Rights of the Ingrian Finns Must
Be Secured
Since the collapse of the Soviet
Union, there has been lively debate on the Ingrian issue. The
discussion has uncovered a great number of old injustices which
are impossible to correct or recompense.
The Ingrians' right to return to
their own living areas is no longer restricted, and in principle,
rehabilitation has been secured for them. In practice it has,
however, turned out that in addition to attitudes, the realization
of rights depends on acquiring resources and removing bureaucratic
obstacles.
In Russia, a state program regarding
the status of minority languages and nationalities is under development
at the moment. It is, however, too early to speak of its practical
significance. Finland and the other Nordic countries have directed
some resources to the Ingrian areas. Still, the greatest support
has come from private citizens through various campaigns.
For individual Ingrians, the issue
of rehabilitation has become crucial. Rehabilitation requires,
however, acquiring various evidence in writing. For those Ingrians
who were forced to transfer to Finland during the wars, the required
papers include a document from the Finnish state archives. Its
fee is considerable, though, in terms of the average Ingrian income
level. There has been discussion in many contexts on lowering
or waiving the fee, but the solution is still to come.
The Expatriate Parliament urges
the Finnish state to direct resources to Ingrians in their own
areas, and to ensure that the support reaches its destination.
The parliament urges also the state archives to waive the certificate
fee for Ingrians.
Increasing Communication in Expatriate
Work
The satellite broadcasts of YLE,
the Finnish Broadcasting Company, offer a good chance to acquire
daily information on Finland. This kind of information is necessary
for those travelling abroad for work, and it gives an opportunity
to maintain a living contact with Finland and for those studying
Finnish.
TV Finland's programs are broadcast
via the Intelsat 707 satellite. In the Nordic countries and central
Europe, these broadcasts can be received with a 60-centimeter
dish antenna. In southern Europe and the Canary Islands, the broadcasts
require a larger antenna. During the summer of 1997, reception
is free, but starting in September, a fee will be charged for
a 'smart card' needed to receive the programs.
Since the broadcast signal is digital,
it requires a satellite receiver which costs some FIM 5500 (approximately
US$1,000). The Norwegian company Telenor is in charge of the new
satellite broadcasts. Nordic Satellite Broadcasting (NSB) in Brussels
provides the equipment and the smart cards. In addition to TV
Finland, the signal also transmits two radio channels and Text-TV.
Both services are free of charge.
Finns are also among the most avid
Internet and e-mail users in the world. In the last few years,
the system has developed into a reliable and cheap communication
and information system. The Finland Society has long had its own
home pages, which have published the Finland Bridge's News Week
every Monday since 1996. At the moment, these pages are being
developed to improve the services directed to expatriates.
In addition to news and articles,
an event calendar, information services, a discussion forum as
well as various directories and links are under development in
the home pages. The pages already include an address list of the
society's representatives and membership secretaries in various
countries, and a more versatile network is being planned.
The Finland Society is now developing
these services together with the Kaapelisolmu cooperative society.
This organization is interested in developing these services for
a reasonable price.
Many expatriate communities and projects
have their own home pages. Compiling them into networks together
with the Finland Society is in preparation. The goal is to improve
these connections and thus build a network of all expatriate communities
which are willing to participate.
The Expatriate Parliament is satisfied
with TV Finland's new operations in Europe, but urges YLE to negotiate
significant cuts in the costs, as well as to forcefully promote
the extensions of the satellite operations, first of all to North
America.
The Expatriate Parliament considers
it necessary that the Finnish government supply official information
directly to expatriates, both for the use of their own publications
and with the help of modern computer technology. As the expatriate
information is now scattered, Finnish official and other Internet
information must be available for each expatriate in a centralized
way. The parliament considers it important to discuss with YLE
improvements in its services to expatriates. The parliament also
hopes that there could be local relays of YLE programs in Australia,
and that brief items of Finland Society information could be added
to YLE broadcasts.
