Surrounded by burning ghettos?
One of the highest rates of immigrants in Europe is drawing fears fromFinns. Some are concerned that immigrants, attracted by Finland’sgenerous welfare packages and high living standards, will overrun theircountry.
Now, areas with immigrants’ shops and housing dominating them can befound in Helsinki as easily as in any other European city. Twenty yearsago, such places simply did not exist. And last year, Finland had thehighest level of immigration since World War II.
The number of foreigners in the country has risen sixfold since 1990.Although they still constitute only 3 percent of the population, thatgrowth rate is one of the highest in the world.
Finnish opposition politician Jussi Halla-aho is an anti-immigration blogger. His blog has attracted hundreds of thousands of followers. Halla-aho was sued for defamation in a high-profile freedom of speech trial, and his views are ignored by mainstream parties.
“We are faithfully repeating every mistake Sweden, for example, has made before us,” Halla-aho says. “Most Finnish cities will be surrounded by a ring of burning ghettoes.”