Via Helsingin Sanomat (h/t Tundra Tabloids):
The immigration debate that has been raging in recent years has found its way into the declarations of Finland’s political parties.
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So how do the abovementioned programmes differ from each other?
The 75-page programme of the National Coalition Party is the most thorough and most comprehensive, and is part of a series of reports begun in 2006.
Some of the basic ideas have already been implemented. For instance, the family unification system has already been modified with legislation including age tests for asylum seekers, and by making it more difficult for foster children to benefit from family unification.
Other arguments put forward by Satonen include placing an emphasis on language skills and raising immigrant women into the front and centre of integration efforts.
The manifesto of the True Finns, which is divided into four parts, bears a number of striking similarities with the report of the National Coalition Party. Among other things, the aforementioned proposals by Satonen can be found in the True Finns’ manifesto as well, although they were expressed in a more colourful manner.
There are also differences, for instance in the means to the desired ends. Whereas the National Coalition Party wants to increase resources, especially for the processing of asylum applications, the True Finns state that “money should not be wasted on various types of training for confronting otherness”.
Both emphasise that there are no religious or cultural justifications for violating Finnish legislation. The SDP’s interim report focuses on work-related immigration, but it takes the same general lines.
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