A delegation of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) visited Finland from 28 October to 1 November 2024 as the first step in the preparation of a monitoring report. The visit was preceded by online meetings on 22 and 24 October 2024. During the visit, ECRI’s delegation gathered information on effective equality and access to rights; hate speech and hate-motivated violence; and integration and inclusion.

In Helsinki, the ECRI delegation held meetings with representatives of the Finnish government, police, prosecution service and judiciary, as well as with the equality bodies, and civil society organisations, including trade unions. The preceding online meetings, mostly held with representatives of civil society and international organisations. 

The delegation also went to the city of Turku, where it held a meeting with representatives of the municipal authorities and visited a primary school, as well as the University of Turku. It also met with representatives of civil society active in areas of relevance to ECRI.

Following this visit, ECRI will adopt a report in which it will make a new set of recommendations on measures to be taken by the authorities to address racism and intolerance in the country. The implementation of two priority recommendations will be reviewed within two years after the publication of the report as part of ECRI’s interim follow-up procedure.

In its 2019 report on Finland, among other recommendations, ECRI asked that, in order to avoid lengthy delays, a third centre to provide necessary health services to persons wishing to undergo gender reassignment be set up. ECRI also recommended that that the authorities reinforce their responses against hate speech by setting up an inter-institutional working group to develop a comprehensive strategy to tackle effectively the problem of racist and homo-/transphobic hate speech.

For more information on previous ECRI reports on Finland, please visit ECRI’s country monitoring page.