The Sámi Parliament Act in Finland

Norwegian Sámi Association is deeply concerned that the Finnish government has not yet submitted the act to the Parliament of Finland, in line with the negotiated result between the Finnish government and the Sámi Parliament in Finland.

The right to self-determination belongs to all nations and is a cornerstone of international law, also for the Sámi.  Under article 33 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples have the right to determine their own identity or membership in accordance with their customs and traditions and the right to determine the structures and select the membership of their institutions in accordance with their own procedures.

Norwegian Sámi Association has further noted the misinformation and false claims made in Finland about the Sámi parliamentary electoral roll, that the amended criteria in the new act would make the criteria much stricter on the Finnish side than the Swedish and Norwegian sides of Sápmi. These claims are unfounded. The amended criteria would be similar to the criteria on the Norwegian side and in full compliance with the criteria in the Nordic Sámi Convention, in which, at this point, all the parties (Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the three Sámi Parliaments) have agreed upon. 

We further recall that the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination have concluded that the current Sami Parliament Act violates human rights treaties (CCPR 2668/2015 and CERD 59/2016). Finland must end the current human rights treaty violations in Finland and take necessary actions to secure the Sámi Peoples’ right to self-determination through the Sámi Parliament in Finland as a representative body. 

The Sámi nation crosses the national state borders of four countries. When Finland works against us by undermining the free political representation of the Sámi, it`s nothing but divide-and-conquer tactics in practice.