Having lived in Finland on and off for 30 years, I have come to some explanations why some Finns feel so strongly about immigration. I could give you the usual explanations: Finland has had few immigrants, the climate, difficult language, the culture, lack of jobs etc… These are the most common explanations that make us…
Tag: Immigration policy
When in Finland do as the Finns do…
I read an interesting post in Svenskfinland titled, “When in Rome, do as the Romans,” and it set me thinking. The post continues: “…in other words, that integration should mean that migrants to Finland so quickly as possibly forget their own background and take on entirely a Finnish lifestyle – essentially abandoning or replacing their…
Towards an effective immigration policy in Finland
It is very easy to complain about why Finland should be reticent or more open about foreigners moving to the country to plug the ever-growing labor shortage and arrest the aging process of the Finnish population. If I could lay the foundations of Finland’s new immigrant policy, I’d make the following recommendations: 1) Decide once…
Finnish immigration policy is lost in time
Every country has a sensitive nerve. Find and touch it and you will hear pain – or outrage. In the US it is Washington’s unilateral approach to foreign policy, accepting that it was a crime against humanity to drop two atom bombs on Japan, in Spain it is the pillaging of Latin America from the…
In memory of Eila Kännö
For those of you who had the opportunity to move to Finland in the 1970s or early 1980s, will certainly remember Eila Kännö, the head of the then-Aliens’ Office. Has anyone counted how many times the name of the immigration office has changed since the 1970s? Ihave lost track.