Bomb attack shocks residents in reception centre in Southwestern Finland

Alert DateJune 15, 2009 Country: Finland Address: Suomusjärvi General Type: Racist violence Racism and discrimination phenomena: Anti-migrant/xenophobia
Groups affected / Interested in: Asylum seekers Key socio-economic/institutional areas: Policing - law enforcement, Housing, Health and social protection
Victims Data
Victims Nationality/Ethnic Origin N/A
Victims Gender N/A
Victims Age N/A
Victims Number N/A
Fatalities - deaths N/A
Perpetrators Data
Perpetrators Nationality/Ethnic Origin N/A
Perpetrator Gender N/A
Perpetrator Age N/A
Perpetrators Number N/A
Extremist/Organised Group Violence No

An explosion occurred in the yard of the Finnish Red Cross reception centre in Suomusjärvi in Southwestern Finland at 3.00 a.m. on 15.6.2009. Nobody was injured in the explosion, but the blast caused some damage to the property. Several windows were shattered and the roof of a nearby garden shelter was ripped off.

A white car, apparently rather old, was seen at the scene only a couple of minutes prior to the blast. An image of the vehicle was recorded by a surveillance camera. Deputy Manager Päivi Nikkola reports that the residents were shocked at the attack, and they are being given crisis assistance to help them to unload their feelings about the incident.

”Such an incident is bound to upset the residents, particularly when many of them come from countries where such violent events can occur frequently”, Nikkola notes.

The Red Cross reception centre has a total of 21 asylum-seekers, coming for example from Afghanistan and Somalia. Most of them are adults, but some teenagers are also resident in the centre.

According to the police, they cannot gauge yet whether or not the act was racist-motivated, even though it was the first assumption. There is no information about the perpetrator or perpetrators. All they have is a CCTV photo of a white two-door passenger saloon with black rubber trim panels.

The police are investigating the incident as sabotage. When the explosion occurred, the reception centre’s night duty officer was present, but from now on the security measures will be stepped up. In the future, a guard from a security company will always be present at the reception centre.

The building housing the reception centre was previously known as Motel Syvälampi, which was notorious as a venue for large-scale prostitution. The motel was turned into a Red Cross reception centre early in 2009.
 

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