Percy Mashaire, teacher, journalist

A friend of mine who has been living in Finland for a number of years called me a bit worried on 1st September. He could see nothing on his TV screen and wanted to know why. I explained to him that the television broadcasts had become digital and advised him to go and buy a digibox.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who physically, but not culturally, live in Finland. The reason is quite simple because they can´t speak Finnish, for one reason or another. Some work for international companies where the official language is English. Perhaps the majority of those without Finnish language skills consist of immigrants who have come to Finland and then found their place among their compatriots speaking the same language.

This is an old and common strategy to behave for immigrants around the world. They drift into their own social communities in which they speak the same language and come from the same departure countries. In their own communities they learn the customs and history of their new country of residence and even acquire an elementary knowledge of the language spoken there. They can find their first workplace or even a spouse through this social community. In other words, these communities are the first phase of their integration.

As it happens, the second phase of integration fails to arrive unfortunately frequently. The immigrant is rooted in his own cultural group and gets a job through the social network of his fellow citizens. They tell him where to find the necessary services, including health services. Once his material, social and perhaps also spiritual needs in life have been met, the immigrant doesn´t often make an effort to get a proper insight into the language and culture of his new homeland. He spends his life with his own cultural bunch. Instead of being informed by the media, the immigrant receives the news from the members of his own group. But often their language skills are also insufficient because they have no real social contact with the main population. The only connection they may have with representatives of the main population is the workplace. Traditionally, however, the majority of the first generation immigrants are engaged in work which the main population finds uncomfortable, underestimated and underpaid with scarce communication. It´s sufficient for the boss to order the immigrant to “clean up“ by gesture.

It seems the immigrants tend to accommodate their attitudes towards their new home country on the basis of what kind of experiences the members of their own cultural group have had. If an earlier arrival has experienced something negative, this is passed on to the next arrival. Due to the scanty communication between the main population and immigrants, the deficiencies of the common language they speak easily cause an indirect incomprehension, which, for its part, feeds prejudices and racism. People can live side by side for dozens of years and can be taken by surprise when something terrible takes place, such as revolts or tragic race riots.

The lack of communication and cultural incomprehension between the main population and immigrants also prevent the latter from reaching a high social and economic position in society. Employers of the main population shun immigrants´ customs and culture and rather hire an employee representing the main population. Apart from poor language skills, being rooted in his own cultural group often signifies that the immigrant doesn´t get a respected and well-paid job corresponding to his education. Consequently, this causes frustration and shunning from society as well as a lack of motivation to actively participate in it. At the same time, his own cultural group and its members are becoming more and more important psychological support pillars.

What should be done then? Integration is a process in which acquiring a knowledge of the language of the new homeland is of vital importance. It´s the frequently mentioned key to social action and participation. Is everybody aware of this? If the answer is positive, work ought to be started at once. Finland has only a few immigrants. They also wish to realise their dreams and develop and enrich themselves and the main population, which is human.

The majority of immigrants are willing to study, work and contribute to their new home country. What is needed is an active, functional strategy of integration that integrates language studies with the other activities the arrivals are engaged in, such as studying and working in general.

Learning the language of his new homeland is the immigrant´s duty. His duties include being employed, having a place to study and other opportunities to practise a profession without being discriminated against. This principle of rights and duties would be a solid basis on which to build an active, functional and successful strategy of integration.

Finally, Finland has officially accepted immigration by founding a ministerial department to attend to immigrant affairs. The integration of immigrants in society is one of the most crucial issues, if not the number one issue, in this process. Think about it.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year