In a report published today, the Council of Europe Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) calls on Finland to tackle growing racist and intolerant hate speech, better coordinate integration activities for immigrants and review the law requiring transgender persons to be sterilised before they can have their new gender legally recognized (see also the Finnish version of the report).
ECRI welcomes the adoption of a new anti-discrimination law and the prohibition of ethnic profiling, as well as measures taken to combat hate speech, including the setting-up of Hate Speech Investigation Teams in every Police Department. Some 900 police officers have also received training on preventing and combating hate crimes.
Another positive development is the launching of the second Integration Action Plan under the National Programme for the Integration of Immigrants and the successful integration activities implemented by the city of Helsinki. ECRI also commends Finland´s efforts to integrate the unprecedented number of refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection who arrived in 2015, including in the areas of language learning and training for employment.
