The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination gave its Concluding Observations on the periodic reports of Finland
Press Release 85/2009
19 March, 2009
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination gave its Concluding Observations on the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth periodic reports of Finland on Thursday, 5 March.
In its Concluding Observations, the Committee welcomes the adoption of the Non-discrimination Act of 2004, the establishment of the National Discrimination Tribunal and the strengthening of the role of the Ombudsman for Minorities. The Committee considers it positive that Finland has acceded to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and that Finland has ratified Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
The Committee also views positively the amendment to the Aliens Act just approved by Parliament, which will allow holders of a temporary permit (so-called B permit) to be granted a work permit, the adoption of the Internal Security Programme in May 2008and the intervention programme for the prevention of bullying at school to be launched in 2009–2011.
The Committee expressed concern, among other things, about the high rate of unemployment among people of immigrant background and the Roma people, about de facto segregation in housing encountered by both immigrants and Roma, and about the limited progress achieved in resolving Sami land rights issues.
The Committee recommends, inter alia, that the State of Finland, as soon as possible, should adhere to International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries, should ensure compliance with the law against discrimination in the allocation of housing, should strengthen work to raise the level of education among members of Roma communities, should intensify efforts to combat discrimination against people of immigrant background and should take effective steps to ensure that the study on land rights in Upper Lapland results in concrete action.
The next three periodic reports will be submitted in a single document in August 2011. These reports shall provide information on the steps taken as a result of the present Concluding Observations.
Additional information: Project Assistant Katja Kuuppelomäki, Unit for Human Rights Courts and Conventions, tel. +358 9 1605 5731, [email protected]