fundamental and human rights �.� national preventive mechanism against torture Positive observations and good practices Everyone had the opportunity to use the prison shop. Even prisoners in solitary confinement were given the opportunity to go shopping once a week. No-one was required to make their purchases by filling in an order coupon (4653/2018). In connection with a visit to Vantaa Prison in late 2017, the Deputy-Ombudsman was shown a picture book titled “Welcome to Vantaa Prison”, drawn up for visitors and especially children. From the book, visitors got a better idea of the conditions in which their family members were imprisoned, which helps to alleviate their concerns about the situations of their loved ones. The Deputy-Ombudsman commended the picture book idea highly and hoped that this initiative would be adopted in all prisons (6206/2017). Vantaa Prison had also drawn up a cookbook, which instructs the prisoners in cooking with the products available in the prison shop. Several prisoners participated in writing the book, and all recipes were tested by the head cook. Cooking is a life management skill. The Deputy-Ombudsman found the guide to be a highly commendable idea and hoped that other prisons would also introduce the guide or draw up similar guides of their own (6206/2017). 3.5.12 ALIEN AFFAIRS There were approximately 10,700 asylum seekers in Finland at the end of 2018, the majority of them housed in 43 reception centres. In addition to the reception centres, there were six units for children who had entered the country alone. Some asylum seekers are also housed in private accommodations. Under section 121 of the Aliens Act, an asylum seeker may be held in detention for reasons such as establishing his or her identity or enforcing a decision on removing him or her from the country. There are two detention units for foreign nationals in Finland, one in Joutseno and one in Metsälä, Helsinki. Both currently operate under 92 the Finnish Immigration Service, as the Metsälä detention unit was transferred from the City of Helsinki to the Finnish Immigration Service on 1 January 2018. The Joutseno detention unit has 68 places and the Metsälä unit 40 places. Some residents in reception centres and detention units may be victims of human trafficking, and recognising such residents is a challenge. A system of assistance for victims of human trafficking operates in connection with Joutseno Reception Centre. According to a release published by the Finnish Immigration Service, 163 new clients were registered in the assistance system in 2018, and 52 of them were thought to be victims of abuse pointing to human trafficking in Finland. In total, the assistance system had 455 clients at the end of 2018. The Ombudsman does not oversee return flights in its role as the NPM, although this would fall under its jurisdiction. This is because the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman has been assigned the special duty of overseeing the removal of foreign nationals from the country. However, the Ombudsman has received complaints, such as the conduct of the police, regarding issues related to return flights for asylum seekers. The immigration police of Helsinki Police Department was the subject of an inspection in the reporting year (1658/2018). Until now, inspections to reception centres have been made under the jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. An example would be the unannounced inspection of Lahti Reception Centre, an enhanced support unit maintained by the Finnish Red Cross with 20 places. The unit is intended for adult asylum seekers suffering from mental health or substance abuse problems. The aim is to make regular visits to both detention units. The NPM visited the Metsälä Detention Unit in December 2017 (6966/2017) and the Joutseno Detention Unit in November 2018 (5145/2018). The following opinions and recommendations concern the Joutseno Detention Unit.