From Burden to Benefit: Reforming Immigration in Finland

The Finnish government led by Petteri Orpo (National Coalition Party) submitted no fewer than three legislative proposals to Parliament for approval on Thursday. For this reason, Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns Party), who led their preparation and presented the matter in Parliament, remarked that “we are having a kind of immigration super Thursday.”

The purpose of the legislative proposals is to streamline Finland’s immigration policy by introducing a citizenship test, intensifying the deportation and entry bans of those residing in the country illegally, and making use of the opportunities provided by the EU’s migration and asylum pact.

The aim of the citizenship test is to ensure that Finnish citizenship is not granted without the applicant having familiarity with Finnish society. However, the level of knowledge required to pass the test is not particularly demanding, as passing the multiple-choice exam only requires correctly answering seven out of ten questions.

According to the Interior Minister, the government “expects individuals seeking Finnish citizenship to be proactive in acting in the manner required by law.” For this reason, integration funding will in the future be more precisely directed toward teaching Finland’s national languages—which can only be welcomed.

Regarding deportations, the government aims to ensure that deportation decisions can be carried out more efficiently and quickly than at present. In addition, endangering national security will be added as grounds for an entry ban—this will also apply to individuals seeking to enter Finland from within the EU.

The third change is mainly technical. It implements the EU’s migration and asylum pact, which will in the future make it possible to transfer the asylum process to a country outside the Union. This too is an excellent development—provided the future arrives before it is too late.

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In my view, all of the government’s proposals yesterday are good and necessary—if not outright essential—conditions for transforming immigration from its current burden into something beneficial for Finland. Therefore, it is worth observing how Parliament responds to them.

It is, of course, to be expected that members of Parliament from the far left will react negatively to at least some of the proposals. If and when this happens, it will not change the image already formed of the Left Alliance and the Greens as a “fifth column” marching within our country.

More interesting, however, is to see what happens within the government itself—especially within the parliamentary groups of the Swedish People’s Party (RKP) and the National Coalition Party—as well as within the main opposition parties, the Social Democratic Party and the Centre Party. Will there also be, and if so how many, individuals willing to participate in the activities of a “fifth column”?

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As an aside, and loosely related to the topic: Member of Parliament Joakim Vigelius (Finns Party) made a rather apt remark on social media. He stated that “it is quite a paradox that first low-income people are attracted from around the world to Finland to be low-income, and then people wonder how much low-income status has increased.”

This observation also appears to be shared by Professor Heikki Hiilamo, who stated that immigration is “a significant factor” in the increase in poverty. “There has been a change in the labor market, with more and more immigrants working in low-wage occupations.”

In addition, the professor noted that the situation is also affected by the fact that immigrants largely live in big cities, such as Helsinki, where housing costs are relatively high. What more is there to add, except that public authorities in Finland actively encourage this by offering various non-reciprocal benefits to citizens of other countries as well.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Perspectives on Immigration Restrictions in Finland and the U.S.
Finland to Cut Off Taxpayer Money for Immigration
Can Europe Learn from Finland´s and Spain’s Contrasting Immigration Policies?

To Be or Not to Be Woke – A Question of Worldview and Mental Health

In Finland’s largest daily newspaper there was an article that discussed right-wing and left-wing “wokeness.” According to the interviewed specialist researcher from the University of Turku, Oskari Lehtinen, right-wing woke activists (which, to be honest, I had never heard of before) were united by the views that their country’s population is being deliberately replaced, society discriminates against white people, a good ruler breaks rules in order to safeguard national interests, conservative values should determine which forms of expression are permitted and which are forbidden, and ordinary people know better what is good for the country than educated experts.

Left-wing woke activists, in turn, were united by views according to which income differences between white and non-white people are explained mainly by racism, trans women should be allowed to compete in women’s sports categories, society should have more safe spaces, racism is more of a structural phenomenon than something visible in individuals’ actions, and focusing on skin color is generally necessary for advancing human rights.

The newspaper article included a link to a test from a few years ago that allowed you to measure your own level of wokeness. As a curious person, I took it, and my result was 3/30 points along with the comment that “you are not very woke.” This did not surprise me.

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In connection with that test, some interesting things were reported. One of them—though less surprising—was that among university students, the strongest woke attitudes were found in the humanities and social sciences as well as psychology. Among students, wokeness was least common among those studying the natural sciences, while among teachers the least enamored with this ideology were business scholars.

