The case of two young Iraqis, KM and SH, who were detained by the police on Friday and who will apparently be deported from the country on Monday are a case in point. To KM and SH, there is another Iraqi national, AM, who will be deported together with KM and SH. All three are being held at the Helsinki detention camp of Metsälä.
Read on »Enrique
Migrant Tales (July 21, 2012): Somali-Finn Abdulah -living in no-man’s land (Part 2)
When Abdulah*, 30, talks to you about his twenty-two years in Finland, one of the first questions that arises is how has so much suffering escaped our attention. For Abdulah, acceptance isn’t only virtually impossible from white Finns, but can be just as hard to get from the Somali community. “I have decided to live
Read on »Timo Soini’s silence in the face of PS MP Olli Immonen’s proposal reveals that he has always been the wolf in sheep’s clothing
Timo Soini, the chairman of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party, was quoted as saying on YLE in English that PS MP Olli Immonen’s written question to parliament, that Finland should start classifying people according to ethnic background, doesn’t concern him. What do you think such a statement by the head of an an anti-immigration party reveals?
Read on »PS MP wants Finland to classify people according to ethnic background
As the European Parliament elections near in May 2014, the attacks against immigrants and visible minorities in Finland by the Perussuomalaiset (PS) are getting stronger and more relentless. The latest one is by none other then PS MP Olli Immonen, who gave parliament Wednesday a written question that Finland should start registering people according to
Read on »Why do we still hesitate to challenge intolerance in Finland?
I had an interesting chat yesterday with an old friend about racism in Finland. One of the matters we agreed was that Finland hasn’t reached that stage where we accept that racism exists and that concrete steps must be taken to challenge it. This fact leads us to a second important question: Why? The answer
Read on »Sikh bus driver in Finland plans to take employer to court over landmark turban case
Busman Gill Sukhdarshan Singh told Migrant Tales that he plans to take his employer to court if no decision is reached with the Veolia bus company concerning a turban ban at work after the the Southern Finland Regional State Administrative Agency (Avi) makes a new ruling on the matter in about a week and a half.
Read on »The story behind “Finland is a racist country” is in the comments
There were quite strong reactions among some Finns and immigrants to Maryan Abdulkarim’s interview on Helsingin Sanomat. Those who strongly objected to the article, appear to want to deny Abdulkarim’s right to express herself on a touchy subject like racism. It’s ironic, but those who want to deny Abdulkarim her right to speak out are
Read on »Isolationism, petty provincialism and nationalism: social ills with far-reaching consequences
In the backdrop of Finland’s independence day celebrations Friday and as the world mourns Nelson Mandela’s death yesterday, our country is at a major crossroads contesting whether it wants to be a closed or open society. The historic victory of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party in 2011 is one example how this country has taken a perilous
Read on »How does Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) empower us?
The death of Nelson Mandela, who was branded a terrorist by countries like the U.S. and Great Britain, is a sad day full of mourning but full of hope as well. His struggle and triumph over apartheid, a toxic offshoot of white European colonialism, proves that no matter how oppressive a government is, change is
Read on »Maryan Abdulkarim: “Finland is a very racist country”
Is there racism in Finland? In order to find the answer to that question, we’d have to ask visible migrants and minorities. Maryan Abdulkarim, 31, is a Finn who was born in Somalia, had the opportunity on Friday’s Helsingin Sanomat to answer that question. “Finland is a very racist country,” she said. “It always has been.”
Read on »PS MP blames immigrants for Finland’s disappointing Pisa result
This year’s Program for International Student Assessment (Pisa) results offered a rude disappointment for Finland, when it saw its global ranking slip sharply in reading, science and math, according to Yle in English. Of all the OECD countries, Finland’s Pisa result saw the biggest drop from the previous year. While part of Finland is still in
Read on »Sweden is right, Finland wrong in its strategy against anti-immigration parties
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt reiterated to Helsingin Sanomat the government’s plans to isolate Sweden Democrats despite the latest polls in Sweden, which show the anti-EU and anti-immigration party making gains. Even if the Sweden Democrats have tried break free from their neo-Nazi and racist image, the party led by Jimmie Åkesson has suffered a number
Read on »Immigrants and their associations should speak out more against exploitation
In the struggle that immigrants and members of the visible minority community in Finland, it’s important that we have a voice and speak out against exploitation and attitudes that promote intolerance. Read full story (in Finnish) here. Migrant Tales wrote recently about Abdi Osman, a naturalized Finn who came to this country fifteen years ago
Read on »Beating intolerance at its own game requires a reaction, leadership and a voice
Beating intolerance at its own game is easier than you think. There are many good examples in Finland, like International Mikkeli Day (IMD), where people from a grass-root level take action and seek solutions. Since intolerance and racism are based on lies and generous quantities of ideological fools gold, truth is the light that exposes
Read on »Länsi-Savo: Loistava kansainvälinen Mikkeli?
