Minority issues

Mirja Räihä (S)

Madam Speaker! I have myself been a Swedish-Finnish person since 1976. Like so many others, I came to work in the Swedish industry; for my part, it was Marabou in Sundbyberg. I have always firmly believed that language skills are important, and then also minority languages.

I have also thought it has been important to be able to give the language to my children so that they can get a sense of their roots, their language and their culture. However, they used to often ask me if they will speak just as strange Swedish as mom when they became adults. They obviously linked my Finnish accent with adult life.

I have also personally started thinking about old age. When one is over 60 years old, it is quite natural. How will my language skills be if I get a memory disease and lose the learned language? I think then that the security will consist of being able to live in a nursing home where one speaks Finnish to be understood and where I can understand the people who are in my vicinity. But enough about me and who I am.

Madam Speaker! Today we are to discuss all the motions that have been submitted regarding minority issues during the general motion period. The motions differ significantly from one another. But I believe that it is due to the differences among the various national minorities and that the description of the problems is different.

If the Swedish-Finnish group thinks it is about the language and the problem that the municipalities should be able to offer both preschool and elderly care in Finnish, then the Sámi have problems with the business sector's intrusion into what they consider their own, land for reindeer husbandry and hunting and fishing rights.

The Jewish group experiences antisemitism, a phenomenon that has persisted for centuries and which we constantly need to work against. The work against antisemitism is never finished; the discussion must be alive at all times.

Roma inclusion very often concerns problems on the labor market. It is simply harder to get a job as a Roma.

Tornedalingar have also experienced difficult times. They have experienced how power wants to take their language and culture. Tornedalingar were subjected to a harsh assimilation policy for a time, which caused the language to be on the verge of disappearing completely.

When it comes to minority languages, there are now four language centers on site for Finnish, Meänkieli, Yiddish, and Romani Chib. The Institute for Language and Folklore is an important actor even though the language centers are new.

The Institute for Language and Folklore has been tasked with establishing language centers for the national minority languages Finnish, Yiddish, Meänkieli, and Romani Chib. The Sami Parliament has been responsible for several Sami language centers since earlier.

National language centers shall provide support and knowledge that facilitates for language speakers throughout the country to maintain, reclaim and develop their language so that the national minority languages can continue to live on in Sweden.

Language centers have now been established for Finnish in Uppsala, Yiddish in Stockholm, Meänkieli in Kiruna and Övertorneå, and for Romani chib in Stockholm. The goal was that several of them could have started their activities during 2022. Organizationally, they shall belong to the institution but be managed as independent units within the agency. Exact mandates and job descriptions for the different language centers will be worked out within the framework of the planning work.

Madam Speaker! The goal of the minority policy is to provide protection for the national minorities and strengthen their opportunities for influence, as well as to support the historical minority languages so that they are kept alive.

Minority policy is important, but nevertheless, we Social Democrats believe that the motions can be rejected and move for approval of the committee's proposal in the report. There are reasons for this: partly, the previous government has made some reinforcements that need to be evaluated, and partly there are investigations that were initiated by the previous government but which the Riksdag has not yet decided on. For that reason, we need to wait for what results emerge.

The Government decided on June 30, 2022, on a special action program for the work against antisemitism. The program aims to complement the national plan against racism and similar forms of hostility and hate crimes. The program contains measures for the period 2022-2024 and is in line with the EU's action plan against racism.

On June 16, 2022, the government gave a special investigator a mandate to submit proposals for a national strategy for strengthening Jewish life in Sweden with a focus on the transmission of Jewish culture and Yiddish to younger and future generations. The assignment is to be reported in December 2023.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Tornedalians, Kvens, and Lantalaiset has submitted an interim report but has been granted more time by the Ministry of Culture to complete its investigation, which is titled Ko ihmisarvoa mitathiin. It concerns how human value was measured and deals precisely with the exclusion and assimilation of the Tornedalians, Kvens, and Lantalaiset.

Madam Speaker! In November 2021, the government decided to establish a committee in the form of a truth commission for the Sámi people to map out and review the policy that has been conducted towards the Sámi in a historical perspective. The commission shall make visible and disseminate knowledge about the Sámi's experiences as well as submit proposals for measures. The assignment shall be finalized in December 2025.

At the same time, the Renmark Committee's work is also ongoing, where an interim report is expected in August. It has been tasked with analyzing the Sami people's right to hunting and fishing.

