Petteri Orpo's National Coalition Party is drafting a policy programme that would call for stricter legislation on work-based immigration, family reunification and asylum seekers.Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's party is preparing to take a tougher line on immigration. Image: Henrietta Hassinen / YleYle News15:10The National Coalition Party (NCP), led by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, is currently drafting a new policy programme that would significantly tighten Finland's immigration laws.NCP MP Atte Kaleva, who is leading the party's preparation of the programme, told Yle that Finland should be more strict about who receives residence permits."Economically burdensome immigration should be minimised, and immigration that benefits the national economy should be strengthened and encouraged," Kaleva said.He further explained that the NCP's basic principle in this respect is that immigrants should have a job when they arrive in Finland, and they should remain in employment throughout their time in the country.A tougher lineAside from an emphasis on employment, the NCP also wants to target family reunification with its new proposals.Family reunification refers to the practice of someone living legally in Finland applying for residence permits for their family members to join them. Under current Finnish legislation, a prerequisite for family reunification is generally that the applicant can financially support the family members they are bringing to Finland.Another focus for the NCP will be humanitarian immigration, meaning the granting of international protection to asylum seekers or to people who arrive in Finland as quota refugees.National Coalition Party MP Atte Kaleva is leading the party's preparations of the new policy programme. Image: Petteri Bülow / YleFinland's current laws on humanitarian immigration are vulnerable to hybrid influencing tactics by hostile states, according to Kaleva, such as the suspicions in late 2023 that Russia was funnelling large groups of migrants to eastern border checkpoints to put pressure on Finnish authorities."The asylum-seeking channel no longer serves the purpose for which it was created. The core idea of the National Coalition Party's immigration paper is to shift to immigration through employment," Kaleva said.The programme paper, which will inform the party's policies ahead of next year's parliamentary elections, is due to be completed in early September.The hot-button issueThe NCP's announcement of its plans comes in the wake of Finland's main opposition party, the Social Democrats (SDP), proposing a tougher line on integration and segregation in a policy paper published last week.The paper called for immigrants to commit to "the core values and norms of Finnish society" and abandon "incompatible practices from their countries of origin".The move has been seen as a significant turning point in the SDP's rhetoric on immigration, and it suggests that immigration will be a hot-button topic ahead of next spring's elections.Kaleva said he approves of the SDP's apparent policy change."These ideas are going in the right direction, and if the policy paper indicates a genuine change of heart by the Social Democrats, it's only welcome. I was pleased to see it," Kaleva said.