<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-content__headline-standfirst-wrapper">
<div class="gmail-content__header gmail-tonal__header">
<div class="gmail-u-cf">
<h1 class="gmail-content__headline">
Sweden's Finns fear minority language rights are under threat
</h1>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-tonal__standfirst gmail-u-cf">
<div class="gmail-content__standfirst">
<p>Experts warn Finnish could die out in Sweden, with reports of official policy being contravened</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-content__meta-container gmail-js-content-meta gmail-js-football-meta gmail-u-cf">
<div class="gmail-meta__contact-wrap">
<p class="gmail-byline">Fredrika Fellman, Liliia Makashova and Viktoriia Zhuhan in Gothenburg</p>
<p class="gmail-content__dateline">
<time datetime="2018-03-13T01:00:30-0400" class="gmail-content__dateline-wpd gmail-js-wpd gmail-content__dateline-wpd--modified">
Tue 13 Mar 2018 <span class="gmail-content__dateline-time">01.00 EDT</span>
</time>
<time datetime="2018-03-13T05:35:07-0400" class="gmail-content__dateline-lm gmail-js-lm gmail-u-h">
Last modified on Tue 13 Mar 2018 <span class="gmail-content__dateline-time">05.35 EDT</span>
</time>
</p>
</div>
<div class="gmail-meta__extras">
<div class="gmail-meta__social">
<ul class="gmail-social gmail-social--top gmail-js-social--top gmail-u-unstyled gmail-u-cf">
<li class="gmail-social__item gmail-social__item--facebook">
<a class="gmail-social__action gmail-js-social__action--top gmail-social-icon-wrapper" href="https://www.facebook.com/dialog/share?app_id=180444840287&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2018%2Fmar%2F13%2Fswedens-finns-fear-minority-language-rights-are-under-threat%3FCMP%3Dshare_btn_fb" target="_blank" title="Facebook">
<span class="gmail-inline-share-facebook gmail-inline-icon gmail-rounded-icon gmail-centered-icon gmail-social-icon gmail-social-icon--facebook">
</span>
</a>
</li>
<li class="gmail-social__item gmail-social__item--twitter">
<a class="gmail-social__action gmail-js-social__action--top gmail-social-icon-wrapper" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Sweden's%20Finns%20fear%20minority%20language%20rights%20are%20under%20threat&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2018%2Fmar%2F13%2Fswedens-finns-fear-minority-language-rights-are-under-threat%3FCMP%3Dshare_btn_tw" target="_blank" title="Twitter">
<span class="gmail-inline-share-twitter gmail-inline-icon gmail-rounded-icon gmail-centered-icon gmail-social-icon gmail-social-icon--twitter">
</span>
</a>
</li>
<li class="gmail-social__item gmail-social__item--email">
<a class="gmail-social__action gmail-js-social__action--top gmail-social-icon-wrapper" href="mailto:?subject=Sweden's%20Finns%20fear%20minority%20language%20rights%20are%20under%20threat&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2018%2Fmar%2F13%2Fswedens-finns-fear-minority-language-rights-are-under-threat%3FCMP%3Dshare_btn_link" target="_blank" title="Email">
<span class="gmail-inline-share-email gmail-inline-icon gmail-rounded-icon gmail-centered-icon gmail-social-icon gmail-social-icon--email">
</span>
</a>
</li>
<li class="gmail-js-social__secondary gmail-social__item gmail-social__item--more gmail-js-social__item--more">
</li></ul></div></div></div><header class="gmail-content__head gmail-content__head--article gmail-tonal__head gmail-tonal__head--tone-news"><div class="gmail-content__meta-container gmail-js-content-meta gmail-js-football-meta gmail-u-cf"><div class="gmail-meta__extras"><div class="gmail-meta__social"><ul class="gmail-social gmail-social--top gmail-js-social--top gmail-u-unstyled gmail-u-cf">
</ul>
</div>
<div class="gmail-meta__numbers">
<div class="gmail-meta__number gmail-js-sharecount" title="Facebook: 1168"><h3 class="gmail-sharecount__heading"><span class="gmail-inline-share gmail-inline-icon"></span><span class="gmail-sharecount__text gmail-u-h">Shares</span></h3>
<div class="gmail-sharecount__value gmail-sharecount__value--short">1168</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-u-h gmail-meta__number">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<figure class="gmail-media-primary gmail-media-content gmail-()" id="gmail-img-1">
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/13/swedens-finns-fear-minority-language-rights-are-under-threat#img-1" class="gmail-article__img-container gmail-js-gallerythumbs">
<div class="gmail-u-responsive-ratio" style="padding-bottom:60.01%">
<span>
<img class="gmail-maxed gmail-responsive-img" alt="A Swedish flag flies in Stockholm." src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/28aa430c58f9b1a2fa96f93f61e4e82acbdd2774/0_0_5496_3298/master/5496.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=507a80c6e07ba569ccdb38bc774d32fe">
</span>
</div>
<span class="gmail-inline-expand-image gmail-inline-icon gmail-centered-icon gmail-rounded-icon gmail-article__fullscreen gmail-modern-visible">
</span>
</a>
<figcaption class="gmail-caption gmail-caption--main gmail-caption--img">
<span class="gmail-inline-triangle gmail-inline-icon gmail-hide-until-tablet">
</span>
A Swedish flag flies in Stockholm.
