The National Coalition Party's (NCP) parliamentary group wants Finland to move towards a policy of selective immigration, in an aim to give the country more control over who can enter and remain in Finland.
The group published its new immigration policy guidelines on Friday, with proposals prepared under the leadership of MP Atte Kaleva (NCP), who has led the work since January.
They have proposed moving asylum processing outside the EU and tightening the conditions for family reunification and access to social security.
"This means that Finland must be able to decide under all circumstances who is allowed to enter the country and under what conditions, as well as who is allowed to remain here," Kaleva said.
The proposals include linking immigrants' eligibility for unemployment benefits to their employment history in Finland and tightening the conditions for receiving the national pension and guarantee pension.
Asylum processing outside the EU
The parliamentary group proposes transferring asylum processing entirely to reception and return centres outside the EU.
It also wants to restrict repeated asylum applications deemed unfounded and make returns more efficient.
"Asylum has been misused as a channel for mass migration, which it was never intended to be. We are returning to protecting individual people who are in need of protection. This also removes the market for people smuggling," he said.
The group further proposes that serious or repeated criminal offences could lead to the revocation of a person's residence permit and their deportation.
Regarding quota refugees, the group proposes that authorities also take into account their prospects for integrating into Finnish society and culture.
"We have certain fundamental values in Finland that we cannot compromise on: democracy, individual freedoms, equality, the equality of women and girls, and minority rights," Kaleva said.
"If a person is unable to adapt to these values, then of course they cannot be accepted into Finland," he added.
Unemployment benefits linked to work in Finland
Under the proposals, immigrants' eligibility for unemployment benefits would depend on the work they had done in Finland. The level of support would vary according to the length of their employment.
The group also proposes tightening family reunification rules by requiring the person bringing family members to Finland to be able to support them through employment or business activities.
Kaleva said the party wanted to encourage work-based immigration, but opposed the creation of a low-wage labour market in Finland.
"We cannot create a cheap labour market in Finland, where people come here to work for companies that do not pay a sufficient salary," he said.
Kaleva said responsibility for integration should lie primarily with immigrants themselves, but also with their employers.
The parliamentary group's proposals were outlined in its new immigration policy programme, titled 'Towards Selective Immigration' (Kohti valikoivaa maahanmuuttoa), included in their press release (in Finnish).
