Tag: social exclusion

Let’s challenge Finland’s disgraceful family reunification obstacles

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrants’ Rights Network (MRN) of Britain shows how organizations can do valuable work in lobbying for change against unfair family reunification laws (see Migrant Tales 28.6.13). Politicians, who have tightened such laws, are short-sighted and have created a tragedy for those who live separated from their loved ones. 

The same suffering that separated families suffer in Finland are similar to the tragedy they are going through in other European countries like Britain.

“During the year since the Government announced its changes to the family migration rules, MRN has heard from hundreds of families who have been kept apart from one another – couples split across continents, young children separated from parents, elderly relatives kept apart from relatives who wish to care for them in the UK,” writes MRN.

Tighter family reunification requirements came in force in 2011. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that one of the main factors behind these changes was the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS) party’s growing popularity in the polls and its historic election victory in April 2011.

New rules that came in force in two years ago have made family reunification ever-complicated and costly. One big change in the rules is that family members must now apply in their home country or at the nearest Finnish embassy. As a general rule, the minimum that a three-member family must make monthly to bring their loved ones is 2,880 euros, according to the Refugee Advice Center.

Family reunification applications have plummeted as a result of tightened rules. In 2012, there were just over 500 applications compared with 1,900 in the previous year and 3,900 in 2010. All in all, there were 8,600 application in 2012. Finnish Immigration Service (FIS) reported earlier that at the end of 2011 there were a total of 6,100 family reunification application by Somalis alone. According to the Refugee Advice Center, only 329 family reunifications took place on average annually between 1999 and 2010.

How do the new rules make life ever-difficult for refugees and immigrants and how are they kept in limbo? The answer to that question is simple: How would it feel to live separated from your loved ones for years and with little hope that your family will ever be reunited in Finland?

Some of the problems of righter rules are highlighted on Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter: “Tightening the rules for family reunification would put the protection of the right to family life under severe risk. In response to the current political climate as it relates to refugees, the Finnish Refugee Advice Centre, the principal non-governmental organisation offering legal aid for refugees, has issued a statement on the risks of tightening the policy on family reunification in Finland.  Rules are already very strict, constituting an obstacle to refugee integration for those already settled in Finland, who continue to live in uncertainly regarding their families.”

While FIS claims lack of and to handle the backlog of thousands of applications, the real reasons are anti-immigration Christian Democrat Interior Minister PäiviRäsänen and unofficial efforts to stop as many Somalis as possible from moving to Finland.

Under Räsänen, Finland continues, despite obligations under international laws, to detain as a first resort children seeking asylum for long periods of time. The interior minister, whose tough stance on immigration and refugees is liked by the PS, has said publicly that  homosexuality is a sin.

Even if it may be in vogue in some circles to be against immigrants and cultural diversity in Finland, politicians, the media and public must look further ahead in the future. Do we want to assist in destroying and fragmenting the lives of thousands of people who are already traumatized by war and displacement?

That is exactly what we are doing as long as we continue on the present path.

A good start would, however, be to challenge the unfair family reunification rules.

The example of the fine work by the Migrants’ Rights Network would help us draft a plan in Finland.

About half of the PS MPs want to deny Finland’s cultural diversity

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Roughly half of the 39 Perussuomalaiset (PS) MPs have signed a draft law that would in effect deny Finland’s ever-growing cultural diversity in the youth law. If PS MP Olli Immonen had his way together with twenty other PS MPs, Finland would go into denial mode and conveniently brush its immigrants and visible minorities under the rug.

Kuvankaappaus 2013-6-24 kello 17.28.42

Social Democratic Party youth wing chairman, Joona Räsänen, criticized Immonen’s draft law. He said that the PS doesn’t want Finland’s youth to think that multiculturalism and diversity in our society are good matters.  Read full story (in Finnish) here.

It’s not first that Immonen, who is chairman of the far right Suomen Sisu association, has drafted anti-immigration laws.

PS MP Immonen claims on his Facebook wall that in the present youth law multiculturalism is considered a good matter. “In my opinion, it shouldn’t be the law that should determine whether multiculturalism is a good matter or not. Let everyone determine it for themselves.”

With MPs like these and many others, it’s not difficult to spot the red herrings in their arguments. In simple English, Immonen is saying that Finland should not become culturally diverse and that we should do everything possible to prevent people who are different from us from moving to this country.

