Earlier this week, the Swedish People's Party (SPP) parliamentary group said that Finland needs at least 40,000 immigrants to move to the country every year to address the ageing population and low birth rate.
But according to a specialist researcher from the Migration Institute of Finland, the party's proposal does not address the many immigrants already in Finland worried about the threat of being thrown out of the country due to a government plan to tighten employment rules.
Last week, employment minister Arto Satonen (NCP) confirmed the government intends to move forward with a proposed law that would leave foreigners at risk of losing their work-based residence permits if they don't get a new job within three months after becoming unemployed.
The SPP, which is part of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's (NCP) right-wing government, called for granting permanent residence permits to foreign students.
The party also called for the elimination of labour market tests — a process that starts when a foreigner applies for a work-related residence permit, as the national employment office TE needs to determine whether the job in question could be filled by someone already in Finland.
The party presented more than 20 other measures to boost economic growth in the country.
The proposals raised eyebrows among members of their government partners, the Finns Party, some of whom dismissed the suggested measures. The plans also caused tensions because their implementation would require changes to the government's programme.
For example, the programme calls for the labour market test arrangement to stay in place. While the programme says people who earn university degrees in Finland can be granted permanent residence permits, the parliamentary group called for foreign high school graduates to receive them automatically.
"Listen to those already here"
Erna Bodström, a specialist researcher at the Migration Institute of Finland, said she was taken aback by the parliamentary group's proposals.
"I think the problems that already exist that make it difficult for people to stay in Finland should be addressed. Those things should be changed first, before you start thinking about what else you can change," Bodström told Svenska Yle.
The researcher added that many immigrants were worried about the future and that she was surprised the SPP chose not to address those concerns.
"We have a rather anti-immigration government programme. The people who are already here — and work here — are very worried because of that. If you want people to stay, you should listen to those who are already here," she said.
The SPP's parliamentary group chair, Otto Andersson, said he thinks it is good to exchange differing opinions.
"But I don't really understand why the changes we're proposing would be bad. We've listened to companies and asked what shortcomings they see. We've deliberately thought about how we can attract completely new people to Finland," Andersson said, adding that he considers the group's proposals "incredibly good".
"We strongly believe that Finnish companies know much better than an authority does about what kind of labour they need, and therefore the labour market tests should be abolished," he further noted.
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