HS Home 26.9.2000 - Ethnic tensions take long to build up, longer to resolve

By Hannele Tulonen

Outbreaks of racial hatred between Finns and immigrants never come out of the blue. According to Risto Laakkonen of the Ministry of Employment, who is the secretary-general of Etno, the Advisory Council on ethnic relations, resentment usually smoulders in a community for years before breaking out.

He also says that tensions cannot be released by quickly setting up a working group of some kind. The prevention and treatment of clashes requires long term networking, involving the entire community, including residents' associations, schools, social services, the church, police, and the fire brigade.

Laakkonen has been involved in drafting a government programme against ethnic discrimination and racism. His Advisory Council has made a proposal for the establishment of a post of a special Discrimination Ombudsman, but so far, the funding has not been forthcoming. The rest of the programme is a detailed list of measures aimed at increasing tolerance and establishing a multicultural Finland

A survey conducted last spring

shows that there is a good deal of prejudice and discrimination in Finland based on ethnic origin, religion, or moral conviction.

The most prejudiced are in the over 65 age group, and the most tolerant are Finns between ages 20 and 30. There is some overt racism among a minority of Finnish teenagers, but they usually become more moderate by age 18. Even teachers are not free of racial prejudice; only half of teachers polled said that they would allow an African person to take care of their children.

According to a number of economic forecasts, Finland will eventually have to recruit labour from abroad to avert a labour shortage. This means that the nation needs to practice the acceptance of foreigners at an early stage.

The programme of action involves the national, regional, and local levels. The main focus is on the local level, where the people are.

According to the Advisory Council

, each municipality should have someone responsible for dealing with questions of ethnic discrimination. Small municipalities could join forces in this.

The group recommends that each municipality should have a common discussion forum with representatives from the local employment office, and non-governmental organisations.

Immigrants and other residents should also have common meeting places. The local authorities should also make a point of hiring immigrants when filling municipal jobs. For instance, having Somalis in a fire brigade or sports club would help the rest of the population get to know them better.

Schools should work to get different types of families to interact on a regular basis. Active measures are needed to prevent marginalisation. Libraries, evening schools, and small newspapers could also help promote mutual understanding.

The worst clashes have occurred in large suburbs with large concentrations of immigrant families. The programme proposed by the Advisory Council calls for housing policy measures that would prevent the excessive concentration of any single ethnic group in one area.

However, Mervi Virtanen, the head of the immigration section of the Ministry of Employment, says that it is difficult to influence the housing patterns. She notes that large concentrations of municipal housing often have as residents many others at risk of being marginalised.

Such regions tend to accumulate large concentrations of families with children, teenagers, economic difficulties, and frustration resulting from unemployment and inadequate education.

The Advisory Council calls on local authorities to examine possible solutions to the problem, even if zoning policy proves to be an obstacle. In smaller communities there are plenty of mixed areas where foreigners are mixed more homogenously with the rest of the population.

Laakkonen feels that the media has a crucial role

. He suggests that news readers of colour should be on Finnish television, and immigrant journalists should write in newspapers. In other parts of the world, prestigious industrial leaders speak on behalf of immigrants. In Finland it is unlikely that even politicians would raise a single eyebrow to immigrants' problems if the EU did not insist that they do so. Action plans are needed in all EU member states.

The Advisory Council recently received 72 comments on its proposals. One of the newer proposals concerned a need for interpreters for immigrants who cannot speak Finnish. The action plan is expected to reach the Finnish government sometime in October.

Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 21.9.2000