The Ministry of Employment and the Economy is considering whether to adjust work permission rules in order to get asylum seekers into the workforce more quickly, Finland’s biggest daily Helsingin Sanomat writes.
Permission to work in Finland is granted in tandem with a residence permit, and officials will consider ways to allow asylum seekers to work before receiving residence permits.
The employment and economy ministry’s Olli Sorainen told the paper that the process towards getting the thousands of arriving people into jobs could be shortened, and that the ministry would examine fields of employment that need workers.
“These jobs could be, for example, light forest clearing or berry picking, snow shovelling, property maintenance jobs,” Sorainen told the paper.
Currently asylum seekers who have appropriate identity paperwork can get to work after a three month waiting period, but those without proper ID have to wait six months, the paper writes.
“The waiting period could be shortened, for example, to one month,” Sorainen told HS. “And those without ID [the waiting period could be] two to three months.”
In Sweden, there is no waiting period and in Germany the waiting period is three months, the paper writes.
Shortening of the waiting period requires changes to the Aliens Act and needs the involvement of the Ministry of the Interior.
Discussions and decisions on the matter are not expected at least until next week, when a ministerial meeting on migration is planned. The meeting was scheduled to be held this Friday, but Interior Minister Petteri Orpo will be in Luxembourg at an interior ministers meeting then, HS writes.
Asylum seekers get guidance on sex norms in Finland
Finland is reportedly giving asylum seekers information on issues regarding sexuality, sex related law, and sexual health, Ilta-Sanomat writes.
The paper writes that the programme, led by the Immigration Service and the Family Federation, is aimed at clarifying the differences between Finland’s more liberal western attitude towards sex and cultural boundaries between genders here.
The sexualised media of the west could be confusing to a newcomer, the paper writes.
The paper writes that asylum seekers are being told:
Pornography is theatre of sorts, not the same as sex, and viewing it is not obligatory; unwanted sexual advances are illegal; that women dress to be looked at, not touched.
The guidance also delves into Finnish law regarding consensual sex, sexual harassment and sexual assault, the paper writes. They also detail the issue of equal rights of women in Finnish society, how divorce works here and that homosexuality is legal in Finland.
Director of the reception centre in Oulu Jenni Korpikari says that many asylum seekers are interested – with some fascinated - about Finnish gender and sexual norms, the paper writes.
VW scandal Finland’s first class action suit?
The Volkswagen emissions scandal which has rocked the automobile industry worldwide could result in the first class action suit in Finland, Iltalehti writes.
Citing a report by Lännen Media, Iltalehti quoted Finnish consumer ombudsman Päivi Hentunen saying that VW being caught tinkering with emissions test results could end up as a class action suit in Finland.
The number of affected VW vehicles are on Finnish roads are in the tens of thousands.
The owners of these vehicles, Hentunen told the paper, may find themselves in the legal position to claim compensation from the German automaker as a group: for decreased resale value of vehicles, for the reduction in power, or for increased fuel consumption from planned retrofits.
Hentunen says it needs to be determined what the overall damages are before a class action suit could take place, the paper writes.