The Social Democratic Party of Finland Demands Worse Conditions for Immigrants

Featured image: Antti Lindtman the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. Source: Punalippu

The Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) proposed changes to its position on immigration at its Party congress in Kouvola. These proposed changes include extended measures and harsher punishments against so-called “street gang crime,” a requirement that immigrants commit themselves to “the values of Finnish society” and abandon customs from their countries of origin that are considered incompatible with those values. In addition, the Party’s program paper included the restriction of home-care allowance in order to encourage immigrant women to enter employment, the linking of parts of social security to studying Finnish, and if a person has been in Finland for a certain period of time and has not learned Finnish, the withdrawal of free interpretation services.

Punalippu notes that although this change in tune is to some extent part of the competition for votes –mainly in competition with the the Finns Party, which is more known for its chauvinistic anti-immigration rhetoric – in the upcoming parliamentary elections, it is also a question of the necessity of the bourgeoisie to become increasingly reactionary in an attempt to take control of the crisis of the imperialist system. A crisis of which, the more open chauvinism and militarism are a tell tale sign.

The “progressive” and “liberal” SDP is a party of the Finnish imperialist capital – like all parties in the Finnish parliament – that in its part strives to divide the working class, Punalippu points out. It demands harsher punishments and rules for immigrants but at the same time demands immigration, serving imperialism in its super-exploitation of the immigrants from oppressed nations.

Punalippu evaluates that the bourgeoisie has no means to solve its crisis, and the bourgeoisie parties can therefore offer only more reaction and more misery, so it tries to hide its lack of legitimacy by inciting masses against each other.