwise involved in helping them could contact our unit for foreign affairs via the police switchboard,” says Superintendent Aapo Isoaho.
The police department has made various arrangements, including shift changes, to keep the time required for queueing and processing of applications at a moderate level. In most cases, customers have received service within a reasonable time, but on busy days, the queueing time in particular at Espoo Main Police Station can be several hours.
“So far, the number of customers at our stations has been highest on weekdays, particularly in the mornings,” Isoaho says.
