Finnish Emigrant Challenges Negative Portrayal in Sweden

Pertti Sulasalmi, who emigrated from Finland to Sweden, believes the public perception of Finnish emigrants in Sweden is unfairly bleak and does not reflect reality. Sulasalmi, who now resides in East Helsinki, was among the hundreds of thousands who moved to Sweden during the economic boom of the 1960s and 1970s.

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Suurin osa Ruotsiin muuttoaallossa menneistä suomalaisista eli tavallisen työ- ja perhe-elämän, sanoo entinen ruotsinsuomalainen.

He asserts that the prevailing image of Finnish emigrants in Sweden as marginalized and struggling individuals, often associated with excessive drinking, is a misrepresentation. Sulasalmi contends that the majority of those who relocated, himself included, established stable working lives, built homes, and sought better futures for their families.

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Mielikuvat syrjäytyneistä juopoista olisi syytä hylätä.

Sulasalmi's perspective challenges the often-repeated narrative that paints a grim picture of the Finnish diaspora in Sweden. He emphasizes that his experience, and that of many others, was focused on integration into Swedish society through employment and family life, rather than the social exclusion sometimes depicted.

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Ruotsiin aikoinaan muuttaneista suomalaisista on Suomessa maalattu ankea kuva, joka ei vastaa todellisuutta.