Finnish media on Tuesday suggested that Helsinki might be witnessing a new phenomenon--young crime-doers with violent tendencies roaming the city's streets.
Helsingin Sanomat’s most-read story on Tuesday suggests police are concerned that a loosely-networked group of 100-150 teens are engaged in occasionally violent confrontations in and around the city centre.
They are particularly keen to confront other young people to steal high-end designer goods, such as Louis Vuitton belts and Moncler jackets.
"Right now the streets of downtown Helsinki and Itäkeksus are not safe places for all youths late at night," said Eliisa Ahlstedt of youth NGO Children of the Station.
Police said the teen stabbing incident in Helsinki’s Vallila district last month is a part of the same trend.
"The root of the problem is that these youths don’t feel like they have a place in Finnish society, and that they won’t be able to succeed based on how they look," Ujuni Ahmed, whose Fenix Helsinki organisation works with immigrant women and children, told HS.
HS claims these teens mostly include kids of Somali and Middle Eastern descent or of "foreign background". The paper, however, does not clearly explain its use of the term. Finland's official definition of foreign background refers to people with both parents born abroad.
Covid's impact on immigrants
Coronavirus is spreading among Finland’s immigrant populations, reports business daily Kauppalehti, citing Helsinki city officials who say nearly 30 percent of infections since the summer have been among people speaking another native language than Finnish, Swedish or Sami.
KL reports that public health watchdog THL is setting up a special task force to increase cooperation between hospital districts and organisations representing different immigrant populations, including Russian, Somali and Arabic speakers.
"It’s important to ensure that all groups have access to reliable and clear information regarding the spread of the disease," said Natalia Skogberg, who's heading up the THL task force.
Kauppalehti meanwhile notes that studies from other Noridc countries indicate that immigrant populations have been more likely to catch the virus as they often work in customer-facing roles.
Language bubbles
While Finland is officially a bilingual country, setting up a school with 50/50 instruction in Finnish and Swedish in Helsinki is proving difficult.
Swedish-language daily Hufvudstadsbladet reports that the issue of establishing a "Nordic" primary school will likely fall to the next city council following spring elections.
One of the main sticking points hinges on whether the school’s administration will be either Finnish or Swedish speaking as the education ministry has informed capital city councillors that current laws do not allow for a bilingual administration.
The City of Helsinki envisions the school could cater to 500 pupils.