In addition, Statskontoret has been commissioned by the government to carry out an analysis of the Sami Parliament's activities and propose measures. Statskontoret shall analyze and assess how the Sami Parliament fulfills its mandate and uses its resources. It shall also analyze the appropriateness and efficiency of the Sami Parliament's internal management regarding the steering and monitoring of the activities. Statskontoret shall furthermore analyze the organizational form and assess how it affects the agency's conditions to conduct its activities effectively, among other things.

Based on the analyses, Statskontoret shall then propose measures to develop the Sami Parliament's activities. In addition, goals for Sami policy are updated annually in the budget bill.

The Consultation Act will also be evaluated, but the committee believes it is too early to do so now. The part of the law which means that municipalities and regions also become subject to the consultation obligation does not enter into force until January 1 next year. Other parts of the law have only been in force for just over a year.

I shall, of course, also mention something regarding Älvdalskan's status as a recognized language. Parts of the committee have deepened their knowledge of the language as recently as this weekend and are positive about recognizing the language. But it needs to be investigated a bit more. For that reason, it is too early to decide anything about it today, despite the fact that there are motions on this from the general motion period. The Committee on the Constitution must be allowed to discuss the issue further.

Madam Speaker! When one reads the report on minority issues, one realizes that the Riksdag will receive several matters regarding these issues on its table in the coming years. Hopefully, they are proposals that strengthen national minorities.

One must however remember that despite minority status, we are all Swedes, and we live in Sweden. But the need to be able to combine one's own language and one's own culture with this is important for us. It is not only important for us who live here and now; it is perhaps even more important for coming generations that the language and the culture are allowed to live on.

I vote in favor of the committee's proposal in the report.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Victoria Tiblom (SD)

Madam Speaker! The Sweden Democrats naturally stand behind all of our reservations, but for the sake of time, I will content myself with moving for approval of reservation 10 regarding the position of the Älvdalskans.

For historically regrettable reasons, minority groups have been prevented from nurturing, using, and developing their languages. For example, Sami children were not allowed to speak Sami in school, not even outside of lesson time. This naturally contributed to the decline in the speaking of the Sami languages and that the new generation was not given the opportunity to learn the language properly because it was absent throughout the entire education. The language meänkieli is also threatened with extinction. The lack of teaching materials is an example of factors that have a negative impact on the preservation of languages.

Madam Speaker! Today we have a law on national minorities in Sweden which, among other things, ensures the rights for our five minority languages: Sami, Meänkieli, Finnish, Romani, and Yiddish.

But perhaps we have more minority languages in Sweden that should be noticed and protected? Is Älvdalen dialect, for example, a language or a dialect? We in the Committee on the Constitution had the privilege of visiting Älvdalen earlier this week. There are several international bodies that consider Älvdalen dialect to be a language and not a dialect. This applies, among others, to SIL International, originally Summer Institute of Linguistics, and the Council of Europe's expert committee.

Älvdalska has led a declining existence and now has only around 2,500 speakers. But a change has occurred in recent years, and a revitalization of the language is underway. A revitalization means that one reverses the fate of a language's decline. Through a project funded by the General Inheritance Fund, the interest in Älvdalska has increased greatly, especially among children in preschool and school. This has occurred, among other things, by translating children's books and children's films, such as those about Pelle Svanslös, into Älvdalska. The goal is that by the year 2030, 30 percent of the students graduating from grade 9 shall be able to speak Älvdalska.

We Sweden Democrats view the regional approaches to preserving and developing the language positively. Languages can regain strength in new generations where there is an interest in cultural heritage and roots, and it is important that we safeguard our roots. This applies to both the cultures of the national minorities and the Swedish culture, which together constitute Sweden's collective cultural foundation.

Our country's cultural heritage and history are two important pillars for society's identity, and identity is the guiding star in the question of a cohesive country.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Erik Ottoson (M)

Madam Speaker! Swedish minority policy has for many and long decades been the subject of discussion: How should minorities and indigenous peoples in Sweden have their rights met? What should these rights be? And how should they be managed?

We have made great progress over time. Sweden does not have an all-too-bright past when it comes to how it has chosen to handle its rights and its indigenous people. It is about how one has chosen to handle language issues, cultural issues, and a number of different circumstances that have been decisive for preserving local cultures, minority cultures, and indigenous cultures.

As mentioned earlier, large parts of the Committee on the Constitution have had the opportunity to visit Älvdalen during the week. It was an interesting visit with a packed program from beginning to end. I believe I was not entirely alone in feeling well-informed when I left Älvdalen on Monday together with my colleagues.