How many more of these laws, which have no chance in passing in parliament, will have to be drafted before we understand that Finland’s third largest party in parliament is not only racist but would destroy this country?

Twenty-one PS MPs have signed the draft bill. Some of these are Jussi Halla-aho, Jussi Niinistö, Juho Eerola, James Hirvisaari, Vesa-Matti Saarakkala, Ritva Elomaa, Reijo Tossavainan, Teuvo Hakkarainen and others.

 

 

 

 

Zuzeeko’s blog: Finland – Discrimination accounts for high Somali unemployment

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Zuzeeko Tegha Abeng

Somalis are among the largest groups of immigrants in Finland. They are also among the largest unemployed group of immigrants in the country. Many people [mistakenly] think that the high rate of unemployment among Somalis is because they are not willing to work. This, in my view, is not the case.

Kuvankaappaus 2013-6-24 kello 15.04.55Read original posting here.

Somalians in Finland have been stereotyped as lazy and depend on social welfare, despite numerous news reports that of all immigrants in Finland, Somalis (including those with language skills and a profession) find it most difficult to find work.

During the Midsummer weekend, I had a discussion with a couple of people about the employment situation of Somalis in Finland. The majority of those involved in the discussion promulgated the view that most people of Somali origin are unemployed because of lack of education, “laziness” and dependence on KELA, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland.

In my opinion, the assertion is incorrect, stereotypical and sheds light on widespread prejudice and negative attitudes towards Somalis in Finland.

According to a report by Yle, the highest rates of immigrant unemployment in 2010 were among Somalis, Iraqis and Afghans who arrived Finland as refugees. The rate of unemployment for the three nationalities  stood at over 50%.

The Director of Immigration Affairs for the City of Helsinki pointed out in the Yle report that “discrimination is clearly the big reason” for the high rate of unemployment among Somalis. According to the director, “of those who have been here 15 to 20 years, half have completed degrees in Finland”.

The director’s statement debunks the assertion that Somalis in Finland are unemployment because they are uneducated, lazy and enjoy being dependent on KELA.

In my view, employer discrimination and negative attitudes towards Somalis account for the high rate of unemployment among Finland’s largest group of Africans.

According to Helsingin Sanomat, one reason for the high rate of unemployment among immigrants in Finland is the fact that Finnish employers regard Finnish education and Finnish work experience as better than foreign equivalents. But immigrants from Somalia experience difficulties finding work, despite the fact that many of them have Finnish education. According to researcher Tuula Joronen, negative attitudes and impressions account for the phenomenon.

As high as 58% of Somali immigrants in Finland were unemployed at the end of 2003. [Source] The unemployment rate stood at 43.3% in 2008. [Source]

In 2010 and 2011, the risk of unemployment was highest among Somali speakers than among any other language group in Finland – according to Statistics Finland. Followed by high risk among Arabic, Persian and Kurdish speakers.

A poll revealed that Somalis and Muslims are among the groups most affected by racism and intolerance in Finland.

It is plausible to conclude from the aforementioned that prejudice, negative attitudes and employer discrimination against Somalis partly account for the high rate of unemployment in the Somali community. Many Somalis have learnt Finnish language and many have Finnish degrees and training. They should be employed without discrimination.

There was a total of 7,468 Somalians in Finland in 2012.

Read original blog entry here.

This piece was reprinted by Migrant Tales with permission.

 

Ariela Patterson: The right to be me on my terms

Posted on by Migrant Tales

One of the biggest challenges facing Finland in the new century is to come to terms with its ever-growing cultural diversity. While some Finns have no problems with this, others oppose it. Finland’s cultural diversity is, however, something that nobody can stop. There are today tens of thousands of Finns with multicultural backgrounds.

Ariela Patterson, 23, is one of them. Her father is from the United States and her mother is Finnish. How does she see Finland’s new face and what challenges await it today and tomorrow?

Migrant Tales: How did you feel about your Finnish identity when you were growing up in Finland?

Ariela Patterson: Since I haven’t travelled abroad a lot I can’t really compare because I am Finnish. I know I have as much of a right to be here as any person.

MT: What was the most important decision you made to come to terms with your identity?

AP: The most important decision I made was to accept who I am. It happened through an internet forum that touched briefly on race/ethnicities. I can’t remember what the person wrote, but it shook me to my core. It was something like,”don’t let others define you as a person. We are all individuals, human beings. Someone will love you because of who you are, not because of your skin color or the ethnicity you represent.”