Torstaina 28.11. järjestettiin järjestyksessään toinen International Mikkeli Day Stellan Tähtitorilla. Yhtenä tapahtuman tärkeimmistä tehtävistä on luoda foorumi, jossa pohditaan kansainvälistymisen merkitystä kaupungin tulevaisuudessa. Kehitys ja hyvinvointi ovat pitkälti riippuvaisia siitä, kuinka hyvin sopeudumme ja hyödymme kansainvälisyydestä. Vaikka kansainvälistyminen ei ole ainoa ratkaisu alueemme ongelmiin, se on kuitenkin yksi monista ratkaisuista johon pitäisi tarttua erityisesti Itä-Suomessa.
Read on »The PS are now hoping that Kouvola stops receiving asylum seekers and quota refugees by 2016
If you believe that the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party has toned down its xenophobia and loathing towards refugees, check out what they are doing in the municipality of Kouvola. According to the local daily, Kouvolan Sanomat, the PS wants the city council to stop receiving asylum seekers and quota refugees by 2016. While the PS blame
Read on »Finland and Europe must not forget its culturally diverse history
Why have so many in this land forgotten our culturally diverse history? Why don’t we teach it more at schools? At homes? If over 1.2 million emigrants left this land between 1860 and 1999, certainly that says a lot about the source of our diversity. It’s fortunate that Finland wasn’t a former European colonial powers like
Read on »Is your attitude towards racism determined by your upbringing and where you grew up?
Some immigrants and visible minorities fight against intolerance their own way. Others, however, shy away from such a challenge by preferring to live in denial. Is the way you fight against intolerance dependent on what you learned at home and in your home country? If a white Russian learned to hate blacks and Muslims in his society,
Read on »Finland’s Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen’s blog entry on the Roma reveals why Europe has done so little to help this minority
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read Christian Democrat Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen’s opinion piece on Uusi Suomi about the hardships that the Romany minority face in Europe today. As she expressed concern about their plight, I could not forget her intolerant views of gays, non-Christian refugees and her silence in the face of strict
Read on »Finnish bus company continues to prohibit Sikh employee from wearing a turban
Migrant Tales reported in September a landmark case in which a Sikh busman could wear a turban while at work. Helsingin Sanomat reported Thursday, however, that matters didn’t turn the way that the Vantaa Sikh busman, Gill Sukhdarshan Singh, thought. According to Helsingin Sanomat, the Sikh busman is still not allowed to wear a turban at work. Migrant
Read on »Finland and Europe must not be lured into populism and xenophobia
Denials by party leaders like Timo Soini that the Perussuomalaiset (PS) isn’t a xenophobic party, and the meek response of Finland’s mainstream parties to such a threat, speak volumes of the present state of this country. Who helped the political careers of xenophobes like Jussi Halla-aho, James Hirvisaari and others? Soini and the PS. Why
Read on »Latest drug police scandal sheds light on other issues like ethnic profiling in Finland
The latest police corruption scandal concerning the head of the Helsinki police drug squad, sheds light on two matters: Our naivety as a society about institutional corruption, and the extent of other issues like ethnic profiling by the police. Police corruption is nothing abnormal since it exists everywhere. What is abnormal, however, is believing that our police
Read on »Migrant Tales investigative reporting: Finland’s banks fuel social exclusion of some immigrants
Hostility doesn’t always mean that you get pushed around and attacked physically. Hostility can appear near-invisibly as well without laying a finger on you. Social exclusion is a form of aggression that can be fueled by denying you basic rights like opening a bank account, getting life insurance or a mobile phone line. Nordea is the
Read on »Migrant Tales (March 13, 2012): Stateless persons do not have the right to open a bank account in Finland
Here is a pretty odd case that I encountered Monday (March 12) when I went to Nordea bank in Mikkeli to open an account for a stateless person. After a few questions, the bank employee said that the person needs a valid passport to open an account at that bank. But if on that passport
