Refugees bring new life to Finnish Punkalaidun, known for its coffins

She proudly puts the flag logo in place which signifies that the coffin she decorated is of the best Finnish quality. She has represented the Punkalaidun model several times, serving as an example of how successful integration can work in the countryside.

Everybody needs one

SHT-Tukku are behind a sizeable part of Finnish coffins. There are a few hundred smaller factories and some Chinese cheap imports.

“Here you are proud of your handiwork and rarely think much about the fact that dead people will be put in these coffins,” thinks Jari Leminen. Most people need coffins, regardless of their faith.

Around ten of the current employees have foreign backgrounds, a welcome addition to the staff. Jari Leminen chooses his words carefully. He choses the best skilled people, regardless of nationality or heritage.  

He has not heard any of the criticism which sometimes is found in Finland about “foreigners coming to take Finnish people’s jobs”. It is not true, either. Refugees are considered to be a resource here. That seems to be the common view among businesses. Yet so far the immigrants do not seem to have a place in future municipal plans for business development, neither as innovative businesspeople, multicultural export contacts or consumers.

Not easy to get into Punkalaidun

Newcomers are more visible in the population structure. It is not easy to integrate immigrants into rural municipalities, says the delegation for ethnic relations at the Ministry of Justice, which recently praised Punkalaidun municipality. 

It is not easy to get into Punkalaidun, say many newly arrived citizens. But these are mainly the Finns who have come here, even those arriving from the neighbouring municipality. Maarit Tiittanen agrees, She runs the project to get immigrants to enjoy settling into the municipality.

A lot is clearly about her as a person, the network she has managed to build and the optimism and willingness which seems to be everywhere.

“It’s not an eight to four office job, I get phone calls at all hours about the most unexpected problems which might arise,” she confides. 

Worse things than icy ski runs 

The day we are visiting they are staging an outdoor day. Two families – from Syria and Myanmar – are keeping warm by the bonfire before trying to ski for the first time in their lives. It does not go at all well. Their skis are far too slippery. Shady and Waled Almohamed are the bravest, ignoring the happy laughter form the onlookers. The concept of snow and ice is foreign to the family coming from Syria via the refugee camps of Lebanon. 

After a year in Punkalaidun, the Finnish language is still the greatest problem. It is hard. They are getting used to Finnish foods and traditions. The family Almohamed are more surprised over how difficult it is to get contact with Finns in their homes. 

Both the parents and the three sons still assure us everything will be fine, and praise Maarit Tiittanen for helping at every junction. An old press cutting still reveals that this family too at first was met with anger from some locals who did not like the newcomers.

Maarit Tiittanen admits there have been problems. But this too seems to work better now.

Political agreement on everything

In the stylish town hall we meet two Finns Party politicians and one from the Centre Party.

Head of the city council Outi Uusi-Kouvo from the Center Party, with Ari Prihti who is the head of the municipal board, and Martti Mölsä who is a municipal councillor and a member of the Finnish parliament

The two parties are the biggest in the municipality, just like they are in the government together with the National Coalition Party, which is the third largest also here. In the latest municipal elections the Social Democrats lost two mandates, half of what they had, and the Left Alliance has one. The Finns Party won large, while the Centre Party is the largest party.

The head of the city council Outi Uusi-Kouvo represents the Centre Party and explains the background:

“Agriculture has changed a lot, and the need for labour has been shrinking since the 1960s when farms started merging. Outi Uusi-Kouvo herself moved here from a neighbouring municipality, married into a farm, but with a job as an accountant on the side. 

She understands the challenges of establishing yourself in a foreign place, and if you come from the outside with a different language it is even harder. But the immigrants are welcome.

Integration pays

The Finns Party members, Ari Prihti who is head of the municipal board, and Martti Mölsä who is a municipal councillor and a member of the Finnish parliament, agree too.

“The focus on immigrants has been successful for the municipality. It is not certain this would work everywhere in the country, and it expects a lot from the immigrants.”

