Council of Europe gave its recommendations on the position of national minorities in Finland
Press release 19/2012
20 January 2012
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe gave Finland its recommendations on the position of national minorities on 19 January. Finland received three recommendations that would require immediate action and eight other recommendations.
The Committee of Ministers refers to the Government’s objective of ratifying the ILO Convention 169 on the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples and urges the immediate initiation of constructive dialogue with the Sami Parliament of Finland in order to seek a solution to the land rights issue in the Sami Homeland. The disappearance of Sami languages spoken in Finland should be prevented by means of adequate funding for and effective implementation of the ongoing programme for revitalisation of the Sami languages and by investing in the teaching of Sami languages so that speakers of the Sami languages would have better access to public services.
Finland is also called upon to develop negotiation structures and systems for minorities immediately so that representatives even of smaller minority groups would have a clear channel of communication and a real means of influencing decision-making.
Other recommendations, among other things, urge Finland to engage in active consultation with representatives of minorities in the ongoing projects related to non-discrimination and to take the views of minorities into account.
Adequate funding should be set aside for implementation of the National Policy on Roma, and it should be ensured that Roma are involved in implementation and monitoring of the policy. The possibilities of national minorities to participate in the focusing of assistance for cultural projects and plans should be developed.
The recommendations further urge the strengthening of measures countering racism and xenophobia, especially on the internet. Minority media, particularly Russian-language and Sami-language media, should be given more support.
The Committee of Ministers also gave a recommendation concerning Finland’s second official language, urging the authorities to ensure the availability of public services in their own language to Swedish speakers, as prescribed by law. All stages of administrative reform should take account of linguistic rights and should ensure that the Finnish education system offers ample opportunities for learning Swedish, in order to increase the number of Swedish-speaking officials.
The Committee of Ministers also recommends the development of a new structure for cooperation between the State administration and the Sami Parliament.
The recommendations pertain to national implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities given by the Council of Europe. Made in 1995, the Framework Convention entered into force both internationally and with regard to Finland on 1 February 1998.
The Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities examines the periodic reports submitted by Governments at five-year intervals, visits the State under review, and prepares a report and a proposal for recommendations. The Committee of Ministers takes the decision on the final recommendations.
Finland submitted the country’s third periodic report in February 2010. The Advisory Committee visited Finland in May 2010 and submitted its report in October 2010. In accordance with the established practice, the Government was given the opportunity to comment on the report.
All of the above documents are available on the website(Link to another website.) of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
Additional information: Counsellor Krista Oinonen, Unit for Human Rights Courts and Conventions of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5731, mobile tel. +358 40 158 54 82, e-mail: [email protected]