Read on »Time has shown us that our anti-racism efforts in Finland haven’t been in vain
It was only a few years ago when Migrant Tales was openly challenged by some for speaking out against racism in Finland. According to the more hostile commentators that posted on our site back then, racism didn’t exist in this country. If it existed, it was minor and exceptional. Even after the anti-immigration and anti-EU
Read on »Lieksa, Finland, councilperson who wanted a “Somali-free” meeting room gets sacked as the PS’ town council leader
Esko Saastamoinen, the Perussuomalaiset (PS) councilperson from Lieksa who demanded that a ”Somali-free” meeting room for his delegation, has been sacked as the PS’ town council leader, according to Karjalainen, a Joensuu-based daily. Saastamoinen was, however, able to retain his post as the party’s Lieksa town board first vice president. The PS councilperson faces as
Read on »Lieksa town secretary caves in to PS demands for “Somali-free” meeting room
An earlier story, which claimed that a Perussuomalaiset (PS) Lieksa town council leader doesn’t want to be in the same room where a Somali group meets once a month, has been corrected by Karjalainen, a Joensuu-based daily. It is not the PS town council leader, Esko Saastamoninen, making such a demand but the PS councilpersons
Read on »PS leader of Lieksa, Finland, refuses to be in the same room where Somalis meet
Taking into account all the problems and positive solutions that have been found in the town of Lieksa in the region of South Karelia concerning its over 200-strong Somali community, it is disturbing that a city councilmen like Esko Saastamoinen, Perussuomalaiset (PS) town council leader, states he doesn’t want to be in the same room
Read on »Can Peru shed light on how to identify and tackle intolerance in Finland?
In order to understand how racism works in countries like Finland, it is important to see how it occurs in multi-ethnic countries like Peru. While the documentary below clearly shows the many ugly faces of intolerance in Peru, it gives us some good answers to address the social ill in Finland. One of the interesting
Read on »Is silence an effective response to racism?
One of the questions we should ask ourselves is what should our response be to those that are hostile to migrants, visible minorities and our ever-growing cultural diversity. Should silence be the answer? One of the matters that I have learned through my many years of studying and writing about cultural diversity, is that silence
Read on »Man who attacked a Lutheran Church Tuesday “is sorry for what he did and understands his mistake”
What happened on Tuesday, when a white ethnic Finn dressed like a Muslim that vandalized a Lutheran church in Helsinki, is one of the strangest stories I have written but with a good ending. All of this happened when YLE was airing the A2 Islam debate on television. Vicar Timo Pekka Kaskinen of the Rouhivuoren Congregation spoke to
Read on »Apu 1992: Onko Suomessa rotuvihaa?
MT kommentti: Tämä pakina julkaistiin Apu-lehdessä vuonna 1992. Samat kysymykset joita esitetään tässä kirjoituksessa, voidaan tehdä tänään. Silloin asui noin 37 000 maahanmuuttajia. Tänään niitä on 195 511. _______ Olisiko mahdollista, että Suomessa toistuisivat samankaltaiset rotuvihatapahtumat, jotka koettelevat Saksaa ja Ruotsia? Tämä kysymys, joka ahdistaa monia tai voi vaihtoehtoisesti jopa rohkaista eräitä samaan toimintaan. Suomessa
Read on »Columnist Eric Erfors of Sweden’s Expressen: What do Halla-aho and Räsänen say about the state of Finland today?
Finland needs every now and then a wake-up call from the outside world. Columnist Eric Erfors of the Swedish tabloid Expressen, asks how is it possible that a person like Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho, which he calls a ”pure racist,” was eligible to become a deputy member of Finland’s delegation to the Council of
Read on »Alleged white Finn attacks Helsinki church dressed as a Muslim
What would you say if a white Finn dressed like a Muslim attacked a Lutheran church in Helsinki by breaking its windows, yelling and obstructing window repairmen from repairing the damage he caused? What would you say if this happened on Tuesday night, when YLE aired A2 Islam debate on television? Would you say it was
Read on »Are you a perpetrator or victim of white Finnish privilege?
