Kokoomus Archives - Page 3 of 6

The PS’ and Kokoomus’ “concern” about Finland’s minority youth gangs is dishonest and a political stunt

Posted on October 8, 2022 by Migrant Tales

Watching weekly Thursday’s question-and-answer session between the opposition and government can cause nausea. With parliamentary elections six months in April, expect opposition parties like the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) to increase their attacks against ALL migrants.

The truth about the PS and Kokoomus, the biggest and second-biggest opposition party, respectively, is that they have declared hostile and open warfare against migrants and minorities in Finland.

Making up fear scenarios and copying the success of the Sweden Democrats in September’s elections in Sweden is what the PS and Kokoomus want to convey to their prospective voters.

**The debate about youth gangs in Finland shows the social inequality that migrants and minority youths suffer in Finland. Read the full story here.**

Mark my words, after the April parliamentary election, those xenophobic cries will simmer down. The ever-hostile rhetoric of the opposition has nothing to do with solving migration or gang violence. They are deceitful and an election stunt to lure voters.

Kokoomus must look a bit worried about the elections in Sweden. The open support of their sister party, the Moderates, enabled the Sweden Democrats to become the biggest right-wing party.

The lesson we learn repeatedly is that right-wing parties that support far-right ones lose support. Why would you vote for a party that is a lighter version of the real xenophobic thing?

Finland is a country swept once again off its feet by xenophobia

Posted on September 30, 2022 by Migrant Tales

Watching the parliamentary question-and-answer session between the opposition and government revealed two matters: the opposition’s xenophobic politicking and the government’s sometimes infirm responses.

The debate between the opposition and the government occasionally appears like a shouting match, where the government caves into the opposition.

In a historic government decision on the same day, Finland closed its border to Russian tourists.

If one was to state, in a nutshell, the hostile diatribes of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), and Christian Democrat MPs Thursday, it was to tar and feather Russians, asylum seekers from outside the EU, and undocumented migrants.

PS MP Jari Ronkainen parrots his party’s fear-mongering: “Fleeing military service is not grounds for asylum. If it were, up to 20 million Russians would theoretically be entitled to asylum. Despite this, the minister of interior [Kirsta Mikkonen] said yesterday that they are preparing at the border for an influx of asylum seekers and setting up processing centers. For potentially millions?”

The PS, which wants Finland to implement a zero asylum seeker policy, sees the passage of the national border act as an instrument toward such a goal.

“A visa on humanitarian grounds allows a person from Russia or any other country to apply in practice for asylum without even coming to the border of the country,” said PS chairperson Riikka Purra, “and this raises the same security concerns as the right to apply for asylum at the moment.”

Purra favors shutting the Finnish border to Russians even if there is no threat.

NO HATE FINLAND STATEMENT: The parliamentary election has begun for the Finns Party”

Posted on September 29, 2022 by Migrant Tales

The Finns Party (PS) is actively campaigning for the upcoming parliamentary election in April. The party published Monday its so-called “Finnishness program,” Suomalaisuuden ohjelma 2022.

The program attacks two groups: migrants and Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority.

The hostility and simplistic arguments against these two groups resemble an angry and spiteful person willing to lie and cheat to get his or her way.

The PS’ main argument in the program is to also play the usual victim. One of the arguments is that Swedish speakers, never mind migrants, “do not strengthen the linguistic cohesion and identity of Finnish speakers.”

In the PS xenophobic bubble. there is a surrealistic hope that Finland will return to a time that never existed, a time when everyone was white and spoke Finnish as their main language.

I’m not surprised the host on A-studio Tuesday, Marja Sannikka, did not ask the PS leader, Riikka Purra, to elaborate on her dog-whistle tweets of closing the border to all Russians.

Fortunately, Sannikka rebuffed Purra’s claim in a later tweet, where the PS leader claimed on her show that Russian asylum seekers would be treated on a one-by-one basis.

A later tweet below demanded that the border should be shut to all Russians.

RIikka Puura tweets: “Russia blows up gas pipelines and incorporates areas to itself, kills, rapes, destroys without remorse. I was asked many times at the studio how many Russians we should take and help. Close the border [to all Russians]. National security proceeds everything.

**You did not say it that way on air, but those Russian asylum seekers would be treated individual**ly and receive asylum if they meet the requirements. Thus you are not shutting the border [to Russian asylum seekers].”