The conclusion is that we have a fantastic variation in the Kingdom of Sweden. There are many local phenomena, minority phenomena, and indigenous phenomena that make Sweden a rich country to live in, with a variation that is both domestic and imported and with a knowledge of cultural phenomena that for large parts of the population may have been lost.

Älvdalska is an interesting example of how archaic linguistic expressions have survived in a small part of Sweden. Whether älvdalska is a language, whether it should be recognized as an official minority language in Sweden, and how that would be done in that case is something one must reflect upon.

The balance is important to walk even here. The Committee on the Constitution is responsible for many issues where one needs to walk a difficult balance between heavily weighted interests. The interests of minorities and the rights of indigenous peoples, but also the interests and rights of the majority population, must constantly be weighed on a golden scale so that we can find a way forward that is legitimate.

A danger if one goes too far in one direction or the other, in favor of or to the detriment of our minorities, is that the legitimacy of the work is damaged – either with the minority in question, who feel sidelined, forgotten and deprioritized, or with the majority population, who feel that undue advantages are being granted as a representative of a minority or a part of a minority or an indigenous people.

These are difficult legitimacy problems that must be weighed in every individual instance, Madam Speaker. And I do not believe that any committee is better equipped to do that than just KU, where we have this fantastic tradition of being able to sit down, respectfully challenge each other's perspectives and find ways forward that are responsible and long-term, where we stand guard over important values but also manage to make difficult prioritizations.

I particularly want to highlight the problematic situation that Jewish life is being subjected to in Sweden right now, Madam Speaker. The Swedish Jewish group has for far too long experienced itself being severely pressured by other groups in society. The security situation around synagogues and other buildings used for Jewish cultural life has, in practice, become unsustainable. People are leaving Jewish congregations - not because they do not want to support Jewish life, not because they do not feel like part of the Jewish group, but because the costs of being a member of a Jewish congregation that preserves this Jewish cultural heritage are becoming far too high as the costs for physical security against violence spiral.

In a democracy like Sweden, which focuses on that as an ordinary citizen one should have the right to one's culture, one's religion and one's language, this is of course a completely unacceptable development and something that we must continue to work on to rectify. Conflicts in society can of course take unfortunate expressions, but our responsibility as representatives of the state must always be that the fundamental rights we have in our constitution - to our culture, our religion and our freedom to practice these - must be able to be exercised in a peaceful way in our country.

With that, Madam Speaker, I would like to move for the approval of the Committee on the Constitution's proposal for a decision.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Jessica Wetterling (V)

Madam Speaker! I begin by moving for approval of reservation 16.

This report concerns issues regarding the national minorities. Also included are the indigenous people, the Sami, and their issues. The Left Party has very many proposals that are addressed in the report. I will not speak about all of them, but we have proposals concerning Jewish life, Roma inclusion, and Sami rights. We also have certain proposals that include all the national minorities.

The national minorities in Sweden are the Sámi, who are also an indigenous people, the Swedish-speaking Finns, the Tornevians including the Kvens and Lantalaiset, the Roma and the Jews. The national minority languages include the Sámi languages, Finnish, Meänkieli, Romani chib including all varieties, and Yiddish.

Since 2000, minority policy has been a separate policy area. The national minority policy was established as a consequence of Sweden ratifying two Council of Europe conventions: the minority languages convention and the framework convention for the protection of national minorities.

This was done for good reasons. The oppression of national minorities and a policy of forced assimilation is a dark part of Sweden's history that in many ways remains unprocessed and which lives on and has consequences even in our time. People have been rendered invisible and mapped in a discriminatory way solely because they belonged to a minority. The previous assimilation policy resulted in people being forced to deny their origins and stop speaking their language in order not to be excluded from the majority society.

Through international agreements, Sweden has since the ratification in 2000 committed itself to protecting and strengthening all national minorities' and the indigenous people's rights to identity, language, cultural heritage, and religion. But much remains to be done.

Vänsterpartiet considers that the possibilities to use one's own language in contact with authorities need to be expanded and apply to all speakers of a national minority language regardless of where in the country they live. Also, the education in, on, and about the national minority languages as well as the national minorities' culture and cultural heritage needs to be expanded, as well as the possibility to receive healthcare and care from staff who speak the own mother tongue.

Another obvious democratic requirement is that everyone who belongs to a national minority shall have the opportunity to participate in decision-making and pursue their interests in all areas of society. Discrimination, racism, and hate crimes still occur against people who belong to any of the national minorities or the indigenous people. For this reason, we need to constantly continue to improve and develop the rights for the national minority population and the indigenous people.