MT: How old were you then?

AP: I was eighteen. I had trouble with my identity before I made that discovery about myself that changed my life. I felt before that I didn’t belong to either my African-American or Caucasian side. I was raised by my Finnish mother in Finland so it was difficult to identify with my African American side, especially because of the way the media portrayed, and still does to some extent, African-Americans.

MT: Did you fit in easily before?

AP: I was always the ”American girl” in Finland. So when I went to visit my relatives in the US, I thought I’d feel right at home. I did until my cousin introduced me to her friends as her ”Finnish cousin.” I now found myself in the same situation as in Finland but reversed. The feeling of not belonging anywhere was slowly eating away at me from the inside and I felt like my mother didn’t understand either because she’d never been in my situation.

MT: What happened then?

AP: So one evening, when I was 18, I decided that I won’t live up to stereotypes imposed by others. All I wanted is to just be me. It hasn’t been easy for me after this revelation since I’m still in the process of fully accepting who I am. Even so, I can now look back and look at myself in the mirror with pride because I am “me.”

MT: Another important decision you made was to extend your hand to those who don’t accept you.

AP: The majority of people, or all I’d say, who don’t accept me have never taken the time to know me. They have their prejudices that fence them in even before I’ve managed to blink an eye in their direction. Maybe they’ve had bad experiences with others and that’s why they generalize and stereotype people. They may have other reasons as well. I bet if they’d sit down and got to know me they’d walk out with a totally different view.

MT: What kind of pressure do you feel for being different from the majority?

AP: I feel that I represent every person who looks ”foreign” in this country. If I act badly, I feel I help them to judge every foreign-looking person in the future in a negative manner. This is a very stressful situation to be in considering that I was born and lived here all my life.

MT: What is racism to you?

AP: Racism is to me a worldwide disease that spreads. It’s a mixture of prejudice, ignorance, envy, anger and fear. In my opinion, only a fool will willingly pass it along to their children. I don’t know if racism will ever fully disappear but I hope that we can live one day in a post racist world.

MT: What does Finnishness mean to you?

AP: Being tolerant, acceptant and respecting other people.

MT: Do you feel that Finnish society is more open of its cultural diversity?

AP: Some people are more acceptant than others. But I’ve noticed that the darker your skin tone is, the more skeptical people are towards you.

MT: Do you think Finland will become a more tolerant society in the future?

AP: I think it will change for the better. But I also think there will always be an opposing group that will pin the blame for their problems on others.

 

How the Finnish police and media spread prejudice against Romanians and the Romany minority

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Here is a good example of how the police and media treat certain immigrant and ethnic groups publicly. A story on YLE tells us that the overwhelming amount of grand larceny cases committed by foreigners in Finland are by Lithuanians.  

Kuvankaappaus 2013-6-16 kello 10.12.43The majority of suspected grand larceny cases in Finland are  committed by Lithuanians. Why does the media and police give so much attention to Romanians as opposed to Lithuanians?  Is it because Lithuanians are white?  Why aren’t these questions asked by the national media? Read whole story here.

A police statement targeted in early June Romanians as being responsible for the spike in petty larceny and property crimes.

The statement shouldn’t surprise us since it is the way the media and police have reacted to Romanian and Bulgarian Roma that visit Finland. In many respects, it’s no different from how the media has spread fear of certain immigrant groups by pointing out “high” rape cases.

An A-Studio documentary  in August incredibly suggested that since there were seven rape convictions against Iraqi nationals, this suggested a trend and that this community “had a problem” and was prone to commit rape.

The A-Studio documentary reinforced the following prejudices that the Anti-Defamation League calls the “code words of hate:”

  • Immigrants are an army of invaders
  • Dehumanization
  • Immigrants bring crime and disease
  • Conspiracy theory

If we look at the police statement about Romanians, it cites two – yes two! – convictions, one for petty larceny and begging and another for unreported employment.

While it’s a good matter that the police investigate exploitation, abuse and crime, are they protecting the innocent and victims by spreading their prejudice and racism?

Certainly not.

The attitude of the police, media, and the silence of too politicians, shouldn’t  surprise us. Finland’s 10,000-strong Romany minority has lived here for 500 years.

