President of National Coalition Party Youth Arm criticises Finnish immigration policy

Rydman wants to abolish quota refugee system

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Finnish politician Wille Rydman, the President of the National Coalition Party’s youth organisation, says that the present principle to emphasize multiculturalism in Finland’s immigration policy is wrong.
      Problems are bound to emerge, if immigrants are placed in large groups close to each other, which is why they do not integrate into Finnish society, he says. Instead of integrating, Rydman warns that they will keep the habits and behaviour of their original cultures.
     
”It is not acceptable that people have different standards. The rules and laws have to be the same for all”, Rydman says.
      In an interview Rydman speaks about ”those” who have had problems, mentioning Somalis as an example.
      A total of 533 immigrants of Somali origin were granted a residence permit in Finland last year. By the end of 2009, the number of Somalis permanently staying in Finland amounted to 5,549.
     
Another issue taken up by Rydman concerns so-called quota refugees. In Rydman’s opinion, Finland should abandon its annual numerical quota for taking refugees.
      Those refugees who are picked from refugee camps already have the refugee status given by the United Nations. In 2009, Finland took in a total of 727 refugees within its refugee quota.
      ”The starting point must be that if someone needs help, we can agree to take him or her in, but a quota is not the right way to do it. Such quotas are likely to buy us a good conscience, nothing more. No problems are solved permanently by the use of quotas”, Rydman argues.
     
Being granted asylum is a major issue for individual refugees, so doesn’t the course of conduct proposed by Rydman sound rather cold?
      ”Yes it does, but will our present policy manage to rescue people in the third world countries? Maybe some random cases, but the full picture of the problem remains unsettled”, Rydman notes.
     
Responding to the notion that his views resemble those of the True Finns party, Rydman says that the main difference is that the True Finns have now and then tended to put the blame on immigrants. “In my view, the problem is not the immigrants themselves, but the system that is defective”, Rydman points out.
      Rydman is considering to run for Parliament in the next elections in 2011.
     
According to Taru Tujunen, the National Coalition Party Secretary, the National Coalition Party “recommends that Finland should hold to its international agreements, even those concerning humanitarian aid”.
      Tujunen notes further that in this matter Rydman’s views differ from those of the National Coalition Party, but she emphasises that even he is entitled to an opinion of his own.
      The National Coalition Party promotes work-based immigration, proper integration, and holding to international obligations. Moreover, the party points out that even though immigrants are free to practice their own religion, they are not allowed to break the Finnish law in any circumstances.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Vanhanen: Finland needs immigration despite present economic problems (18.3.2009)
  Few parties put emphasis on immigration policy (12.1.2009)
  Poll: Rural residents and blue-collar workers most negative toward immigration (17.3.2009)
  Police to get funding for refugees’ age tests (3.2.2009)

Links:
  Finnish Immigration Service
  National Coalition Party

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