As apparently the political climate gets tenser in Finland due to the recessions, a good example of another red herring threat caused by immigration is a news story by YLE on Wednesday that claims that 3,200 foreign nationals were not allowed to enter Finland illegally, according to the Finnish Border Guard.
Author: Migrant Tales
Peter Kivisto’s definition of multiculturalism
Here is a definition by Peter Kivisto of multiculturalism as a social policy:
HS Suomen Gallup: 60% feel that Finland should not take more immigrants
A poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest-circulation daily, and conducted by Suomen Gallup showed that close to 60% of Finns now feel that the country should not increase the number of immigrants. The corresponding percentage three years ago was 36%.
Racism debate: Finland today – United States in the 1970s
Some Finns that claim today that they are automatically labelled racists if they speak out against immigration resembles very much the atmosphere in the United States in the early 1970s, when blacks started to win legal as well as social rights after the civil rights movement.
Xenophobic death threats to the Finnish government
The most recent death threats to some members of Finland’s government reported by Nelonen television by some fanatics is in some cases the doing of the politicians, who have not spoken out strongly enough against racism but have by and large preferred to remain silent on the matter.
Immigration to Finland and the cold war
While history provides a good answer why Finland as a nation has shown a clear manifest unease of foreigners and outside investment, it still does not provide us with an all-encompassing answer as to why. Are we still resentful of newcomers because our language rights were granted in 1862? Is it due to the Russification period, when the Russian Empire attempted to impose the Russian language and culture on us at the cost of our precious autonomy?
Multiculturalism in Canada and Australia
In order to clear up matters, I would like to post what multiculturalism as a social policy is in Canada and Australia. Even though Finland is not officially a multicultural country, its constitution and laws are encourage basically the same values albeit not so passionately. In the Finnish Constitution and Equality Act there is not one mention of the words “multicultural society.”
What Finland’s immigration policy lacks
If we look at the dismal amount of immigrants and refugees as well as high unemployment one can reach only one conclusion: a policy that has failed miserably. Certainly progress has been made: the number of immigrants has risen albeit slowly to 143,256 today from 12,670 in 1981 while unemployment has come down officially from 53% in 1994 to over 20%.
The role of the Finnish social welfare state and newcomers
It is surprising that one can hear these days in private conversation from some teachers and people working with immigrants and refugees that some national groups should never be brought to this country because they will never adapt to our way of life. “Why do they continue to bring them here?” some say.
A shameful view of Finland’s refugee policy during the cold war
In this week’s Apu magazine (issue 6/2010) there is a feature authored by me on a former Soviet citizen who was caught in 1974 by Finnish border guards and whisked back to the USSR without granting him the right to political asylum. You can read about it in Apu magazine or get some background information in this blog on how Finland’s special relationship with the USSR would not tolerate Soviet refugees.