It was also not a surprise to me personally that people who hold a woke worldview are more depressed and anxious than others. In addition, they are less happy than others. According to the woke researcher, however, this is a correlation rather than a cause-and-effect relationship, so we do not know whether wokeness leads to mental health problems or vice versa.

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It would be great if Lehtinen’s future research were to produce information about the causal relationship between a woke worldview and mental health, as that would be quite useful. It is clear that if wokeness produces mental health problems such as depression and anxiety and, in addition, reduces people’s happiness, that would be a justified reason to stop presenting this ideology in a positive light in media.

If, on the other hand, further research were to show that the causal relationship runs the other way—that is, that wokeness is a way of identifying people suffering from mental health problems—then its supporters could be easily identified and directed to mental health services, and, if necessary, provided with psychiatric support that would help them live happier lives than they do now.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Gender identity and the future of Finnishness
Sex and Gender Identity in Skiing
Unintended Consequences of Modern Value Shifts

The original blogpost in Finnish: 
Tieteellistä tietoa wokelluksesta

Finnish weapons are being tested against the Russians in Ukraine

Russia's attack on Ukraine seems to have stalled. The reason for this is likely both the weakness of the Russians and the increase in aid Ukraine is receiving from Western countries.

In this regard, it was interesting to note that Finland has sent both older equipment and the latest products of its defense industry to Ukraine. The reason for the latter is to gather information about their effectiveness in a combat situation, especially against the Russians.

The fact remains that no one other than Russia threatens Finland's security. However, Russia's enthusiasm may be curbed by the harsh experiences of World War II -including both Winter War and Continuation War during which nearly half a million Russian soldiers were killed or went missing on the Finnish front, and even more were wounded. And in the end, the small nation of Finland remained unconquered by the then-superpower.

Hopefully, the recent change in the war in Ukraine means that the Russians will experience bitter lessons similar to those on the Finnish front in World War II, and the country's leadership will learn such a lesson that it will understand to leave its neighbors untouched in the future. It would be wise for the simple reason that now there is equipment tested specifically against them, the effectiveness of which should be beyond doubt, as the weapon systems will undoubtedly be further developed based on the experiences gained from the war in Ukraine.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Technically backward, miscellaneous group of gunmen
The procrastination of Western countries is paid for with the blood of soldiers
Polish Minister for Foreign Affairs reminded Russians about their nightmare

Getting asylum in Finland becomes significantly more difficult

Finnish Minister of the Interior, Mari Rantanen (PS), announced good news yesterday. According to her, the government intends to extend the residency requirement for obtaining Finnish citizenship from the current five years to eight years, and the calculation of this period will start only after obtaining a residence permit. Additionally, the acceptable period of residence abroad will be shortened from the current standard, and the amount of reception allowance and allowance for asylum seekers will be reduced.

The government also plans to add passing a citizenship test, which will be established, as a requirement for obtaining citizenship. Moreover, asylum will always be intended as temporary and as short as EU legislation allows. And in the future, it will no longer be possible to transition from an asylum seeker to a labor-based immigrant.

Furthermore, the Minister of the Interior emphasized that refugee status or asylum could be denied or revoked in the future if the individual is considered a threat to society, has committed an especially heinous crime, is suspected of or has committed a crime against peace, a war crime, a crime against humanity, or an act contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

The asylum process is also planned to be expedited through border procedures, during which asylum seekers are not allowed to leave the vicinity of the reception center assigned to them. Additionally, a fast-track procedure is intended to be included in the Aliens Act, under which applicants who receive a negative decision can be deported more quickly than in the regular asylum process. It is intended to be applied to individuals deemed a threat to national security and to those who have submitted repeat applications.

In addition to these changes, a proposal has been prepared at the Ministry of Justice, led by Leena Meri (PS), to amend the Penal Code regarding the criminalization of female genital mutilation and its preparation. This law is significant not only on the basis of human rights but also because it reduces Finland's attractiveness among asylum seekers who intend to mutilate their daughters' genitals, a practice that constitutes a significant portion of economic migrants arriving in Finland.

Overall, the government parties intend to implement exactly the policies that a large portion of their current voters supported in the last parliamentary elections. When combined with the billion-euro cut in development aid funding, voters finally have reason to be satisfied—provided, of course, that the intentions I've outlined above are realized.

Previous thought on the same topic:
The EU's 7.4 billion euro aid package is intellectual dishonesty
The Finnish forest is life-threatening to asylum-seekers
In Germany, immigration policy changes are being planned