- published: 26 Jan 2016
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The Finnish Kale (Romani: Kàlo, Finnish: Kaale or the Finnish romanis (Suomen romanit) are a group of the Romani people that live primarily in Finland and Sweden.
Their main languages are Finnish and Finnish Romani. They are mostly Christian.[citation needed]
Finnish Kale came to Finland 500 years ago via Sweden by Romani groups who travelled from the kingdoms of Scotland and England in the 16th century. In 1637 all Romani groups were declared outlaws who could be hanged without trial. This practice was discontinued in 1748. When Finland declared independence in 1917, all Kales received full citizenship and rights. During the Winter War and Continuation War about a thousand Kales served in the Finnish military.
The Kale have traditionally held positions as craftsmen, but the occupation has lost importance in modern times, leading to a significant rise in unemployment within the group. A paper published by the Ministry of Labour states that "According to labour administration's client register material, 70% of the Roma jobseekers had a primary school or lower secondary school education." According to the same paper: "Education is compulsory in Finland and this obligation applies equally to the Roma as to other citizens, but dropping out of basic education is still common among young Roma, while in the mainstream population it is extremely uncommon."[citation needed]