An open letter to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health

The Ukrainian Association in Finland (Helsinki) and Ukrainians of Finland (Turku) are concerned that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health continues to finance the work of organizations that have declared as their customer group those who fled the war from Ukraine and did not clearly renounce the Russian war of aggression and its goals, which is undeniably the Russification of Ukrainians and genocide.

We are concerned about the safety of Ukrainians in Finland and that organizations that have a history of cooperation with representatives of the aggressor state get access to the personal data of Ukrainians. Family members of many refugees still remain in the occupied territories, and this information may be directly or indirectly passed on to the Russian authorities. This endangers the security and well-being of Ukrainians.

We hope that the ministry would take a critical look at the funding decisions implemented  through STEA state-aid authority.

In addition, we require that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health pays special attention to the following points when granting organization funding:

• organizations that aim to promote the interests of Russians and Russian culture and do not condemn the Russia’s war agaist Ukraine  should not receive state funding for work with Ukrainian citizens who were forced to leave their country precisely because of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
• the ministry should require organizations that promote Russian language and culture to renounce Russia’s colonial policy.
• the ministry should support the development of Ukrainian language skills in Finland and its priority in the lives of Ukrainians who fled the war. Many Ukrainians who came to Finland know Russian.The background is the language policy implemented during the Soviet era, the aim of which was to suppress the Ukrainian language and strengthen the position of the Russian language in cultural, social and political life in Ukraine. Nowadays many have switched to actively using the Ukrainian language. It is important to note that the official language of the Ukrainian state is only Ukrainian.

We respectfully ask the Ministry to note that funding the work with Ukrainians those public organisations who do not condemn Russia’s war of aggression and whose purpose is to promote Russian culture and interests is in our opinion:

a) is unethical,

b) it endangers the well-being of Ukrainians who fled the war,

c) contributes to weakening the ability of  organizations of Ukrainians to operate in Finland

Ukrainian Association in Finland, Helsinki

Ukrainians of Finland, Turku