Finland's Prime Minister Juha Sipila offers his 2nd home to refugees

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Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said he would provide his own help
Sipila has a second house near Helsinki as well as a government residence
The Finnish Prime Minister suggested the idea as the house is rarely used
The first refugees are earmarked to stay at Sipila's house from early 2016

Published: 07:22 EST, 6 September 2015 | Updated: 14:59 EST, 6 September 2015

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Finland's Prime Minister, Juha Sipila, has said he would make his home in the north of the country available to refugees.

Mr Sipila, who used to work as a telecoms executive, proposed the idea as other European leaders agree policies to cope with a huge influx of migrants, many fleeing war in Syria.

The millionaire Prime Minister, who has another house near the capital Helsinki as well as a government residence, said the building in Kempele was little used at the moment.

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Finland's millionaire prime minister, Juha Sipila, said on Saturday he would make his home in the north of the country available to refugees

The country home of Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila situated in the town of Kempele, which has a small population of 17, 000 people

'We should all take a look in the mirror and ask how we can help,' he said in an interview with national broadcaster YLE.

The first refugees are expected to start staying at Sipila's country home from the start of 2016.

Mr Sipila's comments come after a widespread public outcry over the opening of refugee reception centres in towns around the sparsely populated Nordic country.

Mass immigration is not too common for Finland and it appears the issue is proving a real challenge for the centre-right government.

The Finnish government has now doubled its estimate for the number of asylum seekers in the country this year to up to 30,000, compared with just 3,600 last year

Sipila also told YLE an European Union plan to distribute 120,000 refugees arriving in Greece, Italy and Hungary to countries around the EU should be voluntary and hoped Finland would follow their example

Sipila, who has another house near the capital Helsinki as well as a government residence, said the building in Kempele was little used at the moment

Deep spending cuts and rising unemployment has left the recession-hit country struggling to find stability.

The government on Friday doubled its estimate for the number of asylum seekers in the country this year to up to 30,000, compared with just 3,600 last year.

Sipila also told YLE an European Union plan to distribute 120,000 refugees arriving in Greece, Italy and Hungary to countries around the EU should be voluntary, and hoped Finland could set an example.

The news comes as the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration confirmed on Friday that 2,313 people had arrived in August.

The Scandinavian country has seen double the number of refugees seeking asylum in the country in comparison to the same time last year.

16,000 migrants are expected to arrive in 2015, up from a previous prediction of 11,000.

August normally sees the highest inflow of people but that may not be the case this year, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said.

'It's not certain that the numbers will fall. It may well be that it rises,' she told a news conference.