They if anyone can tell about what it feels like to be socially excluded and discriminated for centuries.

My Conscience Your Conscience

Posted on by Migrant Tales
By Dana
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Who has conscience?
Who doesn’t have conscience?
Finnish law doesn’t because it made a deep wound in me and it could not feel it did anything bad, oh nothing at all.                                                                                                       So why is this law  so cruel to me and my situation??? Because it isn’t wise…. because wiseness has conscience.                                                                                                What about racist people? Black and white or of other colours?
A racist  has nothing except a circle… a  sad circle that has no light in at all.
Do u feel anything in u like kindness?…what does your conscience teach you every day?
When was the last time u got a lesson from ur CONSCIENCE?
If u have no feelings for sadness and happiness then ur conscience is dead…who killed it?
You yourself killed it with your proudness and anger against other humans beings, so u r a killer….
now u got ur bad news and if u still feel nothing then u r truly not a human.
People who have no feelings for each other, who are like walls, who cant think more than money and some private things…they may look human but they are not human….NO
Then we have another matter…hmmm
We all live and we all will leave one day
We cant take anything with us to the other side and you dont know which side you will move to… be aware.                                                                                                     Tell me about zero, all u know is about zero? What u know about zero?
We have a big parliament here in Helsinki that has zero conscience…. it is an unwise parliament                                                                                                 What benefit has a parliament that is unwise?
What goals has this shaking parliament?
How many good things has this fat parliament done this week? How about last week? And whats their goals and plans for next week?
Your silence means you know nothing….
Your attack means you are barking….
Your stone-heart means your belong to stone age
You are not human, the only thing you have is a bad rage
And so universe will close your ugly page
If you are a fanatic i dont care at all
If you are a religious i dont believe it no more
If you cant see me in injustice, you are just shadow
You are a zero zero zero with No ego
You need a hero hero hero that’s alive – Conscience

Racism Review: Sweden – No Longer the Exception to Western Racist Rule

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Authored by Tobias Hübinette and L. Janelle Dance

Since May 20, 2013, mass vandalism, material damage and outbursts of rioting in the poor and non-white suburbs of Greater Stockholm have dominated Swedish and international news media. This civil unrest was sparked when, on May 12, the police shot and killed a 69-year-old man from Husby, one of the marginalized suburban communities of metropolitan Stockholm. The shooting is still under investigation. The burning of cars, other types of arsons, and attacks on the police erupted in Husby on the evening of May 19th and quickly spread to many other similar suburbs of Greater Stockholm such as Fittja, Tensta, Flemingsberg, Hjulsta, Jakobsberg, Hagsätra, Rågsved, Skärholmen and Skogås. As we write this post, after six nights of uninterrupted suburban unrest, the vandalism and the violence have also spread to other Swedish cities like Gothenburg, Örebro and Linköping. Although the US and UK embassy warnings to keep out from such districts are clearly exaggerated—the scale of the unrest cannot be compared to similar previous waves of riots in for example the US, the UK or France—a feeling of a serious social crisis is gaining ground in the political debate as leading government officials and the Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt urge a stop to the material damage.

This is not the first time that Sweden is experiencing a series of riots; the last time was between 2008-09. However, it is arguably the first time when voices from the suburbs are entering the public debate as a new nascent social movement. At the helm of this movement, which has gained the spotlight in recent years, are teens and young adults who are also usually born and raised in Sweden (the so-called second generation). More than ever before, these youth are denouncing police harassment, the declining social welfare services in the suburbs and the dramatically increasing disparities between rich and poor—a development which is heavily racialized as the proportion of poor white Swedes is below 5% while the proportion of poor Swedes of color hovers around 35-45%. Representatives from this movement have, for example, alerted the media to the use of racial slurs among the police who patrol the suburbs, and above all they have been able to express an unprecedented analysis of a New Sweden, which is becoming heavily polarized along racial lines.

For decades Sweden has proudly viewed itself as the most progressive country in the world, as “the conscience of the world”. Furthermore, Sweden’s antiracist image and radical anti-discrimination, migration and integration legislation are well known all over the world. However, recently Sweden has also become the OECD country showing the highest difference in unemployment between foreign-born and native-born Swedes, while its big- and mid-size cities are characterized by one of the most extreme ethno-racial residential segregation patterns in the Western world. Thus, it is not in the context of the old Sweden of exceptionalism but in the wake of the New Sweden of exclusion that we must understand the frustration, the desperation and the rage that can be found particularly among young people in the suburbs. This second generation has grown up in Sweden but due to stigmatized postal addresses and “non-Swedish” appearances they are not accepted within the majority society at large, without taking into account these worrying statistical correlations.

