More Roma people from Eastern Europe have so far arrived in Helsinki this spring than in previous years. Social workers estimate that 400 Roma transients have already arrived in Finland, around the same number as last summer's peak.
The Helsinki Deaconess Institute provides support services for Roma migrants from Eastern Europe who arrive in the city without funds or a place to stay -- many of whom end up begging on the streets.
Staff at the centre speculate that the early influx to Finland is due to rising prices and a worsening standard of living in Romania and other Eastern European countries. Some may also have been enticed by word of the relatively mild winter in the Nordic area, they say.
Finland has been debating the question of whether begging should be criminalised. Some fear that such a move could backfire and cause aggressive behaviour towards beggars. Aggressive forms of begging are already forbidden in Finland, and most officials feel that it is sufficient, arguing that "poverty cannot be banned by law", especially in a Europe with a policy of free movement.
Confrontation in Sweden
In neighbouring Sweden, the Roma population has also multiplied in recent years, leading to confrontations. On Thursday demonstrators tried to block police efforts to evict a shantytown housing Romanians just north of Stockholm.
Romania's Ambassador to Sweden, Radutja Matache, says her country would better be able to help its own Roma minority were Sweden to criminalize begging.
"If Sweden discourages begging, those who are now on the streets will go back home and they will have another chance at being integrated," she told Yle.
