CCME Nordic/Baltic meeting challenges the church to be more prophetic amid worrying migration trends in the region
by Joy Eva Bohol/CCME
Tightening and narrowing on migration policies, cutting down resettlement quotas for refugees and asylum seekers applicants, increasing hate speech and crimes, and a rising number of right-wing governments are some of the many complex issues that country representatives reported, during the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) Nordic/Baltic meeting on 7-8 September 2023 in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Although not immediate on the borders of the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict, these Nordic/Baltic countries still receive and have seen a significant surge in numbers of refugees and asylum seekers from Ukraine, Russia, and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries. However, governments of the Nordic/Baltic countries are resisting to accommodate these ongoing and new refugee arrivals in the region by creating stricter and narrower policies. At the same time these governments’ inaction against the growing cases of racism, Islamophobia, and hate and violence targeting LGBTQIA+ communities lead to further alarming future in the region.
In Finland, according to Ulla Siirto’s sharing, “the government’s published program concerning immigration policy is very tight…especially on humanitarian immigration…the quota (number) for resettlement of refugees will be decreased significantly, for example from 1,050 down to 500. Other deteriorations of rights of asylum seekers, humanitarian refugees, and even work-based immigration include shortening resident permits, extending living years in Finland before getting the right to apply for citizenship or taking away the right for undocumented people to get necessary health care…”