The Act on National Minorities and Minority Languages entered into force on 1 January 2010. The Act shall guarantee all of Sweden's national minorities a basic protection as well as special rights for those living in a municipality that belongs to an administrative area for Sami, Meänkieli or Finnish - a municipality can, of course, also be an administrative area for several minorities at the same time.

The law's basic protection shall, however, as stated, be applied throughout Sweden. The basic protection means, among other things, that administrative authorities shall inform national minorities about their rights, protect and promote minority culture and languages, and give the national minorities the opportunity to influence issues concerning them and consult with them.

About a year ago, Lennart Rohdin, on behalf of the delegation of the Swedish-Finns, submitted a report that directed very sharp criticism at Sweden's minority policy. Despite the fact that 23 years had passed since the Riksdag decided that Sweden would join the minority conventions and Sweden received a national minority policy, despite the fact that it was then almost 13 years since the Act on National Minorities and Minority Languages entered into force in Sweden, and despite the fact that this law was further tightened just four or five years ago, Lennart Rohdin notes that only a few municipalities and regions meet the requirements stipulated by the law, which obviously apply to all of these.

Furthermore, the follow-up of the minority policy is far too weak, and the minorities' trust in the follow-up authorities is very low.

It was good that the previous government presented an action program for the preservation and promotion of the national minority languages. But the issue is so acute that more needs to be done. The Left Party has, as stated, presented many different proposals, which one is welcome to read more about in the report.

We are very concerned. The Chamber is usually always in agreement on the importance of the national minority languages and on the fact that the language issue is acute for all minorities. Despite that, not much is happening. Sometimes one actually needs to move from words to action. But we see, as said, positively that the previous government nevertheless produced an action program and hope that the approximately 40 million per year will lead to it becoming a reality.

Lennart Rohdin's investigation showed, as mentioned, that the municipalities are not following the laws, even though they have existed for a long time in Sweden. More than half of the municipalities have not even produced an action plan for their national minorities and for how to handle the issue based on the law. It is obviously a failing grade for this assembly that certain laws are not followed and that it takes a long time. Some laws are usually implemented from day one, while for some it has taken several years without anything concrete actually happening.

Therefore, Vänsterpartiet believes that, unfortunately, for once, it needs to be worked with not only carrots, as is otherwise often done, but perhaps also with some form of whip on the municipalities so that they comply with this important law. The reservation I moved for approval concerns exactly that, about implementation, supervision, and also follow-up of the minority policy and that the law is followed by the municipalities. We believe that it should be investigated.

I also want to say something briefly about Älvdalska. There is a very strong commitment in Älvdalen. They have fought on. It is admirable, because they have unfortunately really worked against the wind. They would like Älvdalska to be granted status as a minority language. Unfortunately, that does not solve all problems, which we can see regarding today's minority languages. Had it helped just to be recognized, we would not have the situation that we unfortunately have with the other minority languages.

Vänsterpartiet and Centerpartiet have a joint reservation regarding specifically the recognition of Älvdalskan. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to visit Älvdalen this week, but I know that several in the committee did and learned a lot. Some previous speakers have spoken about Älvdalskan and that one wants to investigate the issue. Our and Centerpartiet's reservation is precisely about investigating the issue. There are therefore every reason for the Chamber of Parliament to vote in favor of our reservation later today.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Gudrun Brunegård (KD)

Madam Speaker! In the current report, we address minority issues. It concerns Jewish life in Sweden, Rom inclusion, Sami policy, rights for national minorities and indigenous peoples, the status of the Elfdalian language, and more.

The goal of the policy for national minorities is to provide the national minorities with protection and strengthen their opportunities for influence. It is also about strengthening the historical minority languages so that they are kept alive. In Sweden, Roma, Jews, Sami, Swedish-speaking Finns and Torneviens are counted as national minorities. The recognized minority languages are, as mentioned several times in the debate, Finnish, Yiddish, Meänkieli, Romani Chib and Sami.

The Instrument of Government emphasizes that the public shall counteract discrimination of people on the basis of gender, skin color, national or ethnic origin, linguistic or religious affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, age, or other circumstances concerning the individual person. It also appears that the Sami people and ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities' opportunity to maintain and develop their own cultural and community life shall be promoted.

Against that background, it is serious that several of the national minorities are subjected to discrimination in various forms. In a previous speech today, under the heading Freedom and rights etc., I have spoken about the need for security around synagogues and Jewish institutions due to the hate crimes they are subjected to.

