Immigration is a hot button topic that has an resounding effect on the world. While it’s easy to focus on the immigration issues in the U.S. this article clearly demonstrates the ongoing contention of Western European countries and their handling of the issues. Basically, immigration issues and national feelings are one in the same. Basically, people are only willing to share their own benefits with individuals from another country because they fear the those benefits will no longer be available to them. According to www.pewforum.org, Muslim populations in Western European countries continue to grow due to immigration, high fertility rates in women, and a very young population. As a result, there are serious undertones of uncomfort with multiculturalism in these regions. The main issue is that most Western Europeans don’t believe that the Islamic religion is comparable or equal to their values and cultures.
There’s a growing concern among Western Europe and it’s citizens that anyone not being born in that region should not be granted the right to share in that nation’s identity. This has invariably caused a rift between migrants and citizens that can’t be necessarily be repaired through rhetoric. This rift has caused factions to form. You have one side that believes Islam is compatible to the values and cultures of Western Europe. The next faction of individuals are those who by showing negative reactions to Muslims, may exhibit those same reactions towards the Jews. It is a fact that Western Europeans take pride in their national and European identities. In accordance to the Nationalist, Anti-Immigaration and Antti-Minority (NAM) Scale, (a poll determining national pride) In Finland, 94% of the persons polled feel this way. Additionally, 79% of the Christians in Europe expressed pride in being Christian, so you can see how nationalism plays a part in how Western Europeans view immigration. A lot of Christians may also feel threatened by the sudden influx of Muslim immigrants because they feel they may lose theological influence on their region.
In Finland, another poll showed that 63% of persons declaring their pride for nationalism within their country opposed to just 39% just preferring to be Christian which resulted in a 24 point differential. In Finland, 98% believe that respect for a nation’s institution and laws and speaking the national language being important to national identity. Eighty-five percent believe everyone within their country should be able to speak the same language. In determining whether immigrant migration is a potential threat to Finnish democracy, the potential is there and must be clearly monitored.
Photo by Ray Parham “Is Europe’s Migrant Crisis A Potential Threat to Finnish Democracy”? Creative Commons Zero License
Immigration seems a controversial topic world-wide not only in the United States but also in Finland. It makes sense that the people against immigration are in the majority of the population. People fear the unknown and rather keep everything simple and understandable. They won’t accept new beliefs, languages, or traditions. Most of the US Citizens in the United States, who are against immigration reforms, want everyone to speak English. They argue English is the only official language and therefore, should force everyone to speak only English. However, that is not true just yet. English is used more frequently in the United States but it’s not an official language. Also, It can be argued that people who are fleeing their countries are looking for a democracy so they are able to live peacefully and exercise their right to practice their religion and traditions. Immigrants are just like any other human being. The world we live in is globalized and people need to keep up; learn different languages and cultures.
When we examine one person’s resistance to immigration, I think it is important to always look at the reasoning behind it. Most times I find that people are resistant out of fear, whether thats fear of change or fear of loss of power, among many other things. I think the solution to this resistance is education, as most of these fears come out of deep-rooted hatred or stereotypes towards a certain group of people. Perhaps education nations on the true ideals and values of Islam would allow them to be more accepting of Muslims and find common ground, despite being part of differing religions and cultures.