The two of them agree that some of their fellow party members are critical to that point of view. As a party, the Finns Party have been called immigration critical, and certain members go much further in their criticism of foreigners coming to Finland. 

On a municipal level the politicians agree on most things. Disagreements might emerge a few weeks before and after municipal elections, but afterwards they again work for the best of the municipality. There is no power struggle here, according to these three politicians. 

Quota refugees putting down roots

When the municipality first bought the big house which was later rented out to the Red Cross as accommodation for refugees, it created debate in the municipality, says Martti Mölsä.

Now people know that it is an advantage for the municipality to be able to rent the house out. And the school knows what is needed to quickly welcome new pupils from foreign cultures. 

Most of the asylum seekers disappear when they are told about the result of their application, but the quota refugees are a different matter. 

“They have adapted so incredibly well,” says Outi Uusi-Kouvo, and Ari Prihti agrees.

“After the first examples of successful integration, it has been easier to make decisions.”

Everyone’s a winner

There are no economic calculations showing how receiving refugees influences the municipality. But the three municipal politicians seem to agree that it is beneficial. Education and health services cost money, for sure, but the state compensates for most of the costs. The local service sector of course hopes for more customers and bigger revenues.

According to Martti Mölsä you can see how there is more life and colour along the municipality’s roads. Yet he brings up the fact that some asylum seekers went on steeling sprees in and outside of the municipality. Mölsä also reminds us of the Finns Party slogan: Help people where the problem occurs in their home countries, it is far more expensive to receive refugees in Finland. 

A sprinkling of humanity

Ari Prihti, himself a sheep farmer and businessman, points to the benefits the immigrants bring.

“We need labour. Punkalaidun has the region’s lowest unemployment. The Myanmar refugees are particularly good employees, there are children arriving who fill up the schools, there are many good things,” says Ari Prihti.

Outi Uusi-Kouvo is hoping for a win-win situation which benefits both the municipality and the immigrants. Yet whether the municipality does this for economic benefit or out of humanity is a difficult question to answer.

“It really doesn’t hurt feeling like a good person,” as Outi Uusi-Kouvo puts it.

Punkalaidun luxury after ten years in refugee camps

Many other refugees have left the municipality after a few years, but those from Myanmar have stayed. It is also not the case that all refugees from big cities prefer to come to Finland’s big cities. If you have been living in primitive refugee camps, Punkalaidun is also a luxurious place, points out politicians and refugees both.

The Finns Party in particular have been criticising fortune seekers who, according to  common belief only expect benefits and getting everything served on a plate.

Finns also want better living standards

“Much depends on your expectations and the information you already have. Many asylum seekers have very high expectations,” says Martti Mölsä. People smuglers have given them the wrong information and taken them to the wrong countries. But quota refugees know where they are going and what is expected from them.

Neither Prihti nor Mölsä likes the comparison with the tens of thousands of Finns who moved to Sweden in the 60s and 70s. Many moved to Turku and Helsinki too. People have always moved across borders from one country to another, in the hunt for a better life. But they were not welfare refugees. They went to Sweden to work, not to sign on, says Prihti and Mölsä.

Everyone wants immigrant candidates

In April Finland holds municipal elections. Ari Prihti proudly shows one of the candidates for the Finns Party. It is Sun May Htoo, who has lived in the municipality for seven years and is now a Finnish citizen. 

She is meant to garner the immigrant vote. 

“It is good here. We arrived as quota refugees fleeing war and political persecution. Nearly everyone who comes here from Myanmar likes living in smaller cities.”

Sun May Htoo has the same experiences as most other newcomers.

“The Finnish language is hard, and it can be difficult to understand all the paperwork.”

She praises the municipality’s focus on the refugee project and Maarit Tiittanen’s efforts.

If Sun May has experienced anything unpleasant in Punkalaidun, there is nothing she wants to tell us about. She is now working as a personal assistant and manages well in Finnish. Why she chose the Finns Party remains unanswered, however.