In this context, I want to highlight the government's work with the EU's action plan against racism and the EU's strategy to combat antisemitism and promote Jewish life. Of course, we shall support the right of persons from the national minorities to live their lives according to their traditions, preserve their distinctiveness, convey their cultures to future generations in various ways, and contribute to enriching society. For that purpose, the preservation of the Yiddish language is an indispensable part, just as Finnish is for Swedish-speaking Finns, meänkieli for Tornedalians, Romani chib for Roma, and Sami for Sámi.

Language is closely associated with culture and tradition but also with emotional life and even with spirituality. That is why in Christian contexts, there is an eagerness to translate the Bible into as many languages as possible. It opens up for a completely different understanding when something significant is presented in one's own language, in one's mother tongue. Many who come from multilingual environments testify to how much more deeply one is touched when something is told in one's mother tongue.

It transitions for me unintentionally over to Älvdalen dialect. It is a language that has not yet been recognized by Sweden's Riksdag and government but which several years ago was classified as a language with its own language code and ISO classification by the language research institute SIL International. Even the Council of Europe's expert committee has classified Älvdalen dialect as a language, and the Västerås foundation has tasked the Älvdaling association Ulum Dalska with translating the Children's Bible into Älvdalen dialect. It will probably be the crowning achievement after the translations already made of the books about Mamma Mu and Pelle Svanslös, in order to keep the language alive and pass it on to the new generations.

A number of members of the Committee on the Constitution actually visited Älvdalen for two intensive days at the beginning of the week, which several have mentioned. It was a very well-planned program where linguists accounted for the language's historical background and how it differs from Swedish.

Sweden's representative in the Council of Europe's expert committee described the criteria for classifying something as a language and what is contained in the different parts of the European Charter. The expert committee has repeatedly expressed that an independent scientific investigation should be carried out, while the Swedish governments have so far asserted that Älvdalska is a dialect. The linguist emphasized that the difference between a dialect and a language is a political decision, in addition to the real linguistic and other differences that exist.

In the Expert Committee's latest report, which was released this year and is the eighth in order, it is recommended that the authorities, in cooperation with the speakers, determine what is required for a form of expression to constitute a separate language. Furthermore, it is noted that the speakers wish to continue the dialogue with state authorities regarding the recognition of älvdalska as a minority language. The Expert Committee advocates that the dialogue continues between Isof, the Institute for Languages and Folklore, and representatives for the speakers.

The speakers are many: 2,500-3,000 people in Älvdalens socken. And the number is increasing as the municipality, through a project supported by the General Inheritance Fund, teaches children in Älvdalska. Storybooks have been translated, teaching materials produced, and films, a music video, a musical, and countless songs with lyrics in Älvdalska have been recorded. Additionally, teaching in Älvdalska is conducted via Facebook, targeting people all over the world.

In daily interaction, new words also emerge in Älvdalska. This is done either by adapting the Swedish word to the Älvdalska pronunciation or by constructing an entirely new word, for example mobiltelefon, wavelslaverduos - with reservation for my pronunciation -, which can be translated as "the box one talks into while walking". One has even, via an employee at Google, obtained an Älvdalska keyboard for the punctuation marks that exist in Älvdalska but do not exist in Swedish, for example the voiced dental fricative [ð], the nasals, and the [w]-sound.

One cannot claim anything other than that Älvdalska is a highly living language. It is pleasing to hear that several of the participants in the journey share that view. I look forward to us investigating the issue in the future. Even though we, with this consideration, Madam Speaker, formally reject all motions, including those concerning the recognition of Älvdalska, I will continue to work in various ways to ensure that such an impartial investigation as the expert committee advocates is actually commissioned. It should be time that the people of Älvdalen receive the official recognition that has unofficially existed since time immemorial.

Älvdalska is a language that is difficult to understand even for people in the neighboring municipalities of Mora and Orsa, where I myself have lived, and largely impossible to understand for us Smålanders, which I experienced and which Member Mirja Räihä spoke about earlier. When the elderly have forgotten Swedish—the learned language—one as a Småländer is dependent on an interpreter to be able to speak with the elderly who have reverted to speaking only Dalska. It is a language that researchers believe diverged from the main Swedish branch as early as the 500s after Christ and which differs as much from Swedish as Icelandic differs from Swedish when it comes to grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and writing.

