60°11.619′, 024°57.409′ At foot of traffic sign, not wheelchair accessible
The Sturenkatu reception center had its own lgbtiq unit, which was closed on 30 September 2016. The unit was transferred to another reception center, which was closed down on 30 November 2016. Now lgbtiq asylum seekers are placed in the same centers with other asylum seekers. They suffer the most harassment from other asylum seekers who don’t respect lgbtiq rights. This is why most of the lgbtiq asylum seekers don’t support the current asylum seeker’s protest camp near the Helsinki Railway Station.
Plans have been made for a lgbtiq reception center in the city of Tampere. The asylum seekers we interviewed expressed doubts about the center. They feel that the reception center should be more like a safehouse, and its location kept secret from outsiders. Information on an asylum seeker’s sexual orientation could leak to the person’s country of origin through other refugees in Finland.