Russians largest immigrant group in Finland
The Finnish Ombudsman for Minorities Johanna Suurpää says Russian speakers are a significant resource in Finland. More should be done to promote their well-being, she says.
There are some 50,000 Russians living in Finland and the number is growing. Finns understand that the Russians are a significant resource for the country, but the language and cultural knowhow of Russian immigrants are often not taken advantage of, a new study shows.
The study by the Ombudsman for Minorities indicates that Russians often feel like they’re on the outskirts of society, YLE News reports. Russians complain of a lack of information in Russian about what is happening in Finland. Furthermore, they want to see improvements in Finnish and Russian language instruction. The immigrants also complain of discrimination at the workplace, according to the study.
Best out are the areas in eastern Finland where employers realise the importance of speaking Russian. Because of this, there have been talks of increasing Russian-language instruction in schools. But even more support should be given to promote bilingualism in early childhood in Finland, the Ombudsman says
