United States Department of State

Finland United States Department of State

Societal discrimination continued against Roma and members of other ethnic and linguistic minorities. Small demonstrations and isolated incidents of xenophobic hate speech and violence accompanied the arrival of large numbers of asylum seekers from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Domestic abuse and other violence against women and children continued to be a problem. Other human rights problems included inadequate medical services in detention centers; poor sanitation in some prison cells; excessive delay in moving detainees from police holding cells to remand prisons; excessive delays in notification of custody to family members; sexual exploitation of children; the reappearance of an anti-Semitic newspaper; harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons; and forced labor. The government took steps to prosecute officials who committed abuses.