If there is a report, a story or some tale that sounds fishy it may suggest a red herring. One of these types of stories that should have received more scrutiny from the media was a report published Thursday by Perussuomalaiset (PS)* thinktank Suomen Perusta, which attempted to place a price tag on immigration.
There are a lot of questions that the 75-page report raises concerning methodology and why the study only mentions refugee, or quota refugee to be exact, once and labels all national groups as immigrants.
The Suomen Perusta report defines “immigrant” as any person who was born abroad but lives in Finland. Is this the definition that YLE uses in its story? We don’t know because YLE doesn’t tell us.
Does YLE define immigrant in the same way as the UN? The UN defines an immigrant as any person living in a country for over a year irrespective of the reason why he or she moved to another country.
An important question: Why does the PS use the term immigrant and only mentions refugee once? Certainly most Somalis that live in Finland came here seeking asylum. Even so, they are placed in the same group of “immigrants” with Germans, who are EU nationals.
True, the definition of immigrant could generally apply to Somalis but I think it is misleading especially in a study sponsored by an anti-immigration party like the PS.
Continue reading “When the term immigrant becomes a red herring”
