Govt moves to review migration policy

The Ministry of the Interior has launched a project for preparing the government’s migration policy programme on the basis of decisions taken by the authorities in its mid-term policy review.

The programme is to lay down Finnish migration policy guidelines for the current government’s term, said a government press release.

“With this programme, the government aims at identifying measures to support in particular labour migration, immigrant integration and good relations between different population groups,” said Minister of the Interior Paula Risikko.

The migration policy programme will complement the already established programmes and guidelines of the present government. These include, in addition to the Government Programme, the government’s migration policy measures, the action plan on asylum policy, and the Government Integration Programme for 2016–2019.

The preparation of the migration policy programme will be based on the Government Resolution on the Future of Migration 2020 Strategy adopted in 2013.

The ministerial working group on migration will regularly monitor the progress of the preparation work and act as a project steering group.

The preparation of the programme will be the responsibility of an intersectoral working group led by the Ministry of the Interior with representation from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Ministry of Education and Culture, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Environment, Finnish Immigration Service, National Police Board, and the Finnish Border Guard. The working group will be chaired by Ministry of the Interior Director General Jorma Vuorio.

During the preparation, various stakeholders will be consulted extensively. The migration policy programme is scheduled to be completed in early 2018.