We must not let this living linguistic cultural heritage go to waste! I move for approval of the proposals in the report.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Malin Björk (C)

Madam Speaker! As I said already in my previous speech, in the previous debate: No person in Sweden shall be discriminated against or be subjected to [discrimination] as a result of their origin. All people who live in our country shall have the same opportunities for influence and for participation in society. This also means that each one of us has the right to their language and their cultural identity. This constitutes the core of the minority policy that we have adopted here in the Riksdag.

For 20 years now, we in Sweden have had a unified policy to strengthen our national minorities and to support our national minority languages. The goal of that policy is to provide these minorities with protection and to strengthen their opportunities for influence. At the same time, we shall ensure that our historical minority languages can be kept alive. The work on minority issues has, during the last 20 years, certainly moved forward, but there is much left to do.

Deficiencies have been identified, such as unclear mandates and weak mandates for the authorities tasked with monitoring the work on minority rights and also regarding the protection of minority languages as living languages. We in Centerpartiet want to see that the ambitions that have long been set are actually complied with in practice, and for this, a systematic work is required that is carried out with both long-term perspective and perseverance.

Madam Speaker! The responsibility for monitoring how Sweden's minority policy is implemented in our municipalities lies with the County Administrative Board in Stockholm together with the Sami Parliament. These authorities shall provide education and information on minority issues, and they shall provide the support that municipalities and other authorities need. It is of course important that the minority policy is coordinated, but for it to have an impact in practice, it is absolutely central to involve civil society.

Without the non-profit organizations that gather the minorities and the work that these associations do, there is a risk that not much will be achieved. The Center Party therefore considers that these organizations should be given a decisive importance for caring for, safeguarding, and developing the national minorities.

Madam Speaker! Welcome to Älvdalen! I must ask for the indulgence of the Älvdalen residents who may be listening to this debate, as the pronunciation is not easy. I learned that when we in the Committee on the Constitution visited Älvdalen a few days ago. It is a visit that many colleagues in the committee have gladly spoken warmly about.

What I tried to utter means "welcome to Älvdalen", and we felt warmly welcomed. We really got to dive deep into this language – because Älvdalska is a language, not just a dialect. At least I am convinced of that after having been marinated in Älvdalska for the past two days. Several have testified to the program there. We got to listen to folk songs in Älvdalska, see a cartoon Pelle Svanslös who spoke Älvdalska with elake Måns, hear story reading for preschool children where Mamma Mu spoke Älvdalska and even see a music video recorded in Älvdalen where the youths were driving epa and singing Eddie Meduza in Älvdalska. I became convinced, and I am definitely not alone.

A number of language experts - we were able to listen to some of them during these days - have found that the structure of Älvdalska makes it a matter of a separate language. Älvdalska distinguishes itself, among other things, through an older case system - we also tried to sniff around that during these days, but it was not easy to grasp - and by having preserved different sounds in the pronunciation. I am not like my committee colleague Gudrun Brunegård and trying to pronounce these sounds, but I will just say that there are some nasal vowels that are interesting.

Guarantees for groups' linguistic rights are included in the fundamental human rights anchored in the UN convention. Today, children with Älvdalska as their mother tongue have no right to school education either in or in Älvdalska.

During our visit to Älvdalen, we saw how great the children's and youth's interest in Älvdalska was. There is indeed a scholarship that motivates them to study, but there were also many who received instruction in Älvdalska after regular school hours. One of the youths said when they spoke before us in KU that it is a bit cool to speak Älvdalska, and above all – which touched me – that it is part of a person's identity. To hear young people express themselves like that hits one in the heart.

The Center Party considers it a historical mistake if Älvdalska, Sweden's oldest preserved language, were to die out. The work being done by voluntary forces to preserve the language, which we saw during our visit, is a central success factor. But with an official recognition of Älvdalska as a distinct language, more could be done. Therefore, we in the Center Party want the government to investigate the possibilities of recognizing Älvdalska as a minority or regional language in Sweden according to the Council of Europe's treaty. That is also why I move for approval of reservation 11 under point 6.

In conclusion, Madam Speaker: I know that we here in the chamber speak Swedish but still want, in defiance of these rules of procedure, to try to speak tjär tokk.

(THIRD DEPUTY SPEAKER: Even so, it is a dialect.)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Malin Danielsson (L)

Madam Speaker! One of the children at home has recently read in school about Sweden's national minorities and how we have historically treated people because they are different. This has left him horrified. Why did we have laws that forced certain minorities to move all the time? Why did we have regulations that meant one was not allowed to use their own language? Why could one not go to school on the same terms as others? The questions have been very numerous regarding how we have historically handled minorities, what the situation looks like today, and that one does not need to choose to be one or the other but can be both.

