The Finnish Ministry of Internal Affairs will increase payments 25 times to persons who, having been refused protection in the country, agree to voluntarily return to their homeland, reads a message published on the ministry’s website, Report informs.

Under the new decree, the assistance for voluntary return will be 5,000 euros if the asylum seeker applies for the assistance within 30 days of the notification of the first negative asylum decision or the withdrawal of the application. If the application for the assistance is submitted after 30 days, the amount will be reduced to 2,000 euros. The applicant may only receive the higher amount once.

The new decree will simplify the system of assistance for voluntary return. The annex to the previous decree set out four groups of countries according to which assistance was granted.

The new decree will abolish these groups so that everyone receives the same assistance regardless of their country.

The decree will enter into force on January 1, 2024.