Citizenship Issues to Be Discussed
A Finnish citizen who is born outside
of Finland and is also a citizen of some other country loses his
or her Finnish nationality when reaching the age of 22 if he or
she has not lived in Finland or otherwise stayed there in conditions
which prove affinity to Finland.
Affinity is shown, for instance,
by doing military or civil service or by studying or working in
Finland. Recurrent vacationing in Finland past the age of 12 is
also considered proof of the required affinity. Officials must
be provided with a report on this affinity.
Evidence of having lived in Finland
must be acquired from a registration office. Military or civil
service is proved with a military passport or a certificate; studying
or working with a document from the educational establishment
or employer. A stay in Finland must be reported in writing with
two reliable witnesses. In addition to a report, one must apply
to maintain citizenship by filing a special form. The decision
on the application is subject to a fee.
Like the other Nordic Countries,
Finland's aim is that people should have only one nationality.
The general rule is that a Finnish citizen loses his or her citizenship
when acquiring citizenship of some other country.
This policy line has every now and
then stirred a lively discussion among Finnish expatriates. It
has focused on both the principle of one nationality and the procedure
for maintaining a child's nationality, which has been considered
bureaucratic.
The expatriate community needs more
detailed information on the possibility of dual citizenship and
citizenship decisions.
The Expatriate Parliament invites
the expatriate communities to a thorough debate on the citizenship
issue together with Finnish officials, striving to maintain the
right to Finnish nationality in the form of dual citizenship.
Support to Suomi Schools Must
be Extended
During the last decades, thousands
of Finnish expatriate children and teenagers have strengthened
their Finnish language and Finnishness by participating in activities
provided by Suomi Schools. For many students, these volunteer
establishments offering education a few hours a week are their
only contact to Finland outside the family.
There are today more than a hundred
Suomi Schools in various parts of the world. Their activities
are mostly dependent on the volunteer work of local Finns. The
modest support from the Finnish government has further decreased
during the last few years. The teachers' personal input has been
decisive everywhere from the very beginning. Even a small increase
in the grants would have a great influence on school activities.
For many schools, incomplete information about study materials
as well as lack of help with ordering books and other material
has been a problem.
The Expatriate Parliament emphasizes
the Suomi Schools' linguistic and cultural significance to expatriate
communities and urges the Ministry of Education and educational
officials to extend grants and pedagogic support. These officials
are also urged to support the language studies of pre-school-age
children as well as adults.
Minority Status for Finns in Sweden
In Sweden, Finnish has been spoken
through the ages in a large part of country: in Torneå river
valley, the Stockholm area, Mälar valley, Vermland, Dalarna
and Västmanland. For 600 years, the present area of Finland
formed the eastern half of the Kingdom of Sweden, and Finnish
was the nation's second main language. Moving from east to west
has been completely natural. According to documents, there was
an active Finnish parish in Stockholm as early as 1533.
Today there are some 440,000 first
and second-generation Finns in Sweden. In 1994, the Swedish parliament
acknowledged the Finnish language as a historical language in
Sweden and a part of the country's cultural heritage. The European
Office for Minority Languages has demanded minority status for
Finnish, based on the Council of Europe's charter on regional
or minority languages.
Through their organizations, Finns
in Sweden have expressed their will to build a functioning language
minority and a cultural autonomy. A special committee is now studying
Sweden's possibilities to sign the Council of Europe agreement
on behalf of Finnish and other languages. The minimum demand of
the Finnish Swedes' organizations is a statutory minority status
for the Finnish language in Sweden.
The Expatriate Parliament supports
the Finns in Sweden in their demands of Sweden to ratify the Council
of Europe's treaties for the whole country as well as to create
specific legislation. The parliament appeals to the Swedish government
in the matter, and urges the Finnish government to continue its
struggles on behalf of the issue.
In future, one of the parliament's
important duties is to support aspirations to influence the legislation
to support the Finnish language in other countries as well.
Developing the Central Support
Network
In 1996, more than 10,000 Finns moved
abroad, though traditional emigration is considered to have ended
years ago. The international labor market explains only part of
the new emigration. Moving abroad is increasingly seen as a few
years' assignment, advancing one's career and providing an enriching
experience for the whole family.