Purra’s tweets expose lies and deception. Say one thing and then another.

MT Media Monitoring: A government partnership between Kokoomus and the PS would be a hammer blow to us

Posted on August 20, 2022 by Migrant Tales

Politicians and parties expel a lot of blah blah. Ask this question: Will matters improve for Finland’s racialized communities if the PS and Kokoomus partner in a government? There’s your answer with no blah blah.

A recent story by MTV, a private television channel with a streak of Fox News, published a story about what some National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) leaders thought about forming a government with the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)*.

Finland will hold parliamentary elections in April, and considering that Kokoomus and the PS are the biggest opposition parties, with the former leading in opinion polls, future cooperation in a Kokoomus-led government is naturally a topic of speculation.

**For some, a government led by Kokoomus and the PS would bring a lot of social hardship, especially to migrants and minorities. Read the full story (in Finnish) here.**

Even so, the MTV story reveals many ugly truths about how the Finnish media treats its ever-growing culturally diverse communities with disregard. It is an example of whitewash journalism that avoids asking essential questions.

Even if MTV did not care to bring up what a partnership between Kokoomus and the PS would have on our racialized communities in Finland, Migrant Tales is obliged to do so. Moreover, the television station did not even attempt to answer what extreme cost-saving measures would affect people’s lives.

While the story only mentions labor migrants twice, it sidelines the topic effectively and brushes it under the rug.

Although without the same obsessive zeal, Kokoomus is also inflicted by racism. In its black-and-white world, there are “undesirable” migrants, asylum seekers, Muslims, people of color, and “desirable” ones like cheap, obedient, easily exploitable labor.

Let’s look at some of Purra’s quotes and ask after reading them why MTV did not even bother to bring them up:

“If it were up to me, the Perussuomalaiset will never form part of a government
that does not successfully [and] significantly tighten Finnish immigration policy;”
Aims to scrap dual citizenship rights and raise citizenship requirements from five to 10 years;
Total rejection of Muslim asylum seekers to Finland even at the cost of ditching international agreements and human rights obligations;
Constant attacks against cultural diversity by labeling Others as incompatible, irreparable, and hopeless problems;
Much whing about “multiculturalism” but little on solutions.

Police open new investigation of National Coalition Party MP Wille Rydman

Posted on July 15, 2022 by Migrant Tales

After an initial police investigation into alleged sexual harassment by National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman, the National Bureau of Investigation (Keskusrikospoliisi) announced that it had opened a preliminary investigation into the MP’s activities. Rydman is a staunch anti-Muslim who is unofficially Kokoomus’ Jussi Halla-aho.

Halla-aho is the former chairperson of the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS), who built his political career in the 2000s by writing Islamophobic, homophobic, anti-Semitic, and sexist blog entries.

**The first story published by *Helsingin Sanomat* broke about the MP’s alleged inappropriate behavior towards women and minors was published in June 19.**

Keskusrikospoliisi stated: “A preliminary investigation has been opened because the police received new information and the police have interviewed persons who were not heard from in the previous preliminary investigation carried out in 2020. Based on the new information, there are [now] grounds to suspect the person of a crime.”

War in Ukraine forces Finland to lurch to a dark place where human rights must eventually take a backseat

Posted on July 5, 2022 by Migrant Tales

The polarized debate in parliament Monday on renewing the Border Guard Act and Emergency Powers Act is just another example of how Finland has lurched into a dark place where human rights are a nuisance and should not take presedence The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS), with the helping hand of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), and other minor parties like the Christian Democrats and Liike Nyt, are picking on their favorite target: asylum seekers.

According to some, the new laws are not in conflict with the EU, which does not allow member states to stop people from seeking asylum. Others, like European Union Institute professor of international law and human rights Martin Scheinin, believe the new laws will send Finland back thirty years.

Scheinin tweets: “Today, Parliament will finalize the content of the amendments to the Emergency Powers Act and the Border Guard Act. The idea is to introduce a constitutional derogation found in Section 23 of the Constitution, which deals with exemptions in times of crisis. This [the exemptions] turns back the clocks at least 30 years.” Section 23 of the Constitution states that fundamental rights and liberties in situations of emergency cannot breach its human rights obligations.

