How is it possible that a fast-track hiring scheme for former asylum seekers at Barona, an employment agency that owns Luona, a private subsidiary that manages eight asylum reception centers in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, and Hyvinkää, gets a lot of attention in Helsingin Sanomat?
How come a company that has come under media scrutiny for treating asylum seekers “like livestock” is now helping people to become model tax-paying members of society?
Some important questions that the Helsingin Sanomat article forgets to ask are how many, apart from the three Eritreans, were hired as a result of the fast-track scheme, and how much money will it bring to Barona coffers through language courses, training, renting apartments owned by the company as well as from commission paid by prospective employers. Barona is an employment agency.
From what Migrant Tales understands, the success of the fast-track employment scheme is modest to say the least. Only a minuscule amount of the 3,000 asylum seekers at Luona’s reception centers have found work under this system.
One former asylum seekers stated that he did not know of anyone other than the three Eritreans, who are on a 45-day trial period at a logistic company, to have been hired.
Naturally another question that arises is if these asylum seekers who get a residence permit and get employed don’t become victims of abuse and are paid less than Finns doing the same work. Are they told about their rights and about joining a trade union?
What about zero-hour contracts?
Some asylum seekers claim that the were working at Luona cleaning and in the kitchen for twelve hours a day.
The monthly salary of the Eritreans at the logistics company is believed to be 1,600 euros.
All these questions raise another important one: Is the Helsingin Sanomat a publicity stunt to improve the tarnished image of the company and a way to make a jucier profit off people who are vulenerable and cannot defend themselves adequately?
Category: Enrique Tessieri