Govt's immigration crime prevention plans termed political

A reputed academician on Thursday slammed the immigration crime prevention plans announced by the government on Wednesday and termed the plans as “painfully clear and political.

The psychologist called government's proposals as clear example of politics at play before the upcoming election, reported National broadcaster Yle.

Forensic psychologist Tom Pakkanen told Yle that government's plans to combat migrant crime as "disappointing" and said the administration gave a misleading picture of the problems at hand and their message was inaccurate.

"I wouldn't give [Wednesday's government press conference] terribly high marks. I have to say it was mostly disappointing. The focus was wrong. The first 15 minutes was straight-up immigration politics,” said the Yle report quoting Pakkanen as saying.

"That's also an important debate that needs [adequate] time to be addressed, but mixing up the two issues [immigration and crime] is a misrepresentation about the problem of sexual abuse, and in the worst case targets immigrants to a degree that is not objective at all," Pakkanen told Yle.

The government on Wednesday completed an action program to prevent criminality with immigration background.

However, most of the fifty policy changes announced on Wednesday by the interior ministry will require amendments in legislation and would remain for the government to start after the April election.

Interior Minister Kai Mykkänen singled out "the risk of being deported from Finland" as the most effective preventive factor.

A bill being currently processed in parliament would allow the deportation of a dual national for crimes such as high treason or terrorism, but the intention now is to include more "ordinary" aggravated crimes as well.

Mykkänen said that it is undeniably true that asylum seekers from certain countries are over represented in statistics of sexual crimes. While the punishment will be increased, asylum seekers would be briefed more extensively in reception centers.

The new law would take rejected asylum seekers into custody if the persons are deemed as a danger already after their first rejection. Currently, they can file a legal complaint without losing their personal freedom.

Mykkänen said the number would be "hundreds rather than thousands", and "a wider use (of the prisons) would require more capacity in detention facilities".

The requirements for a permanent residence permit and citizenship would be made stricter. A knowledge test on the basic norms of Finnish society would be required and healthy adults must have a record of several years at work or school.

Mykkänen underlined, however, that Finland continues to adhere to the joint asylum policies of the European Union, but "will try to affect them".

Tarja Mankkinen, head of planning at the Ministry of the Interior, said that Finland aims at punishing those who have committed crimes, but the legal situation is challenging.

"Departing from Finland with terrorist intentions" was not criminalized until in 2016, and most of those who left had gone earlier and the law does not apply retroactively.

"This means terrorist acts while outside Finland should be proven. But it will be difficult to provide evidence that would hold in court", Mankkinen told a Swedish language newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet.