An unidentified man who was driving a dark-colored station wagon hot at the Rekola asylum reception center in Kouvola, located in southeastern Finland, according to YLE. It is the third time since the asylum reception center has been attacked. In 2015, a man attempted to burn the reception center.
The suspect was apprehended and given a one-year prison sentence.
The reception center has 130 resident asylum seekers at the reception center. Migrant Tales has received a short video of the damage that the shooting caused.
“Naturally the people were scared to leave the premises after what happened at 5 am,” a source said. “The police said that the person had shot with a rubber bullet.”
In 2015, a total of 47 attacks were registered against reception centers, according to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).
The FRA report states: “The attacks against reception centers included arson and intended arson, and are considered new forms of racist hate crime in Finland. Such incidents seem to have decreased in 2016, although figures for the complete year are not yet available.”