There are also other political groups that are exploiting the current suburban unrest. A fact overlooked by the media is that these other groups do not live in the suburbs yet exacerbate the unrest. While ignoring these instigators, the media focuses on spectacular videos and photos of burning buildings and cars and policemen fighting with youngsters. Firstly, there are indications that white Swedish leftist activists have encouraged and participated in the riots, something that also happened in 2008-09. Their sole political agenda is to sustain and encourage even more social antagonism at the expense of an even stronger stigmatization of the poor and non-white suburbs among the white majority population. Furthermore, Swedish extreme right-wing activists are also active in the events by portraying themselves as “ordinary Swedes” who want to help the police as “citizen guards”, a popular yet loaded discourse that the media all too often buy into. Saturday night for example, around 200 Nazi activists more or less invaded Tumba in Southern Botkyrka in the southern part of Greater Stockholm, and started to hunt down and beat up any youngster who was deemed to be a “rioter”.

However for ordinary white Swedes reading and watching the news it is highly probable that all the inhabitants in the suburbs are associated with violence and rioting. In the end, the Sweden Democrats (a former Nazi party which has transformed itself into a populist anti-immigration party and which, according to opinion polls, is the fourth or the third largest party in Sweden) will maybe become the biggest political winner due to the suburban unrest. Now, the Sweden Democrats will most probably gain even more support among the voters. Of course, representatives from the party have already made use of the events by calling for stronger police interventions and the introduction of temporary state of emergency measures in certain urban districts.

Once “exceptional” Sweden is no longer the exception to the general Western rule of blaming the racialized victim. On the contrary, white Swedes are remarkably unexceptional as they behave like racist and conservative white Americans. Ordinary white Swedes, who claim to embrace antiracism, equality and social democracy, look at the riots in Stockholm and blame marginalized youths for the institutional discrimination, political marginalization, and structural racism that have become common place in the former “conscience of the world”.

Tobias Hübinette is an Associate Professor and researcher at the Multicultural Centre in Botkyrka, Sweden. L. Janelle Dance is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska and a visiting scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University in Sweden. Dance is currently living in Sweden.

Read original blog entry here.

This piece was reprinted by Migrant Tales with permission.

Sweden and Woolwich reveal the eager face of intolerance

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Be it the riots in Sweden or the tragic murder of a British solider in Woolwich last week, it’s always the eager face of intolerance that is ready to expose itself. The knee-jerk reaction to these events reveals something disturbing about us: our prejudice, intolerance and near-clueless answers on how to move forward in a culturally diverse society during economically trying times. 

Mainstream politicians, who may mean well, end up digging their political graves when they try to attract the anti-immigration vote. We saw this with disastrous results for them in Finland in the April 2011 elections and most recently in the United Kingdom, after the good showing of the anti-immigration UKIP party in the local elections.

Despite proof that it’s politically risky to be in cahoots with anti-immigration groups by echoing their message of intolerance, it seems that Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen of Finland hasn’t learned from his past mistakes. He said that one way of avoiding the riots that took place in Sweden is to keep the amount of asylum seekers in check.

If people are fleeing war and violence, isn’t it their human right to seek asylum in a country like Finland? Or should they go somewhere else because we speculate that they will instigate Husby-type riots in the future?

If I could, I’d ask Prime Minister Katainen why he made such a statement and how many asylum seekers are taking part in the riots in Sweden. I seriously doubt there are any asylum seekers rioting in Sweden.

What do such inopportune statement reveal about the political atmosphere in Finland? It shows that mainstream parties still fear the populist anti-immigration and anti-EU Perussuomalaiset (PS) and have few good arguments to challenge it.

It’s not the first time that the prime minister had made such an untimely statement about immigrants in Finland. In March 2010 he said that ”debating immigrant issues in this country didn’t make you a racist.”

That affirmation by the prime minister opened the Internet floodgates of greater intolerance and victimization of immigrants and visible minorities.

