Finland's Balancing Act: The Labor Market, Humanitarian Relief, and Immigrant In

[kohmelo]

Migration Information Sourcen maa esittely jossa Arno Tanner käy läpi Suomen maahanmuuttoon liittyviä asioita.

http://www.migrationinformation.org/Profiles/display.cfm?ID=825

Finland's Balancing Act: The Labor Market, Humanitarian Relief, and Immigrant Integration

By Arno Tanner
University of Helsinki, University of Tampere, Finnish Immigration Service

January 2011

Much like its Scandinavian neighbors, Finland today boasts progressive social welfare policies, well-maintained public and technological infrastructure, world-class education opportunities, practically free medical care, and a high gross domestic product (GDP).
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Conclusion

Finland currently stands on a dividing line. On the one hand, the population is undoubtedly growing older in this prosperous country. Immigration could be a partial solution to both servicing the elderly and contributing to an increase in the working-age population. Indeed, immigration is at its best a welcome boost for a nation in need of rejuvenation as new ideas, contacts, and businesses typically emerge from the moderated immigration of well-integrated labor migrants.

On the other hand, the integration problem in Finland is not yet solved. Humanitarian-related immigration does not yet convert to a productive labor force, and the majority of the Finnish population does not support further immigration.

While Muslim extremists do not seem to pose a major security threat in Finland, recent statements in Russian foreign policy circles about the sheltering of Russian minorities abroad have prompted new questions: Whether a weakly integrated, uncommitted Russian minority could pose a security and sovereignty threat in EU countries near Russia?

In fact, the migration policy situation in Finland is currently characterized more by questions than by answers. How many additional immigrants should be admitted into Finland? Can current and future immigrants be successfully integrated to maximize the economic benefits of migration and avoid any potential security threats? To what extent is it Finland's responsibility to extend humanitarian relief to asylees and refugees? What is the best way to determine the limit on humanitarian relief, and how to deal with those that exceed the limit?

The parliamentary elections scheduled for 2011 are the time when the aforementioned questions are likely to be debated.

(http://www.migrationinformation.org/images/finland-jan11-fig2.jpg)

[Roope]

Vertailun vuoksi Tannerin vastaava kirjoitus vuodelta 2004:

Finland's Prosperity Brings New Migrants

By Arno Tanner
Finnish Directorate of Immigration

November 2004

In the last 50 years, Finland has transformed itself from an agriculturally oriented culture into a competitive, technologically advanced information society. This small, Nordic country of five million people has the least corruption and the best competitiveness rate of any country in the world, according to international indices. Over 85 percent of Finnish households have access to a broadband Internet connection and over 90 percent of the active population has a mobile phone.

[...]

Nevertheless, such a rapid increase is a phenomenon of only the past 15 years. Prior to 1990, the volume of forced and voluntary immigration to Finland was much lower. Finland was a country of voluntary emigration, with a small - although well integrated - immigrant population.

Immigration questions have not gained a major foothold in political debates, nor have opposition parties chosen immigration as an issue for challenging ruling parties, including the current center-left coalition government. Finland has no openly xenophobic party, unlike many other European countries, and thus, the major parties have been able to take a fact-oriented approach to immigration-related policy.

Partly due to this, parliamentary and ministerial work today is calmly proceeding without heated public debate on such matters as the future of the Finnish labor market, asylum processes, the integration of immigrants and asylum seekers, and whether large-scale labor immigration could help compensate for an aging population.

[...]

In contrast to other EU countries, asylum applications to Finland are still on the rise. Finland currently receives 1,000 to 3,000 asylum seekers annually. In 2004, Finland has received more asylum applications than Denmark, which has a much longer and more significant history of receiving immigrants. There are three main causes for this trend: the increased knowledge about Finland as a stable and socially developed country with few incidents of racial violence, a lack of a well-established and hostile far right, and further asylum entry restrictions in other Western countries.

[...]

Conclusion

Until - or unless - Finland decides to systematically recruit and integrate foreign manpower, Finland will remain a country of reactive, case-by-case permit application processing. In any case, due to the country's stability, egalitarian values, and wealth, the number of both asylum seekers and labor immigrants will keep increasing.

In fact, many would argue that Finland has room for larger immigration flows. Given the still rather low proportion of the foreign born in Finland today (three percent), the aging population, and the relatively low Finnish population density - 17 persons per square kilometer, compared to Singapore's 6,751 persons or the Netherlands' 386 persons per square kilometer - a larger foreign-born population could be absorbed into Finnish society with careful government-NGO cooperation.

The increase in immigration could come from a larger number of quota refugees and from labor migrants who gain entry based on a point system similar to that of Canada. In this context, it is important to continue to keep asylum separate from demographic considerations: asylum claims ought to be processed individually based on the Geneva Convention, and residence permits granted accordingly, depending on the actual need of protection rather than the skills applicants could bring to the Finnish labor market. Of course, after such people receive asylum or residence, the government could help ensure that their vocational skills are used.

In addition, all kinds of immigration will have more favorable consequences if the government is sufficiently able to provide effective and encouraging tools for integration, including high-quality language education.

To achieve these goals, Finland will likely need a more pro-immigration mentality. Best practices for successfully changing the public's attitude will probably come from the more experienced and established immigration countries.

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