 | | Many foreigners face discrimination in the Finnish
job market and are unable to find work to suit their
skills and education. | |
Many immigrants in Finland describe themselves as existing, but not really living, in Finland. Rautatientori proved to be a fine choice of venue for covering a story about immigrants in Finland. Finland’s Central Railway Station neatly encapsulates the criss-crossing of transient populations concentrated in one space for a brief moment in time. Unsurprisingly, Abdoulmajid Hakki is typical of many non-natives today: energetic, optimistic and educated. Yet, in spite of benefiting from the A-class education Finland offers to all regardless of background, it took more than 500 job applications before he could eventually find work. “Society here seems to devote far too much of its resources to educating foreigners and far too little to employing them,” explains Hakki. Arguably, the Finnish practice of educating foreigners and not employing them is akin to cutting off your nose to spite your face. Intellectual bankruptcy “It’s like an intellectual bankruptcy – rejecting the foreigners’ potential despite being educated in Finland only serves to kill their motivation to integrate into civilised society,” Hakki adds. Certain findings seem to confirm this growing intellectual bankruptcy in Finland as unemployment among minorities stands at over 20 per cent – the highest comparable figure of any OECD nation. “It is frustrating for me personally as I felt I owed Finland for my education and the added benefit of being free to express my views without fear,” Hakki continues, referring to his previous life as a teenage member of Kurdish guerrillas battling Iranian forces in the mountains of Kurdistan. He even did time in a Turkish jail while he was a UNHCR refugee. The rise of the black market Worryingly, one impact the discrimination of foreigners in the job market is having is to encourage many to participate in a parallel market – the black market – in order to find gainful employment. “Participation in the so-called white market remains very low among many foreigners,” confirms Hakki. “Most are just sick of being long-term unemployed and are simply craving an entrepreneurial life, so if they cannot get one, they will create one for themselves,” he warns. In fact, there is a growing danger that minorities will become increasingly criminalised in Finland as a whole because their opportunities to participate in the mainstream are constantly frustrated. “Crime will go up, motivation to integrate will drop, radicalisation among the youth will intensify and the feeling of isolation will increase,” affirms Hakki, noting that the OECD figure is “felt” to be more than double what the facts bear out as immigrants share the overwhelming experience of simply being left out. The door to immigration remains shut According to Hakki, there is a tendency among many Finns to want to open up to the outside world, whilst simultaneously keeping the door to immigration firmly closed. “If Finland wants to continue to internationalise itself, reap the rewards of globalisation and enjoy the freedom of movement that this process creates, then they must employ their minorities,” he intones. Shame then that many Finns seem keen to brush up their understanding of a key language that facilitates this process – English – yet restrain themselves from practising these skills with many English-speaking foreigners like Hakki. “My 17 years in Finland have taught me that most Finns actively avoid foreigners. In fact, I have seen many, my neighbours included, teach their kids not to speak to foreigners like me, which is sad. It is sad because I cannot help but worry that the same negative values of remaining distrustful of foreigners will remain in this society for some time to come,” he concludes. Nicholas Whitehouse - HT
Jaakko Avikainen - Lehtikuva |
