Helsinki police tracked and removed Roma for more than a decade

Helsinki police systematically stopped and removed Roma from public places between 2011 and 2022, according to an investigation by Yle’s MOT. Police collected the personal details of foreign Roma in a separate register, often without any suspicion of a crime.

The Non-Discrimination Ombudsman says the operation amounted to ethnic profiling, which is prohibited by law. Police concealed the operation and claimed it had ended in 2011. The National Police Board issued only a reprimand over the operation.

The operation, code-named Tarkka, began after large numbers of Roma, particularly from Bulgaria and Romania, started arriving in Finland in the early 2010s.

In 2011, the City of Helsinki asked the Helsinki police for assistance in dismantling Roma camps. Police cleared the camps, but continued the operation to prevent new ones from being established.

Instructions drawn up by Helsinki police leadership stated that the operation targeted foreign groups consisting mainly of Roma from Romania and Bulgaria. Officers were told to remove Roma groups staying on streets in central Helsinki or briefly detain them. The stated aim was to show that unauthorised camping was not permitted.

Police officers were instructed to record their observations about Roma on the Tarkka blog, an internal police communications platform. Over the years, it grew into a register containing more than 4,000 lines and the personal details of at least hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Roma. The register was still maintained in 2023.

MOT has seen entries from the Tarkka blog showing how the operation was carried out. The police action was not limited to camps or disturbances. In some cases, it involved foreign Roma encountered by police in general. Stopping, searching, removing and registering Roma appears to have become a police practice that continued into the 2020s.

Many of the entries refer to disturbances or crimes allegedly committed by foreign Roma, or to police suspicions of such conduct. However, a significant number contain no reference to unlawful activity. Some entries specifically state that there was no information about criminal activity, yet the Roma were still removed.

In many cases, being Roma from Bulgaria or Romania appears to have been sufficient grounds for removal. Some police entries use derogatory terms for Roma, including words equivalent to “gypsies”. In one entry, police reported having “removed four gypsies” from Helsinki without any suspicion of disturbances.

Sleeping in a car is legal in places where parking is permitted at that time. Begging is also legal as long as it does not disturb public order or safety. Removing Roma from public places without a crime-related justification may instead be unlawful, as the Finnish Constitution and the Non-Discrimination Act prohibit discrimination based on origin.

The Non-Discrimination Ombudsman considers the Tarkka operation problematic because the monitoring was not directed at aggressive begging regardless of origin, but specifically at foreign Roma.