Photograph: Nicholas Pitt/Alamy
</figcaption>
</figure>
</header>
<div class="gmail-content__article-body gmail-from-content-api gmail-js-article__body">
<p>As rising immigration increasingly puts Scandinavia’s reputation for
tolerance to the test, Sweden’s largest national minority fears its
language rights are threatened and children will grow up with little or
no knowledge of their mother tongue.</p>
<p>Finnish-speaking Swedes, known as Sweden Finns (<em>sverigefinnar</em>), make up more than 7% of the country’s 10 million-strong population and are entitled to Finnish lessons in school since <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/sweden" class="gmail-u-underline">Sweden</a> reversed an earlier postwar approach of forced assimilation.</p>
<p>But complaints that minority language policies are not being
respected are mounting. Reports for the Swedish government in the past
12 months point to failures with respect to Sweden Finns in particular,
but paint “<a href="http://www.sou.gov.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/SOU-2017_91_webb.pdf" class="gmail-u-underline">a dark picture</a>” of the situation for national minority languages in Sweden as a whole.</p>
<p>There is a “severe danger” that the Finnish language will die out in
the country, said Sari Pesonen of the Institute of Slavic and Baltic
languages at Stockholm University, a co-author of recent research. “The
signals we get from teachers, for example, they tell us that the
situation is bad. Something needs to be done, and quickly.”</p>
<p>Pupils at one school in Gothenburg have reported being told to stop
communicating in Finnish altogether. Nelli Tiikkaja, nine, said teachers
had told her not to speak her mother tongue. </p>
<p>“They tell us to stop speaking Finnish if they hear us,” she said.
“That feels sad. It doesn’t feel good when I’m not allowed to speak
Finnish, because for me it is the easiest language.”</p>
<p>Other children at the school have also told her to stop, Nelli said.
“Sometimes they threaten us. A boy in the other class once said he would
punch us if we kept speaking Finnish ... It feels like they want to
destroy the whole Finnish language.” </p>
<figure class="element element-image gmail-img--landscape gmail-fig--narrow-caption gmail-fig--has-shares" id="gmail-img-2">
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/13/swedens-finns-fear-minority-language-rights-are-under-threat#img-2" class="gmail-article__img-container gmail-js-gallerythumbs">
<div class="gmail-u-responsive-ratio" style="padding-bottom:60.01%">
<span>
<img class="gmail-gu-image" alt="A street scene in Gothenburg, Sweden" src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/660baf344759e78e9a8b6deddfe6def94656fab4/0_257_3861_2317/master/3861.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=281bcee82fad4c96925e09802c896264">
</span>
</div> <span class="gmail-inline-expand-image gmail-inline-icon gmail-centered-icon gmail-rounded-icon gmail-article__fullscreen gmail-modern-visible">
</span> </a>
<div class="gmail-block-share gmail-block-share--article gmail-hide-on-mobile">
<a class="gmail-rounded-icon gmail-block-share__item gmail-block-share__item--facebook gmail-js-blockshare-link" href="https://www.facebook.com/dialog/share?app_id=180444840287&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2018%2Fmar%2F13%2Fswedens-finns-fear-minority-language-rights-are-under-threat%3FCMP%3Dshare_btn_fb%26page%3Dwith%3Aimg-2%23img-2&picture=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.guim.co.uk%2F660baf344759e78e9a8b6deddfe6def94656fab4%2F0_257_3861_2317%2F3861.jpg" target="_blank"> <span class="gmail-inline-share-facebook gmail-inline-icon">
</span> <span class="gmail-u-h">Facebook</span> </a>
<a class="gmail-rounded-icon gmail-block-share__item gmail-block-share__item--twitter gmail-js-blockshare-link" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Sweden's%20Finns%20fear%20minority%20language%20rights%20are%20under%20threat&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2018%2Fmar%2F13%2Fswedens-finns-fear-minority-language-rights-are-under-threat%3FCMP%3Dshare_btn_tw%26page%3Dwith%3Aimg-2%23img-2" target="_blank"> <span class="gmail-inline-share-twitter gmail-inline-icon">
</span> <span class="gmail-u-h">Twitter</span> </a>
<a class="gmail-rounded-icon gmail-block-share__item gmail-block-share__item--pinterest gmail-js-blockshare-link" href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?description=Sweden%27s%20Finns%20fear%20minority%20language%20rights%20are%20under%20threat&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2018%2Fmar%2F13%2Fswedens-finns-fear-minority-language-rights-are-under-threat%3Fpage%3Dwith%3Aimg-2%23img-2&media=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.guim.co.uk%2F660baf344759e78e9a8b6deddfe6def94656fab4%2F0_257_3861_2317%2F3861.jpg" target="_blank"> <span class="gmail-inline-share-pinterest gmail-inline-icon">
