Geneva - Following subtle and overt incidents of discrimination and recent racist scandals rocked the Finnish government, it must take urgent action against harmful policies, hate speech, and misleading narratives that fuel negative perceptions of migrants and refugees and risk the impairment of their rights. Since the Finns party took control of the government in 2023 and especially in the past few months, Finland has grappled with issues of racism and xenophobia, particularly concerning the reduction of refugee quotas from Muslim-majority countries.
Regarding UNHCR's resettlement programme of 2025, which will determine the numbers and nationality of refugees to admit to the territory, Interior Minister Mari Rantanen and Acting Interior Minister Lulu Ranne allegedly directed officials to exclude quota refugees from Muslim-majority countries and increase the quota for those from Christian-majority nations. This led to Finland's Non-Discrimination Ombudsman issuing a warning that such a move would likely be discriminatory on religious grounds.
The final decision on the 2025 refugee quota is still under review, but it seems that Interior Minister Rantanen has proposed to accept refugees mainly from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, and Venezuela, as well as refugees displaced from Libya to Rwanda.
Declarations and intentions in the political arena, especially when tackling migration and encouraging threats, are like weapons
Michela Pugliese, researcher at Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor
Finnish Parliament will make the final decision in December, but the investigation by the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman into whether Minister Rantanen and Acting Minister Ranne sought to favor refugees from Christian-majority countries during the planning process is ongoing.
Because of her handling of the refugee quota process, the opposition (Left Alliance and Green Party) filed a motion of no confidence in Interior Minister Rantanen.
The proposal should be based on the estimate of global needs concerning refugee resettlement prepared by UNHCR each year, and on the scheme submitted to Finland by UNHCR, but it is ultimately the government that determines the quota for refugees allowed to be admitted.
Minister Rantanen has refused to comment on the matter, but she and her government are not new to this type of serious and unsettling scandal. According to Finnish media, in February the Interior Minister used a hashtag related to the far-right's "replacement theory" when sharing a post concerning demographic changes in Espoo, Southern Finland. Moreover, her website was recently updated to remove the sentence: "We mustn't be so blue-eyed that soon we won't be blue-eyed", resting on the false idea that immigration and multiculturalism pose a fundamental threat to the Finnish white population.
Similarly, Minister of Justice Leena Meri stated in February that the National Coalition's proposal to double the number of work permits granted to non-EU citizens indicates a readiness to replace the population.
After a series of similar scandals rocked the current administration, including racist comments made by different ministers, the response of the current government has consisted only of a campaign to tackle racist violence, harassment, and discrimination among civilians, titled "Me puhumme teoin", which translates to "Action, not only words".
"Declarations and intentions in the political arena, especially when tackling migration and encouraging threats, are like weapons, for the starkness and the strength with which they shape public opinion means they must therefore be handled with great care, especially considering that hate crimes have increased in Finland and most are racist crimes according to the Ministry of the Interior itself," commented Michela Pugliese, researcher at Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.
"It's racial discrimination when we observe any exclusion, restriction, or preference based on colour, religion, or national or ethnic origin," she continued, "whose purpose or effect is the impairment of the enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms. It's illegal and must have not the slightest place at all in public discourses and policies, in Europe or elsewhere."
Hand-in-hand with discriminatory intentions, inflammatory language in politics often forgoes the facts.
During the years 2001–2019, the refugee quota for Finland was 750 persons per year. The quota was 850 persons in 2020; 1,050 persons in 2021; 1,500 persons in 2022; and 1,050 persons in 2023. Since 2023 there has been a significant reduction, as for 2024 and 2025 the number of individuals from refugee camps who will reach Finland's airport in Vantaa each year is only 500.
Moreover, the current government continues to propose stricter immigration laws, including extending the period of residence required for Finnish citizenship from five to eight years, reducing financial support for asylum seekers, and issuing shorter residence permits.
Euro-Med Monitor calls on the government of Finland to respect and fulfill the obligations outlined in international human rights instruments, notably the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, ratified by Finland in 1970; to respond to occurrences of xenophobia, discrimination, and stigmatisation against migrants and refugees that drive negative public perceptions and fuel anti-immigration discourses; to ensure inclusivity and consistency in regional approaches to the reception and protection of migrants and refugees, without discriminating against individuals based on nationality, ethnicity, or religion; and to adopt all necessary measures for swiftly eliminating racial discrimination in all its forms and manifestations.
