Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Anti-racism campaigners slam Finnish colour-coded ID cards

European anti-racism campaigners have criticised moves by Finnish authorities to colour-code the country's ID cards, with bright blue cards for native-born citizens and brown cards for all foreign nationals, calling the new scheme "legalised ethnic profiling".

The scheme, to go into effect from 1 June, aims to make it easier for border guards and police to distinguish individuals. Colour-coding existed previously, with the two cards a light blue and light pink respectively, but, according to the National Police, it was not easy for authorities to make the distinction. Minors are also now to be given purple ID cards.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

While the blue cards used by adult Finns can also be employed as a travel document throughout the EU and Nordic countries instead of a passport, the brown, foreigner card may not.

Although within the EU identity cards meeting a European standard can also be used by European citizens as a travel document in place of a passport, the European Commission said on Tuesday that there is nothing it can do about the matter as the issuance of ID cards remains a national responsibility.

"We have no competence over ID cards. Anything to with passports, ID, how individuals are assessed to be citizens - it's all left up to the member states," EU justice spokesman Matthew Newman told EUobserver.

While ID cards are not mandatory in Finland, anti-racist NGOs say that the scheme could deliver "legalised ethnic profiling".

"Would blue be referring to the stereotypical eye colour of Finns and brown to the skin colour of foreigners? While there are so many colours available, such a choice definitely raises questions," Michael Privot, the director of the Brussels-based European Network Against Racism, a pan-European alliance of NGOs, told this website.

"More seriously, we question the argument put forward by the Finnish government with regard to the fact that different colour ID cards would ease control work," he continued.

"Would this be a subtle attempt to legalise ethnic profiling by transferring facial identification to ID card colour identification?"

ID cards are widely used for for other purposes, such as opening a bank account, age checks when buying tobacco or entering a nightclub.

"This will probably raise unexpected discrimination in other areas of life such as access to services: people will have to show their brown ID card when they might not want to make their foreigner status known," Privot said.

"Discrimination can also happen on the basis of your ID's colour and a simple glimpse at one's ID is often the starting point for unacceptable differential treatment."

As a result of the development, the group is calling for a complete EU-wide ban on "differentiating documents on the basis of legal status through the use of colour codes or any other implicit or symbolic means."

Ismo Parviainen, of the Finnish National Police Board, rejected the idea that there was anything untoward in the new scheme.

"This was part of the new card tendering and we wanted colours that were more distinct. We wanted to make the colours easier for police, to make it easier to remember and to distinguish what is not a travel document," he said.

Finnish PM: Russia preparing for 'long conflict with West'

Finland, which shares a border with Russia, has cautioned about the danger of a Russian attack in coming years. Russia is not "invincible" but "self-satisfaction is no longer an option," Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo said.

EU Commission proposes opening Bosnia accession talks

Eight years on, the EU Commission is to recommend on Tuesday that member states open accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina after the country took "impressive steps" to meet the bloc's standards, Ursula von der Leyen said.

Opinion

How the EU can raise its game in the Middle East

Could the EU repair its reputation and credibility by taking action on Gaza? EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, Spain, Belgium and Ireland, have worked hard to repair the damage, but have faced political headwinds due to internal divisions.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us