It’s a good matter that government plans to tighten family reunification guidelines have met a stormy reception. We all know that the Perussuomalasiet (PS)*, who base their popularity on anti-immigration rhetoric, are spearheading new tighter guidelines based on the Danish model that aims to make family reunification much harder.
Denmark is the most hostile country towards migrants in the Nordic region and where the PS is a close ideological ally of the Islamophobic Danish People’s Party.
New family reunification guidelines will end up hurting Finland more than benefiting it because it will be another sign that we are an unfriendly country for immigrants. Not only will asylum seekers stay clear of Finland but skilled labor and foreign investors.
When speaking of family reunification why hasn’t the media used the Finns, who emigrated to North America before World War II, as a positive example of the latter? When a Finn moved to the New World he not only brought his wife and kids but his relatives, neighbors and friends as well.
Why did they do this?
Because it was important for them to shed roots in their new homeland. It was easier with the help of the family and friends.
It’s clear that parties like the PS, Center Party and NCP don’t want immigrants to shed too strong roots in Finland. The tightening of family reunification guidelines is clear proof of the latter.
