Text Minna Suihkonen

The government period is approaching its finish, but despite that, the Minister of Labour is very busy. She dashes past with papers in her hands and apologetically asks me to wait for a moment. After a while she runs in another direction.

During the last government period, preparing the programme on immigration policy was one of the preparations which made Ms Filatov run. In 2004 the Ministry of Labour appointed a working group to make a draft for the programme. In October 2006 the final programme was approved by the government.

In fact, Ms Filatov is quite content with its final content. She is especially pleased with the decision to provide a training system for employment-based immigrants in collaboration with labour market organisations.

– In terms of employment-based immigration, it´s the best outcome of the programme.

A model for collaboration with departure countries

A pilot project with Poland on the collaboration with departure countries is an important achievement, Filatov emphasises.

Several pilot projects with the departure countries of workforce were brought forward in the proposal for a programme composed by Rauno Saari´s working group, consisting of civil servants. Such countries as China and Russia were quoted, among others. However, it is only the pilot project with Poland that was included in the final programme. The question remains whether cooperation with departure countries ought to have been undertaken more courageously.

The transition periods of the new member states were abandoned, which influenced the willingness to highlight EU countries as the departure countries of labour, Ms Filatov explains.

– It would have been appropriate to select countries of different kinds for the project. However, the most important thing was to develop a mechanism for collaboration together with Poland. If necessary, good practices can then be adapted to cooperating with other countries.

Opening doors are a risk

For the time being, the decision to guard the availability of labour was included in the programme, which Tarja Filatov found to be a good solution. In her view a very liberal system involves a risk of various middlemen making empty promises to job seekers and thus benefiting from their situation.

In addition, another risk would be a birth of lowly paid immigrant fields.

– Workplaces have to have both Finnish and immigrant employees, which secures the rights of working life because a Finnish colleague can tell immigrants how much they have to be paid.

In terms of immigration, Filatov is dismayed at the methods some traditionally colonial countries have deployed. During the economic boom their doors have been wide open while during the recession they have endeavoured to get rid of immigrants.

She reminds that the programme on immigration policy introduced a step-by-step process to liberate immigration.

– Once the training and service system is working for the benefit of employment-based immigrants, only one decision is necessary to give up discretionary consideration of workforce if required.

Ms Filatov goes on to say that not all difficulties which are due to employment-based immigration can be solved by the programme. Instead, practical processes have to be made more flexible. An example of this is an accelerated handling of work permits by concentrating their issuing in certain employment agencies.

However, some important issues were left outside the programme. Filatov is disappointed that as far as humanitarian immigration is concerned, temporary residence permits couldn´t be abolished. On the contrary, their number is increasing.

Immigration out of the margins

Tarja Filatov admits that very few programmes have made her work equally hard. To a great extent, her work has been “communication“, in other words, discussions and exchange of information with various participants. The final result was an extensive approval of the programme, including the Opposition.

Besides, the long preparations have also compelled different branches of administration to take immigration issues seriously, Filatov believes.

– As far as ministries are concerned, these aren´t crucial questions for them. That´s why they have been easily left in the margin.

When composing the programme, we successfully considered the prospects for collaboration between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour, in particular, Filatov praises.

At the political level, the programme was approved quite unanimously, but are the people prepared to approve increased immigration? We have to be careful about aggravating attitudes, the Minister replies.

– We have people who have been unemployed for a long time and those who have lost their jobs. It´s not worth encouraging adversary attitudes.

– It has to be seen that our own workforce is in the first position. This is how racism is prevented.

The government and the Ministry of Labour have received recognition of dealing with employment. During this government period, nearly 100,000 new jobs have been created. Will the immigrants already residing in Finland be employed at the same rate as the main population?

According to Filatov, immigrants´ unemployment has been markedly reduced. Seven years ago when Filatov was starting in her ministerial post, the unemployment rate was 31 percent. At the end of last year it was 26.

Special measures, such as language training, are still needed, she points out. But there is still room for improvement as far as the attitudes of the employers and those purchasing the services are concerned.

Employers mustn´t be given unlimited funding

Presently the programme on immigration policy is about to be implemented. What Filatov regards as a challenge is creating a training system especially for employment-based immigrants. Important issues, such as, the division of costs, the role of employers, municipalities and the state, have to be solved.

– Employers have to commit themselves to implementing the system. Society can´t provide companies with unlimited funding to teach Finnish and professional vocabulary to their personnel.

Filatov hopes that the next government would be able to provide sufficient funding for the system.

– We must have facilities to make the new integration structures permanent. If we just settle for repairing the consequences, we´ll end up having totally different costs.