Tekijä (11.09.2024 - Heikki Jokinen) In Finnish political history, there has seldom been, if ever, any proposed legislation that has come in for such fierce criticism as the new proposal for amendment of the Aliens Act by the right-wing Orpo-Purra Government.
As always, new bill proposals are sent out for comments that may be submitted by all interested parties. These are published on the website lausuntopalvelu.fi.
One of the key proposals concerns the holder of a residence permit issued based on employment. Should he or she become unemployed, according to the dream of the right-wing Government, he or she must leave Finland with their family in three months, if the residence permit has been valid for under two years.
For specialists, startup entrepreneurs and middle or top managers, the time limit would be six months.
Of the 131 comments delivered - mostly from unions, employers' associations, state offices, universities, industry federations and NGO's - all but one said no to the three months limit.
The main lines of criticism were pretty much in unison: Finland needs new labour from abroad. This should be made easier, not more difficult or impossible. A major number of comments proposed the time limit to be at least six months for all, or one year.
Now, the Government has to decide what to do with its unhappy proposal. When forming the Government, the right-wing Coalition Party and the far-right Finns Party made a barter: the Coalition Party got a bunch of new labour laws benefitting unilaterally employers and the Finns Party got laws against immigrants. So now that labour laws have been mostly modified, with this law the Coalition Party is now repaying its debt to the Finns Party.
The employers' associations were happy to welcome other Orpo-Purra duo laws benefitting them though creating problems in the labour market. Now, they oppose this law that would harm business and as well create problems in the labour market.
The bill applies only to those with a residence permit issued based on employment, not citizens of EU and EEA Countries.