Who is it that decides one's identity? It must always be the individual themselves who decides their affiliation. Minority policy should facilitate and create opportunities for individuals to decide for themselves. It is through people's choices that languages are kept alive and passed on to the next generation, just as we have heard about Älvdalska, and it is people themselves who preserve, change, and renew minorities' cultural traditions.

Madam Speaker! It is about being able to identify oneself as both, not either/or. One should not be forced to choose between being Sami or Swedish, Swedish Finn or Swedish, Romani or Swedish, Jew or Swedish, Tornean or Swedish. It is about being able to choose both. Sami, Swedish Finns, Torneans, Romani, and Jews have developed their culture on Swedish soil since a very long time ago and must also continue to have the opportunity to do so.

In a previous speech today, I touched upon the vulnerability that we see the Jewish minority is subjected to today. Unfortunately, everything from firebombs against synagogues to swastikas in public environments occurs. The work to counter antisemitism is important and extensive. Several have taken up the national plan against racism. The action program for the work against antisemitism has been in place since earlier, and an investigation on a national strategy for strengthening Jewish life shall be presented in December, which we look forward to. At the beginning of the year, a cross-departmental group of state secretaries was also appointed, who shall cooperate with, among others, representatives for the Jewish minority to address the problems with antisemitism.

Madam Speaker! Antiziganism is another area that needs to be addressed. The goal for Roma inclusion is that the Roma who turns 20 in 2032 shall have equal opportunities in life as those who are non-Roma. Unfortunately, the report conducted by the County Administrative Board in Stockholm shows that the work stalled during the pandemic, even though there are some glimmers of light highlighted. Among the glimmers of light is that Arbetsförmedlingen has developed a new service to be able to offer both oral and written contact in Romani chib, and that Statens kulturråd has worked with a national reading ambassador who has contributed to Roma having increased access to literature, reading, and their own writing. But it is evident that there is more to do to reach the goal by 2032, and it is urgent that the authorities resume the work again now that the pandemic is over.

Madam Speaker! I began by telling about my son's newly acquired knowledge. We Liberals have on numerous occasions when national minorities have been debated here in the chamber highlighted the importance of the school providing knowledge about national minorities. I can happily state that the curricula for the middle school have been updated to make all national minorities visible, which in practice means that the Jews, the Roma, the indigenous people the Sámi, the Swedish-speaking Finns and the Tornevians are explicitly mentioned in the curricula and are not just lumped together as minorities. In the curricula for the upper secondary school, Swedish minority policy and its development have been highlighted. In this way, it is not only my child but all students in Sweden who receive knowledge about the national minorities. This hopefully leads not only to increased knowledge but also to increased understanding in the future.

I vote in favor of the proposal in the report.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Jan Riise (MP)

Madam Speaker! To ensure Sweden's international commitments, an active and reinforced effort is required for our national minorities and the indigenous people, the Sámi. We must preserve the minority languages and increase knowledge about the national minorities' rights, culture, and language. In addition to an overarching policy, there is also a need for specific initiatives for each individual national minority and the indigenous people, the Sámi.

The right to land and water for Sami interests needs to be secured and strengthened. It is enshrined in the constitution but is also a civil legal right based on immemorial prescription. The requirement for consideration is enshrined in other legislations, but the application is lacking. The legislation needs to be in line with indigenous rights and give the Sami people the rights that follow from the international conventions Sweden has backed. We would like to see a Nordic Sami convention realized. It is high time that Sweden ratifies ILO Convention number 169 on indigenous peoples' rights.

Madam Speaker! The culture and history of the Tornedalians need to be made visible and the right to meänkieli strengthened. One step in this is to increase access to education in the language, which today is limited to a few locations. A permanent center for Tornedalian history and culture should be established, so that knowledge about Tornedalian issues is gathered. I also want to emphasize the importance of the conclusions from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the review of violations and abuses against Tornedalians, Kvens, and Lantalaiset so that we can take concrete steps towards reconciliation. There are lessons to be drawn from other countries whose work with truth and reconciliation processes between the state and minorities or indigenous peoples has progressed further.

An initiative should also be implemented regarding the rights of the Swedish-speaking Finns to language and culture. The greatest challenge for the revitalization of the Finnish language in Sweden is to get more young Swedish-speaking Finns to use, develop, or learn the language and, in the next step, give them the opportunity to in turn pass the language on to their children. For the revitalization of the language in Sweden, the work with the collection and making available of Swedish-Finnish concepts and terms that are developed within the framework of Swedish-Finnish language preservation is important.

