I have also been visiting Tilastokeskus’s websites every now and then.

I think using citizenship is a wrong way to measure the amount of people with immigrant background. I think native language is better.

For example, there might be only 5000 people with Somali citizenship, but there are more than 10 000 people with somali as native language, which is the true size of that ethnic group in Finland.

Nevertheless, you are right in saying that these numbers are not at all high.

@sanjuro: Welcome to the blog. Youth unemployment is indeed a huge challenge, and something that has been unfortunately exacerbated by the current crisis. I graduated from engineering right at the end of the previous crisis in 2003, so I went through a similar situation. However, the ease by which somebody from abroad can immigrate to Finland and get a job is greatly exaggerated (or minimised) depending on the aims of the person commenting. Interestingly, there are 240k people currently unemployed, but 52k open positions with a 7k increase compared to last year (http://yle.fi/uutiset/talous_ja_politiikka/2010/04/maaliskuun_tyottomyysaste_91_prosenttia_1635461.html). How do you explain that mismatch?

@Pantaleón: El fenómeno de la inmigración en este país es sumamente reciente, entonces aún cuando la proporción es ínfima la sociedad no sabe qué hacer con ella. Si a eso añades la experiencia histórica de este país con las influencias del exterior (guerras con Rusia, etc.) entonces no extraña que el enfoque sea tan negativo. Eso no justifique que no tenga que cambiar.
.-= chivacongelado´s last blog ..Open letter to the Finnish political elite =-.

Creo que las sociedades multiculturales son mas aceptadas en los paises que fueron/son imperios y tuvieron/tienen colonias (geografica y economicamente hablando)

Saludos

According to a news item published today, unemployment among the 15 to 24 year olds is of 25.5%. That’s a huge number and these are people who are precisely at the point of choosing a professional orientation, the one group most needed right now.

I quite agree with what Eero Heinäluoma said (if he’s been correctly translated), it is indeed common sense that inviting more immigrants to take Finnish jobs will result in more racism. It’s easy to prove since it has happened in other European countries before, where some right-wing extremist parties have been enjoying an unusual success during elections (France, Austria, and just recently Hungary). Whether it has merit or not, when the unemployment rises too high (near or above 10% it seems) and discomfort grows, working foreigners will be the first group to be blamed.

There’s already a feeling of uneasiness in Finland with those construction companies hiring cheaper workforce from Estonia. What’s needed right now is not to open the door to immigration it’s to get those unemployed people to learn and do the jobs that matter. You cannot have job positions filled without reducing unemployment or sooner or later bitterness will turn into social unrest.