Did you know that already 23% of Helsinki inhabitants speak something else than Finnish or Swedish as their first language? I did not and it surprised me a bit. I knew that Helsinki is one of the most diverse cities in Finland, but almost a quarter is still a lot.

One reason might be that the biggest groups inside the international community are people with roots in Estonia or Russia. The other is inevitably that the international community is often sidelined in the decision-making of the capital. If almost every fourth person in Helsinki has an international background, it ought to be more visible in how our city is run.

When foreigners, migrants or refugees become part of the political debate, they are often treated just as a workforce, somebody to be cared for or then, by the nationalist right, a threat. Rarely, if ever, are the people with international background spoken as active members of our community and citizens of Helsinki, who have their own thoughts on how the city should be developed and who deserve a voice when and where their tax money should be spent.

The international community as a whole has given Helsinki a lot more, as work hours, entrepreneurship, knowledge and taxes than it has ever taken from the city. And the problems in more diverse neighbourhoods of Helsinki the right-wing pundits use as fuel for their election campaigns are the same problems the members of the international community face. Who wants their kids to join a street gang or sell and use drugs? Who wants crime and unemployment in their neighbourhood?

We need to face the social problems in some parts of this city and solve them with the people who are part of those communities. Because they are not the problem. Before the first immigrants arrived in Finland, the working class was blamed for “bad life” and low morale. Then us social democrats saw that the problem wasn’t the people, but the squalor and lack of opportunity. By promoting education, better housing and job opportunities for all we fixed most of these issues. New era requires a few new measures, like cooperation with NGOs to provide influential youth work and job market training, but we can do that again.

That is why the SDP is the right party to stand up for the international community in Helsinki. We have a great selection of candidates with cosmopolitan backgrounds, but I think it is important that we all back them up and most importantly, listen to the voice of the international community.

Remember that if you are a permanent resident of Helsinki and you’ve had a residency permit in Finland for two years, or you are a EU citizen with a resident status in Helsinki, you are allowed to, and you should, vote in the upcoming local elections.