Madam Speaker! The Jewish minority in Sweden is in an increasingly worse situation from a security perspective. The Green Party worked actively in the government to increase the security for Jewish congregations in Sweden. The criminal protection against hate propaganda on racist grounds is strong in Sweden but may need to be further strengthened. The proposal to criminalize the trivialization of the Holocaust is important.

The question of the visibility of Yiddish and Yiddish culture is in some cases more complex than is the case for many other minority languages. This is because many people with a Jewish background feel concern for their own safety, which counteracts the desire to openly display their Jewish identity. It is therefore important to carry out initiatives to promote and make visible Yiddish as a national minority language and to make Jewish cultural life visible.

Roma have for a long time been subjected to extensive discrimination. Many Roma still live in exclusion, and there is a large trust gap between many Roma and society's institutions. In order to counter discrimination and persecution, Roma must be involved to a greater extent in issues concerning them. This would also lead to better documentation of Roma history and culture.

The strategy for Roma inclusion must be given long-term and sufficient funding. To increase the inclusion of Roma, the promotion of Roma community life is an important part. In Sweden, there is a large number of organizations and associations that in different ways represent Roma and Roma interests, for example to counter anti-Gypsyism and strengthen Roma social and political rights. But a central structure is lacking, and the lack of resources is great.

Madam Speaker! Since 2005, the Sami Parliament has had a national responsibility to inform about the Sami and Sami culture through the Sami Information Centre. This information centre is an important asset for promoting and increasing the accessibility of information about the Sami community. To strengthen and increase the access and accessibility to information about Jews, Roma, Sweden Finns, and Tornedalians, we believe that similar centres should exist for all national minorities. This would also increase the possibility for cooperation between the groups and various actors who work with information about national minorities.

Throughout history, the state has committed various abuses against the indigenous people, the Sámi. Sápmi, which constitutes a large part of Sweden's area, was for a long time an area that the state did not control. In the 1600s, the state began to make claims, and since then, the space for Sámi life has diminished. The state must take responsibility for historical abuses against the Sámi people and provide redress. Swedish Sámi policy needs a rethink and a Sámi policy roadmap. A broad parliamentary cooperation is needed between the parties in the Riksdag and the parties in the Sámi Parliament.

An organizational review of the Sami Parliament's structure should also be carried out. Today, the Sami Parliament is both an elected parliament and an administrative authority under the government. The review should be carried out in consultation with the Sami community and aim to see what can be done to develop and clarify the organization, mandate, and purpose of the Sami Parliament. This can constitute a part of the Sami political roadmap.

It is of great importance that the implementation of the consultation procedure is facilitated and that methods for consultation are developed so that the purpose is achieved, namely to reach consensus and better take into account Sami rights and opportunities. It is also important that the planned next step in the implementation of the consultation procedure is carried out, namely that municipalities and regions are also included in the legislation.

Minority issues

Madam Speaker! In summary, I want to say that persons who speak a minority language have special rights within school, health care, and social services, and therefore they have the right to use their language within parts of the public administration. To improve the service, a knowledge lift should be carried out regarding national minorities' linguistic and cultural rights. The school must be able to provide all children and young people with information about Sweden's indigenous people, national minorities, and the minority languages.

The Government must ensure that all municipalities receive the support and resources they need to fulfill their obligations according to the basic protection for national minorities. Even now, almost 14 years after the Minority Act entered into force, far too few of the over 200 municipalities that are not part of an administrative area have taken sufficient measures to meet the law's requirements regarding basic protection for the national minorities and the minority languages.

The associations and organizations of the national minorities play an extremely important role, both locally and nationally, for minority policy to be effective. At the same time, these organizations are under severe pressure. The national minorities shall be independent in relation to the state, and this means that the organizations themselves decide what their resources shall be used for. The Government should therefore also work to ensure that EU grants, earmarked for strengthening national and ethnic minorities, go directly to minority organizations instead of via the member states.

Madam Speaker! We have heard a lot about Älvdalskan. I also had the pleasure of participating in the trip, and I am strengthened by all that we heard and saw there. Even though there are no proposals today to proceed with the issue, we would like to see the work proceed with an investigation into the subject. I have full confidence that the tribute chorus I have heard also needs a green voice in this context.

I move for approval of reservation number 9.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(Decisions were made under § 14.)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)