Despite their strong education and
language skills, the new emigrants face many problems, the most
important of which are social and cultural issues. During the
winter of 1996-97, in cooperation with the Finnish Mental Health
Association, church expatriate bodies, the Ministry of Labor,
companies and the labor movement, the Finland Society trained
ten central support people to offer services for Finnish immigrants
in six countries.
The active and extensive friendship
network in Britain, as well as Germany's Helping Neighbor project
have been an essential part of this work. In France, Spain, Thailand
and Singapore, Finnish newcomers now also receive concrete help
in practical matters such as those related to moving, contacts
with officials, school issues and how to find fellow countrymen.
The aim is to gradually build a support
network in these countries, and to extend the activities to other
countries receiving new Finnish expatriates. For ordinary Finns
the help is free of charge, whereas companies sending employees
abroad on assignment are offered more extensive support packages.
The central support people are easiest to reach through the Finland
Society.
The Expatriate Parliament supports
the support-person project and urges all expatriate communities
to cooperate to advance and extend the project. The parliament
suggests that part of the government's financial support for expatriate
work is channeled directly to emigrants' information services,
such as founding a support-person network in their own countries.
On the Benefits and Duties of
Expatriates and Returning Emigrants in Finland
The availability of information on
issues concerning social security (maternity allowances and pensions),
taxation and military service for expatriates and returning emigrants
is random. Information provided by officials does not always reach
the expatriates. The expatriates often fall between the cracks
in social security decisions. Returning emigrants often have to
deal with several officials.
The Expatriate Parliament proposes
that the information aimed at expatriates and returning emigrants
should be centralized in one place, collecting the essential information,
conveying it further and controlling the expatriate interests
in decision-making.
The availability of information
to returning emigrants must be improved and the returning conditions
eased. The taxation of returnees' pensions as well as work pensions
paid from Finland should be studied comprehensively and corrected.
Supporting the Activities of Expatriate
Organizations
Expatriate organizations seek financial
support for their activities in their own countries. The establishment
phase of these organizations is especially difficult without sufficient
funds. Experiences of Finnish organizations in other countries
may prove useful in the founding stage.
As the problems of a new arrival
are specifically problems related to the new country, the best
supporter is another, already-integrated expatriate. Personal
contacts are more important than written information. Some of
the problems can be foreseen, but everything cannot be predicted.
It is impossible to analyze, organize and maintain all the knowledge
which an established Finn can share with a newcomer.
The Expatriate Parliament proposes
that Finland would give direct financial support to the expatriate
organizations. Especially new and developing expatriate societies
should receive government support for their information activities.
The parliament also hopes that the costs of future Expatriate
Parliament sessions will be reimbursed from the state budget.
It is further proposed that the government give financial support
for information services for returning emigrants and, for instance,
the support-person projects in the target countries.
Building Retirement Homes
Both studies and practice show that
people's ability to maintain foreign language skills weaken with
age. Elderly people's possibilities to get by in the new home
country is thus largely dependent on an environment where they
can speak their own language and maintain their own culture.
Finnish emigrants in different parts
of the world have developed various old-age and retirement home
solutions. In Australia, Canada, and in recent years also in Sweden,
private initiatives have resulted in old-age homes where all residents
are Finnish or the proportion of Finns is large enough to ensure
language and cultural influences. At the moment, Finnish expatriates
are discussing similar projects in Germany.
The Expatriate Parliament considers
building Finnish retirement homes for expatriates important, and
urges the Finland Society to collect information and experiences
of realized projects and to convey the information to expatriate
communities. In the founding stage, financial support is sought
from the government.
Electoral District for Expatriates
The Expatriate Parliament urges the
Finnish government to study the possibility of founding an electoral
district for expatriates.
Support for Youth
The Expatriate Parliament urges all
expatriate organizations to pay attention to supporting youth
culture. The parliament also urges the Finnish state to supply
information on the possibilities of studying in Finland.