National Police Commissioner Mikko Paatero added as well more fuel to the flames of intolerance by stating that what happened in Sweden could soon take place in Finland. He thus labels and reinforces negative prejudices of immigrants that they are a problem instead of an asset to our society.

What do all of these tragic events and reaction by our officials tell us about the present state of intolerance in Finland? It not only shows ignorance and political opportunism, but reinforces the idea that too many in this country are still in the dark about how to promote greater tolerance.

Sad but true.

ENAR press statement: Riots in Sweden – time for government to finally address ethnic minorities’ exclusion

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment:   As Migrant Tales has written on a number of postings, the riots in Sweden mirror the dire situation of some immigrant groups in that country and how marginalized they are from the rest of society. 

______

Brussels, 28 May 2013 – The ongoing riots in Stockholm, Sweden are a strong wake-up call for Swedish  authorities. For too long, Sweden has turned its back on the dire social and economic situation of migrants  and minority communities who are facing increasing marginalisation, scarcer access to decent housing, higher unemployment rates, as well as excessive use of power by policing authorities. The European  Network Against Racism (ENAR) condemns both the violence use on the street by rioters and the ongoing  institutional violence of successive Swedish governments, which have chosen not to address the deeprooted causes of exclusion plaguing Swedish society.

For instance, the Swedish police project ‘REVA’, aimed to crack down on irregular immigrants, has led to racial  profiling in checking ID and residency permits of anyone ‘foreign-looking’. Such practices are clearly  discriminatory and undermine the rights of individuals. They also contribute to the exclusion and demonisation of particular communities.

We call on the Swedish government to:

– Put measures and resources in place to remedy the discrimination, high unemployment rates and segregation faced by ethnic minority communities                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       – Put an immediate end to the excessive use of police powers targeted at ethnic minorities and migrants.                                                                     – Engage in a dialogue with grassroots NGOs to develop an action programme to decrease tensions in communities and rapidly improve their socio-economic conditions.

ENAR Chair Chibo Onyeji said: “It is essential to use non-violent methods in the pursuit for justice and socioeconomic change. But urgent action is needed to create a constructive environment that can give young people  growing up in ethnic minority communities a foundation for a bright future. Fostering inclusion and reducing the increasing inequalities faced by ethnic minority communities should be at the forefront of Sweden’s political concerns.”

Read original statement here.

Sweden riots: People cannot live off football, crumbs and destitute pity

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In the face of the riots in Huusby, Sweden, which have now spread outside the northern Stockholm suburb, there’s one culprit we should pay close attention to especially here in Finland: The erosion of Sweden’s comprehensive welfare state system. 

Faced with a seven-billion-euro budget deficit, it isn’t surprising that few if any politicians in this country want to dwell too much on the backlash the downsizing of our social welfare state could have on Finland. It’s not only easy but politically convenient to blame immigrants and their Swedish children, grandchildren and great grandchildren for the rioting.

National Coalition Party MP Arto Satonen is one Finnish politician that caught my attention concerning what he said about the riots in Sweden. The MP, who is chairman of National Coaliation Party’s parliamentary group, gave the following solutions:

  • Keep the number of asylum seekers under control;
  • Greater effort must be made to integrate immigrants;
  • Ghettoization (he calls it segregation) must be avoided.

Why does Satonen talk about “keeping the number of asylum seekers under control?” Is he suggesting that asylum seekers are more prone to rioting and being marginalized than labor immigrants? Asylum seekers are the last group that would be rioting in Husby or in other parts of Stockholm and Sweden.

The same opinion was expressed by National Coalition Party Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, who said that the number of asylum seekers must be kept in check, according to YLE. His comment was criticized by Left Alliance Minister of Culture Paavo Arhimäki.

I agree with Satonen’s second point but it’s unclear how we are going about this in Finland. High immigrant unemployment and youth marginalization, job discrimination, and the rise of a populist anti-immigration party that won 19.1% of the votes in 2011 make integration a greater challenge.

I am always a bit surprised when Finnish politicians speak of the danger of ghettoization. On the one hand, Finland officially praises multiculturalism but on the other hand dreads when too many visible immigrants live in the same neighborhood.

The same concern was expressed by teachers in a survey in 2011, which showed that 41% of teachers would like to place limits on third-culture children in the classroom. One third of those polled would not place any such limits.

Satonen said that football was a great integrator. Agreed. However, people can’t live off sports.

They need opportunities, jobs and Nordic social equality.