Migrant Tales

Nato-huuma meinaa taas Suomessa ryöpsähtää yli. Ulkoministeri Haavisto meni tokaisemaan, että me kyllä kohta mennään Natoon ilman Ruotsia. Tavallisesti harkitseva ja diplomatiankin taitava ministerimme lienee jälleen puun ja kuoren välissä, kun olisi tyydytettävä klikkiotsikkoja kaipaavien toimittajien tarpeet, rähisevän äärioikeiston ja natokiimaisen, sotaa pelkäävän kansanosan tarpeet ja oman hallituksenkin toiveet. Juuri tässä tilanteessa pitäisi maltti kuitenkin

Silence can be very revealing. It’s not what you say but what you do not say. Your inaction and silence in the face of racism, specifically against institutional racism, speaks volumes. This fact is one of the biggest challenges to Finland during this century. The outspoken racist is a danger, but the worst threat is

EU Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović expressed concern about the human rights of asylum seekers after parliament amended Section 16 of the Border Guard Act. The amendment allows Finland, in emergency cases, to close the border and severely restrict the rights of asylum seekers to seek refuge.  I still don’t understand how Finland can close all the border

US Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri announced that he would vote against Finland’s and Sweden’s membership in Nato. Finnish Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Jani Mäkelä pleaded with him to change his mind. Good luck. The January 6 hearing last week made a horse’s ass of Hawley, one of former President Donal Trump’s avid followers who believes

Hungary’s strongman denounced in a speech Saturday “mixed race” nations. While there was outrage in Europe about his racist comment, there was silence from some political circles like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, which are Orbán’s admirers. He said in Romania over the weekend that migration had split Europe and that Europeans who mix with non-Europeans “are

Although I have published several posts about racism in Finland, two of them published in 2008 and 2014 are still valid. After living over 40 years in Finland and having a Finnish mother, racism is a problem that not only hinders the country from finding its potential but retards and stunts careers. Some of us

Thanks to a Facebook page and a story in Helsingin Sanomat, I became on Monday, a member of a group called “Do I look Finnish?” Nothing wrong with that, but if the page attempts to reinforce stereotypes about Finns, then something is rotten in Denmark. Understanding how far-right groups like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, Suomen Sisu,

The rise of hostile populism and white supremacy politics in the US and Europe is no coincidence. But a reminder of how little historical psychoanalysis we have done to overcome our bigotry, racism, and hostility towards people who are different from us. While some may disregard these facts as something minor or untrue, they will

Migrant Tales will launch stories about how the cold war, or Finlandization, encouraged self-censorship and censorship. My journalism career began in 1986, when I made a living from writing. As a journalist writing for the Finnish and foreign media, the foreign ministry warned me several times about questioning Finland’s foreign policy and human rights violations

The recent article and editorial in Helsingin Sanomat about social segregation in Finland is a good example of how white privilege deals with growing social segregation. Finland’s largest daily, Helsingin Sanomat, published an editorial Thursday about how social segregation is growing in Finland. That follows a story about how some schools in Espoo have more

Considering that discrimination in the labor market is well-documented in numerous studies, it is surprising how little is still being done to challenge this problem and how migrant and minority voices are excluded from the debate. True, some stories quote migrants, but they are usually the victims and not the experts with solutions. The lack

Reija Härkönen Timo Soini kirjoitti blogissaan 20.9.2015 otsikon ”Maahanmuuttolinja kiristyy huomattavasti” alle seuraavasti: ”Perussuomalaiset ovat jo vuosia varoittaneet sekä moraalittomasta europolitiikasta ja löperöstä maahanmuuttopolitiikasta Euroopassa, myös Suomessa. Minua, EU-politiikasta ja Jussi Halla-ahoa maahanmuuttopolitiikasta, on arvosteltu rajusti. Vääriksi väitteitämme ei ole todistettu”. Tuohon päivään mennessä perussuomalaisten rasistinen ja uusfasistinen henki oli jo moneen kertaan pulpahtanut pintaan,

لحوار كان ساعة واحدة يدور حول مدى قبول الحكومة العراقية لطالبي اللجوء الذين تود الحكومة الفنلندي ترحيلهم قسريا للعراق.حيث قال انه العراق لم يعطي الصلاحية او الضوء الاخضر لاي رحلات طيران تحمل عراقيين مرحلين قسريا الى العراق لانه لا يوجد هنالك اي اتفاقية او مذكرة موقعة بين الجانبين لاي شكل من اشكال الترحيل القسري للاشخاص

Migrant Tales is a blog that debates some of the salient issues facing the immigrant and minority community in Finland. It aims to be a voice for those whose views and situation are understood poorly and heard faintly by the media and politicians.