Finnish Refugee Council

 

The Finnish Refugee Council is an international specialist in refugee work. Its mission is to improve the basic rights of refugees, immigrants and returnees. The FRC is a politically and religiously non-aligned non-governmental organization that cooperates with the UNHCR.

The Refugee Council was established in 1965 at the initiative of minister Helvi Sipilä. Along the decades the Refugee Council has evolved from a small actor dedicated to raising funds for the UN Refugee Agency into an NGO with numerous projects of its own.

The Finnish Refugee Council does development cooperation especially in the field of adult education in refugee settlements and returnee communities. The FRC has development projects in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Uganda and preparations are underway for a project among Burmese refugees in Thailand.

In Finland, the Finnish Refugee Council works with refugees and immigrants, improving their status and participation in Finnish society via social work. The FRC has offices and projects in the Helsinki, Turku and Tampere regions.

The Refugee Council also distributes information about international refugee policy and refugee work. It publishes a quarter-yearly magazine about issues related to immigration, as well as other publications.  The central aim is to raise conversation about refugees and diversity and correct misunderstandings related to these issues.

Fund raising with the support of private and organizational donors remains the basic prerequisite for the work of the Finnish Refugee Council.The funds are used in the projects of the FRC. 

The Finnish Refugee Council has 20 affiliated organizations and about 560 members. Via the work of organizations affiliated to the FRC, tens of thousands of people are involved in the activities of FRC.