Here’s the question: Are the draft Border Guard Act and Emergency Powers Act in conflict with EU laws? Looking at parties like the PS and Kokoomus, who speak of asylum seekers as a threat to Finland, would be the first parties to trash human rights or severely water them down.

Sexual harassment scandal takes a political toll on Kokoomus MP Wille Rydman

Posted on June 21, 2022 by Migrant Tales

The scandal that embroiled National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman, has forced him to resign “indefinitely” from the Kokoomus parliamentary and Helsinki city council groups.

A Helsingin Sanomat investigative story exposed MP Rydman’s sexual harassment of underage girls to whom he sometimes offered alcohol. The police, who investigated the case, did not bring any charges against the MP.

Rydman, who has denied any wrongdoing, has built his political career by spreading anti-Muslim hatred and conspiracy theories like the great replacement theory. He has also pushed for closer ties with the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and asked, among other matters, to do away with hate speech laws.

One tweet suggested that apart from Rydman leaving the Kokoomus party, he could join the PS. PS MP Sanna Antikainen, in a tweet below, wished Rydman welcome to join her party.

The shift from Kokoomus to the PS would be a perfect fit for the likes of Rydman.

In the latest development, the police said they would not open the case again because there was no new evidence. Moreover, Helsingin Sanomat said it would write a new story about the scandal.

What’s all the commotion about Wille Rydman? Why is Kokoomus now shocked?

Posted on June 20, 2022 by Migrant Tales

A big question remains after a Helsingin Sanomat investigative journalism piece exposed how National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman treated women – even underaged ones – inappropriately. Some of these women, who were minors then, claimed that Rydman forced them to drink alcohol.

A question remains: Why does Kokoomus appear so shocked today, even after the police decided not to press charges in 2020 against the MP?

Several Kokoomus politicians like Nea Nättinen, the chairperson of the party’s student wing, expressed shock by the news.

Wille Rydman exposes Kokoomus’ hypocrisy and its racist politicians

Posted on June 20, 2022 by Migrant Tales

I wonder if National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman has ever heard of Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, who is under investigation for sexually abusing minors, among other crimes? Helsingin Sanomat exposed in a story Rydman of inappropriate behavior and abusing sexually minors Sunday.

Like Gaetz, Rydman is in hot water and denies all charges against him.

Apart from being unofficially christened as the Jussi Halla-aho by some Kokoomus MPs, it is ironic that such a politician warns Finns of the dangers of the crimes of asylum seekers, which include rape, is suspected of the same crimes.

Former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-aho was convicted in 2012 for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion. In his blog writings, he hoped that migrants rape certain MPs.

One of the far-right conspiracy theories spread by Rydman is the great replacement theory, which warns that Muslims and people of color will take over Europe and whites will become a minority.

A campaign poster for the 2011 parliamentary election, where Rydman claims, among other matters, that Finland should only accept the number of migrants it can adapt. In the ad, Mukhtar Abid, a social worker, states, ” This is why I, a Helsinki Social Democrat, will vote for Kokoomus’ Wille Rydman.” I sent Abib a message to ask him what he thought about the scandal and if Rydman was the right person to back in 2011. He has not responded to my message. Source: *Migrant Tales*

Apart from the hypocrisy of Finnish exceptionalism and that of Kokoomus’, it is surprising how little the party did to get to the bottom of these alleged crimes committed by Rydman.

Writes Helsingin Sanomat: “The women who were in contact with Rydman say he acted inappropriately and was sexually explicit in his words, behaved in a threatening way and forced them [to consume] alcohol. Some of the women were minors when Rydman approached them.”

Kokoomus chairperson Petter Orpo had heard about the allegations against Rydman in winter when journalists were investigating Rydman.

If Finland believes in its laws, it must give residence permits to undocumented migrants

Posted on February 12, 2022 by Migrant Tales

The ministry of interior published on Thursday its recommendations on what to do with some 3,000 undocumented migrants who came to Finland in 2015-2016. Of this group, about 300 are children living in legal limbo thanks to a 2016 law that abolished granting residence permits on humanitarian grounds.

The number of undocumented migrants rose from a few hundred to a few thousand thanks to the 2016 law.

Before the passing of the law during Prime Minister Juho Sipilä’s government, asylum seekers who could not be sent to their country because of human rights violations were given temporary residence permits.