Norrbotten Region responds to the Minister of Culture: "Concern about how minority policy is handled"

"Ensuring the rights of minorities is a fundamental responsibility for the government," Region Norrbotten writes to Minister of Culture Parisa Liljestrand. It is about Tornedalingar, Kväner and Lantalaiset and how short-term politics and cuts are hitting the work of language preservation and reconciliation.

Here is the letter in its entirety:

To the Ministry of Culture, Minister of Culture Parisa Liljestrand 

 We thank you for your answer and welcomes the continued attention given to the issues of the rights of Tornedalen, Kväner and Lantalaiset. The public sector, including the government, has a responsibility to ensure the rights of national minorities. Collaboration between all levels – state, regions, municipalities and minority organisations – is crucial to the success of this work. Listening and inclusive dialogue must be a cornerstone of the work, and resources must be provided to minority organisations so that their empowerment can be strengthened. 

At the same time, we cannot help but feel a continuing concern about how minority policy is handled from the state level. In practice, we see a policy characterized by short-termism and the dismantling of critically important efforts. Ensuring the rights of minorities is a fundamental responsibility of the government. 

We would like to emphasize the importance of minority policy initiatives being characterized by a long-term perspective and constructive dialogue with the groups concerned. The reprioritization of the language center at the Institute for Language and Folklore is an example of the government's lack of long-term perspective. First, the authority was tasked with dismantling the operations, then they are to be rebuilt. This oscillation is not only ineffective, but also creates uncertainty and undermines the very foundation of language preservation work.  

Especially in our smaller municipalities, the funds that have been removed from the administrative municipalities and redistributed to the Institute for Language and Folklore have been crucial. In Norrbotten we are now hearing about consequences such as fewer activities, reduced support for minority organizations and cuts in services within the municipalities for work in the area. 

We also want to highlight the illogical conclusion that the government draws from the fact that parts of previously invested funds have not been used. In his response, the Minister of Culture refers to the fact that government grants have not been fully utilized, and uses this as a reason to cut back on resources. But this very problem has already been identified and highlighted by the National Audit Office: the short-term nature of the assignments has made it almost impossible for authorities and organizations to scale up their operations in time. There is a well-documented shortage of people with the right skills, and it is not possible to build sustainable capacity on temporary funds. The government's conclusion is therefore a self-contradiction – it is precisely the lack of a long-term perspective that means that the money is not used, not that the needs are lacking. To then use underutilization as a reason for cuts is to further weaken the possibility of real change. 

The National Audit Office has expressed clear criticism of the government's handling of minority policy and points out that a more long-term management would have yielded better results. We expect the government to not only take note of this criticism, but also to take concrete measures to ensure stable and long-term financing.  

Civil society has a crucial role to play in ensuring the rights of minorities. The government has granted some support to Tornedalsteatern and the Swedish Tornedalingars Riksförbund – Tornionlaaksolaiset, which we welcome. However, if the government believes that state support for these issues is sufficient, we strongly disagree. The state operating grants are minimal in relation to the actual needs and the resources for reconciliation work are still short-term and project-based. 

Finally, we note that the government emphasizes its willingness to engage in dialogue on the reconciliation process. We understand from our dialogues with the minority that the dialogue has improved, which was necessary and requested. But dialogue in itself is not enough. We see a continued need for the government to not only listen, but to act responsively, forcefully and in the long term.  

If the state's short-term solutions and disarmament of resources continue, we risk that reconciliation efforts will stall, that minority rights will be further eroded, and that minority policy goals will become impossible to achieve. We expect the government to take its responsibility seriously and ensure long-term funding and stable structures for minority policy.  

Med vänliga hälsningar, 
Anders Öberg, Chairman of the Regional Board, Norrbotten Region 
Glenn Berggård, Vice Chairman of the Regional Board, Norrbotten Region 
Johannes Sundelin, Chairman of the Regional Development Committee, Norrbotten Region 

See the original letter here

My task

Met tehemä tøbja ette Norbotten oon attractive, utvaja ja elinvoimanen tänjätää ja toluvaisuuessa.

Met tehemä tövää Norbottenin tässäslevuuen, tälvaisuuen, innovasuunin ja elinvoiman etheen.

Meän mätätänä oon väsättä kyltyrin roolia ja säätää Norbottenin kaikile asukhaile ja gääijöile. Huolimatta siittä misse sie asut eli vaikutat niin kaikila pietäs olla mahollisuus sekä harjottaa ette kylttyyhriin.