Finnish Immigration Policy Aims to Maximize Benefits and Minimize Drawbacks

The Finnish Immigration Service is planning a new detention center near the country’s largest prison, located between the German Military Cemetery and the Guide Dog School. The center will accommodate foreign individuals if it can be assumed that they are hiding or attempting to evade decisions affecting them or the enforcement of their deportation.

This is one indication that Finland’s immigration policy is being shifted from allowing all kinds of entry to one that serves the needs of the country. In practice, this means stricter adherence to the conditions for humanitarian protection and improving the prerequisites for labor-based immigration. This approach aims to maximize the benefits of immigration while minimizing its adverse effects.

The need to change immigration policy has become apparent in Finland following Sweden’s humanitarian immigration policy, which has been a complete failure. Reports of large-scale grooming gangs targeting British girls from the UK have further underscored the issue.

As a result of the changes currently underway, Finland hopes to attract more educated and work-motivated immigrants from traditional Western countries, India, Vietnam, Brazil, and the Philippines. From the latter, Finland has already received a significant number of diligent workers to address labor shortages in the country’s public healthcare system.

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Rediscovered Relics: The Story Behind Finland's WWII Weapon Caches

Yesterday, approximately 200 old military rifles were found buried in Finland. They had already decayed beyond use, but they served as a reminder of the post-World War II situation.

In 1944, Finland had succeeded in halting the large-scale Russian offensive and subsequently signed an armistice, after which German soldiers were driven out of the country during the Lapland War, which destroyed the entire northernmost Finnish settlement. Although the peace thus achieved was welcome to the ordinary people, there was a fear that the Russians would continue their military actions and ultimately subjugate the Finns under their own control.

In preparation for this situation, caches were established across the country, where weapons were stored for guerrilla operations. The project was, of course, eventually revealed, and its scale is evidenced by the fact that a total of 1,488 people were convicted in court in connection with it.

However, many officers who led the arms caches fled to the West, including Alpo Marttinen, who had distinguished himself as the right hand man of Hjalmar Siilasvuo in the Battle of Raate Road by destroying a Soviet division, and Lauri Törni, who ultimately died in Vietnam under the name Larry A. Thorne. Both of whom embarked on new military careers in the United States.

The recently discovered military rifles are one of these caches, whose existence sent a strong message to the Russians that the Finns were still ready to defend their homeland. This perhaps influenced the fact that Finland was not annexed by the Soviet Union or subjected to its vassal state, as happened to other Eastern European countries.

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Change of immigration policy and development cooperation

Finland is considered a prosperous Western country, and accordingly, it has been allocating approximately two percent of its annual state budget to development aid. However, in the program of the government that came into power this summer, this funding has been significantly reduced.

At the same time, Finland has decided to change the conditions of its development cooperation. The most notable changes include directing aid to Ukraine and, conversely, denying it to countries that support Russia in its illegal war against its neighboring country. This applies to countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan if they do not change their stance on the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Furthermore, the Finnish government has decided that development aid will not be granted to countries that do not accept their own citizens without a residence permit in Finland. This is a significant change in Finnish asylum policy, which has led to an increasing number of undocumented migrants from developing countries staying in the country, along with a rise in certain types of crimes.

According to recent information, Finland's western neighbor Sweden has set an example. It announced excluding Mali from its development aid due to its support for Russia.

Hopefully, Finland will also make similar decisions to streamline its development aid policy and humanitarian immigration policy. At the same time, the Finnish government has decided to increase incentives for skilled labor immigration. 

Therefore, it is crucial for a country with high taxation and a Western-average salary level to maintain attractive features for quality labor — features such as a safe society and a balanced public economy that enables good services. Both of these goals can be achieved through the designed changes described above.

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