Irmeli Tuomarla, Labour Market Counsellor, Editor in chief

13.11.2007

November 7th was a day of deep sorrow for the Finnish children, youngsters and adults. The school tragedy in Jokela, ending nine lives, launched a genuine and open dialogue raising the welfare of children and youngsters at the top of all the agendas.

With news items pouring in, the powerful media can pursue the debate on the issues involving all the children and young people, also those with an immigrant background, in a more sustained manner if they wish.

Anyone responsible for education, particularly for early childhood education, has to examine their ability to listen and engage in dialogues with children and youngsters about ordinary things in our own culture or across cultural borders as well as be more conscious of chats on the Internet, where a dialogue on a personal level is not limited by national borders, and which can have unexpected and uncontrollable crossing points.                        

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At the beginning of 2008 the Ministry of the Interior will revamp immigration affairs. On the above mentioned day of grief, Permanent Secretary Ritva Viljanen publicised the Ministry´s new vision: "Finland is the most secure and pluralistic country in Europe where our international competitiveness is supported by an active immigration policy and everybody´s experience of living in a safe society, based on equality“. Unfortunately, the vision can´t be stuck on you as a sticking plaster to our grief, but it is an objective worth aiming at.

Pentti Visanen, head of the future immigration department, will have such new units under his command as immigration, international protection, integration and management support. The new superiors have just been appointed. Work against discrimination and racism as well as affairs promoting ethnic equality will be dealt with in a unit of their own.

In early November Astrid Thors, Minister of Immigration and European Affairs, launched a survey to estimate the division of tasks between the Ministry of the Interior and the Finnish Directorate of Immigration, in terms of implementing the policy of immigration. Ole Norrback, who has been appointed as the executor, and his team will have a hard job to clarify, by the end of April 2008, how to improve the guidance and service of customers, management by results and the assessment of operating methods in the future immigration department. The team will also have to make the necessary recommendations for measures to facilitate decision-making, especially related to applications of residence, asylum and nationality.

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Monitori will have to deal with the problems directly and make efforts to be renewed and provide a better service for its readers, including authorities working with immigrants, decision-makers, mass media, experts, communities and companies and the great public who reads the magazine on the web. It will become an even stronger information channel of immigrant affairs. In the future, the magazine will focus on these affairs from the perspectives of administrative fields.

In a couple of years, Monitori will be 20 years old. The three main ministries have published it with more than 100.000 of its readers engaged in immigration affairs.

The prospects are looking good.