</span> <span class="gmail-u-h">Pinterest</span> </a>
</div>
<figcaption class="gmail-caption gmail-caption--img gmail-caption gmail-caption--img">
<span class="gmail-inline-triangle gmail-inline-icon">
</span> A street scene in Gothenburg, Sweden. Photograph: Beatrice Törnros
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nelli is not alone. Parents of Finnish-speaking children at the
school took their complaints to the head, whose investigation confirmed
that, although details were uncertain, one member of staff, who left in
February 2017, had tried to stop students speaking their native
language.<br></p>
<div id="gmail-dfp-ad--inline1" class="gmail-js-ad-slot gmail-ad-slot gmail-ad-slot--inline gmail-ad-slot--inline1 gmail-ad-slot--rendered"><div class="gmail-ad-slot__label">Advertisement</div><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/59666047/theguardian.com/world/article/ng_0__container__" style="border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none;border-width:0pt" class="gmail-ad-slot__content"></div></div><p>“It’s
not good that students hear they’re not allowed to speak their mother
tongue,” said Ingela Bertheden, the headteacher, adding that she had
told staff she wanted no language bans at the school. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.svt.se/nyheter/uutiset/svenska/barn-forbjods-att-tala-finska-i-skolan?cmpid=del%3Afb%3A20180131%3Abarn-forbjods-att-tala-finska-i-skolan%3Anyh%3Alp" class="gmail-u-underline">similar case at a school in Västerås</a>, about an hour outside Stockholm, has been reported to the national ombudsman for discrimination. </p>
<p>The Council of Europe last year <a href="https://rm.coe.int/fourth-opinion-on-sweden-adopted-on-22-june-2017/168075fbab" class="gmail-u-underline">reported</a>
that Sweden was “experiencing an increase in instances of interethnic
intolerance, racism and hate speech” that was affecting national
minorities, including language teaching. </p>
<p>It found several cases of Finnish teachers prohibited from using the
language in school outside the classroom. “I have heard of many cases
where Finnish teachers have been discriminated against,” says Sirpa
Humalisto, the head of Sweden’s Finnish teachers’ association.</p>
<p>The position of Sweden’s four other official minority languages –
Sami, Roma, Yiddish and Meänkieli (Tornedal Finnish) – may be worse,
since they are spoken by fewer people. Municipalities have “<a href="http://www.regeringen.se/rattsdokument/statens-offentliga-utredningar/2017/06/sou-201760/" class="gmail-u-underline">almost completely failed</a>” to apply minorities policy across the country, according to an official report in the summer.<br></p>
<p>The situation in Sweden is almost the opposite of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/finland" class="gmail-u-underline">Finland</a>,
where Swedish is compulsory for all school students even though only
about 5% of the population have Swedish as their mother tongue.<br></p>
<p>Of an estimated 6,000 children entitled to Finnish mother tongue
education in Gothenburg alone, only 177 are receiving it, according to
the city council. In January last year, the only Finnish-language school
in the city was closed down after a negative evaluation by the Swedish
schools inspectorate.<br></p>
<p>“I do not want to move my daughter to Finland for her to go to
Finnish-language pre-school, but that’s exactly what I have to do today
if nothing changes fast,” wrote Sonja Jakobsson, under an <a href="http://www4.goteborg.se/prod/Intraservice/Namndhandlingar/SamrumPortal.nsf/B362089ABAD309C2C125817C00235F66/$File/10.%20Goteborgsforslag%20%20Trygga%20den%20tvasprakiga%20undervisningen%20i%20grundskolan.pdf?OpenElement" class="gmail-u-underline">online petition</a> in the summer calling on Gothenburg council to deliver on bilingual schooling rights.<br></p>
<p>“Swedish-speaking people have an obvious place in Finnish society and
are given clear Swedish-language schooling in Finland – why is it not
the same for Finns here?”<br></p>
<p>The condition of the Finnish language in Sweden, say critics, means
that the country lacks qualified mother-tongue teachers, as well as
workers in other fields, such as elderly care.</p>
<p>In other areas, Sweden’s Finnish minority enjoys more rights than
before, according to Petra Palkio, a board member of the Sweden Finnish
Delegation. </p>
<p>“The media are covering us in a different way; we are more proud of
being Sweden Finns,” Palkio said. By failing to invest sufficiently in
its Finnish minority, “Sweden is robbing itself,” she said.</p></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
</div>