ABSTRACT
Reception centres are the primary places in which asylum seekers live in Finland. Centres are located across the country, from Helsinki, the capital of Finland, on the south coast, to the city of Rovaniemi in the north. This chapter is based on an empirical study of asylum seekers’ living conditions in Finnish reception centres. The main finding is that the interviewed asylum seekers experienced their time living in the Finnish reception centre as passive waiting in an anomie-like situation. At the reception centre, people are not living on top of a hill where they can see the valley below; rather, they are living on top of nothing but the abyss. It seems as if the asylum seeker has arrived from nowhere and is nowhere. Based on their experiences and insights, we offer concrete ideas on how life in the centres could be improved to create a more inclusive and hospitable atmosphere.
