Finnish frontier guards deny all accusations of racism

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The Finnish Frontier Guard has asked the Finnish Parliamentary Ombudsman Riitta-Leena Paunio to investigate the actions of the Finnish frontier guards relating to the refusal of entry to the group of Georgian women who had arrived by bus from Russia in mid-March and were flown back to Georgia last week.
      Various allegations have been made regarding the refusal of entry itself, as well as of the course of events prior to that. The Finnish Frontier Guard has not been able to give any official answer to the accusations, as they have been mere insinuations.
      The most recent question is: are Finnish frontier guards racists who regard all East European women as prostitutes?
     
Frontier officials deny all such accusations. Lieutenants Ilkka Tuomikko from Imatra and Vesa Petman from Lappeenranta say that they do not have any prejudices based on people's looks or country of origin. The officials took part in a three-day course on the subject of border control issues at the Frontier and Coast Guard School in Espoo last week.
     
The participants on the course included superior officers of the Finnish Frontier Guard, the Police, and the Customs.
      Officially, the issue of the deported Georgian women was not discussed on the course. According to the course leader, Captain Pasi Kylmämaa, the case is not ready to be handled on a course yet.
      However, Kylmämaa is likely to encounter the issue still many times at work, as he teaches future frontier guards the subject of border control policies, including attitude and behaviour training.
      "In teaching, advantage is taken of earlier mistakes, and students are put to discuss previous complaint and appeal cases", Kylmämaa notes.
      In the attitude training, also immigrant lecturers, for example representatives of the Finnish Somali Association, are involved.
     
The amount of attitude training will be increased next year, when the frontier guard examination will be reformed. Kylmämaa finds it well-founded, as a good command of laws and statutes is only part of the professional skills.
      "People are entitled to their own opinions, but when wearing a uniform, a guard represents all Finnish authorities, Finland, and even the EU", says Kylmämaa.
      "However, even complaints are relevant at this work", adds Ilkka Tuomikko.
      "The authorities can prove the reliability of their actions best by examining all allegations and admitting all mistakes", Kylmämaa points out.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Georgian politician: Finland popular travel route to West (31.3.2005)
  Georgian women unaware of details of their "business trip" (18.3.2005)
  Hundreds of human trafficking victims pass through Finland each year (1.4.2005)

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