Help from the Assistance System
The Assistance system for victims of human trafficking can help victims of human trafficking, and their underage children who are in Finland. People who are witnesses to a human trafficking crime may also receive help, if they need it. All services are free and accepting them is voluntary.
You can contact the Assistance system by phone at +358 (0) 2954 63 177, by e-mail ihmiskauppa.auttamisjarjestelma@migri.fi or anonymously through a contact form.
All asisstance is organized based on an individual, professional evaluation of the need for assistance. Assistance may include the following:
- Advice and guidance – clients will receive guidance about their rights as victims of human trafficking, about a possible criminal process and, for example, matters relating to their residence status.
- Safe housing – depending on the client’s situation, he or she may be housed in a shelter, or the safety of their current home may be improved. The Assistance system works with the police to safeguard trafficking victims if there is a serious threat to their security.
- Health care – help for physical and mental health problems
- Social services – guidance and support for coping with daily life
- Reception allowance or social assistance – financial help for people with no income
- Statutory legal aid and legal advice – a victim of human trafficking will receive information about their rights and will be given help to find a legal aid counsel, if they need one. Trafficking victims, who are involved in a criminal investigation into trafficking, may be offered a free legal aid counsel, starting from the pre-trial investigation.
- Support person – a victim may be provided a support person to help them during the criminal process, if they need one.
- Interpreting and translating – a client will be given help in the language they understand.
If the client is a foreign national, they also have the right to access the following services:
- Voluntary assisted return – if they want support for returning to their home country or to another country where they can stay legally
- Support for applying for a residence permit – the Assistance system guides and helps you with questions related to your stay. Trafficking victims can apply for a residence permit, for example because they have fallen victim to human trafficking. Please note that the Assistance system does not make decisions on whether a client will receive a residence permit or not. The authorities that make residence permit and asylum decisions are the Immigration Unit and Asylum Unit of the Finnish Immigration Service.
Reflection period for victims who are in Finland without legal residence
If trafficking victims are staying in Finland illegally, the Assistance system can offer them a reflection period. During the reflection period the victim can recover from their experiences and decide whether they want to cooperate with the police to solve the crimes committed against them. The reflection period can last up to six months. During that time the victim will be staying in Finland legally. Authorities are not allowed to remove the victim from the country during the reflection period.
Confidentiality and reporting a crime
The Assistance system will keep all information about the client secret. We will not tell any information about a person seeking or receiving help to people who are not supposed to know about it. For example, the Assistance system will not inform the client’s employer or family members, or the authorities in their native country (applies to foreign nationals).
The Assistance system has no obligation to inform the police about its customers, and clients do not have to report the trafficking crime to the police in order to receive assistance. The Assistance system will, however, support the client when and if they decide to report the offences that have been committed against them. If doing this causes client to be under threat, they will be protected.
The client will get help with reporting the offences that have been committed against them. We will help the client to communicate with the police and other authorities. The Assistance system will also offer its clients help and security throughout the process – and afterwards, if they need it. As part of the criminal process, a victim can claim compensation, for example for unpaid wages or the suffering they have experienced.
You can find more about how the Assistance System processes clients’ personal data here.
What if the victim has committed a crime?
Please note: If the victim has, or believes that they may have committed a crime, please, notice that under Finnish law, people should not be punished for crimes, if they have been pressured to commit the crimes without a chance to say no. (Criminal Code of Finland, chapter 4, section 5). The principle of non-punishment applies to victims of human trafficking and means that victims should not be punished for crimes they were coerced to commit as a part of a human trafficking situation.
Clients have a right not to incriminate themselves. The Assistance system will not inform the police of any information victims give us regarding crimes they may have committed, if they don’t wish to report them.
However, there can be exceptions if the crimes were committed against a child or if the acts form an acute threat to the life, health or safety of another person or national security.
Please note: In case of a serious threat at life, health or freedom targeted at a client, an assistance worker, or another victim of trafficking, the Assistance system must inform the police of the serious threat. The police is responsible for protecting persons from such threat and for preventing a threatening act.