Wed, 02 Dec, 2015 12:09:52 AM Govt mulls legal amendment FTimes – STT Report, Dec 2  Justice and Labour Minister Jari Lindström spoke at a press conference in Helsinki on Tuesday. Photo Lehtikuva. Minister of Justice and Labour Jari Lindström on Tuesday said asylum seekers in Finland should be incorporated quickly into the working life in order to save taxpayer’s money and prevent radicalisation.
The Ministry of Employment and the Economy is planning this year to examine the possibility of amending legislation in such a way that asylum seekers would be able to work at the stage when they are still at the reception centres.
This would facilitate an easy transition to working life for the asylum seekers who have been granted resident permits.
According to Lindström, it is also worth considering remunerative nature of the assistance received.
For instance, asylum seekers could be involved in different maintenance activities such as painting and snow shovelling.
“In this way they would understand from the start what the Finnish society is founded upon, that here [in Finland] work is done, taxes are paid and thus get some benefits,” Lindström said during a Ministry of Employment and the Economy press conference.
Asylum seekers are preparing food on Restaurant Day in Tampere on 21 November 2015. File Photo Lehtikuva. The minister said asylum seekers can also be involved in seasonal work such as berry picking.
Lindström expressed concern that spending time at the reception centres doing nothing else leads to frustrations and could turn into more serious problems.
“The point is that these people [asylum seekers] have meaningful things to do, instead of playing football and Kimble,” he said.
Lindström said working is the most effective way of integrating immigrants, especially since often the Finnish is learnt while working.
The minister, however, said that immigrants would not be getting any kind of advantage over the native population while searching for jobs.
“When already we have huge unemployment, there is no intention to build any overtaking lanes,” Lindström said.
The Ministry of Employment and the Economy will also be stepping up training and mapping of work experience in order to facilitate the employment of immigrants.
“Some of the immigrants’ path to working life can be very long, but among them there are those who have a lot of skill,” said Sonja Hämäläinen, ministerial adviser to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.
More News
|
|
Finland Times
| Wednesday, 24 April, 2024 |
|
Copyright © 2024 All rights reserved
|
||||