One matter about intolerance is that it is universal. The social ill can manifest itself in different ways by speaking different languages and historical context but don’t be fooled by these deceptions: Intolerance is the same ogre. White privilege is one of the many faces of racism and means automatic access or exclusion to the
Read on »A2 Islam debate: “We’re a very tolerant society but…”
Two matters bothered me the most about the A2 Islam debate Tuesday night: how the cards were deliberately stacked against cultural diversity, and how Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen and PS Espoo city councilman Simon Elo did their utmost to spread fear-mongering of Muslims. You can watch the full debate here until the end of
Read on »About A2’s debate on Islam tonight…
The A2 islam-ilta television debate Tuesday will reveal once again white Finnish ethnocentrism, how poorly we know our laws and, what’s important, how poorly we accept people who are different from us. Is the Finnish media giving once again racists inflated respectability and importance? Will the A2 debate improve or undermine the situation of Muslims in Finland?
Read on »Finland’s interior minister only likes Christian refugees
Finland’s interior minister, Päivi Räsänen, has raised eyebrows again in Finland with her conservative religious views about the type of refugees she thinks would best adapt to Finland. Read full story here. Räsänen was quoted as saying on Joensuu-based Karjalainen that Finland should take Christian and Vietnamese refugees because their work ethic is closest
Read on »Headlines that raise questions and reveal a lot about our attitudes of other cultures
If one wants to start a humorous blog in Finland, just check out the headlines that dailies use sometimes to write about immigrants and refugees. True, some of them aren’t funny at all because they are hostile and ostracize specific groups. Read full story here. Here’s one headline I read on Monday’s Helsingin
Read on »Take two of Magneettimedia’s anti-Semitic campaign in Finland
After being fined 45,000 euros Monday by a Finnish court for ethnic agitation by publishing the anti-Semitic writings of Ted Pike, David Duke and others on Magneettimedia, a publication that advertises J. Kärkkäinen’s department store products, a new story appeared in the latest issue criticizing Zionism and the court sentence as “juridical murder” and “liquidating
Read on »Red herrings, code words that help sanitize and make more acceptable our intolerance
Even if I have written for years about Finland’s anti-immigration groups like the Perussuomalaiset (PS), you have to learn to detect the red herrings in order to understand their real views on the topic. What you may uncover behind these red herrings is far scarier than ever imagined. A red herring is “something intended to
Read on »The Roma blonde girl in Greece and the shadow of intolerance
When I first read about Maria, the blonde girl that was discovered in Greece belonging to an unrelated Roma couple, a number of disturbing questions arose. One of these was an obvious one: Why so much interest by the media? It would take a while for the red herring to be exposed. It eventually became
Read on »Dana: Why doesn’t President Sauli Niinistö care about immigrants? What’s his stand on racism?
Dana Finland is a small country but a very proud one about its political and legal system. Some Finns believe they are, however, so different from other people on this planet and they can’t explain why. For example…in Finland the law functions like magic; they believe that the law is so comprehensive that no-one in
Read on »Well-groomed politicians and making racism in Finland “normal”
In general terms, there are two types of politicians in Finland that spread intolerance: those that let it all hang out and another type that speaks to you politely and is well-groomed. In the latter group, you’ll find PS MPs like Jussi Halla-aho, Juho Eerola, Teuvo Hakkarainen, Juho Eerola, even Timo Soini; James Hirvisaari is
Read on »Magneettimedia editor and owner fined 45,000 euros by court for anti-Semitic writings
Magneettimedia editor and owner Juha Kärkkäinen has been fined by a Finnish court 45,000 euros for publishing anti-Semitic writings of Ted Pike, David Duke and others as well as cartoons that bear a striking resemblance to the former Nazi tabloid, Der Strümer (1923-45), reports Lahti-based Etelä-Suomen Sanomat. Read full story here. The court ruled that the writings
Read on »Migrants’ life in Finland: Some endure intolerance better than others – some hit back, others don’t
The ocean is a desert, with it’s life underground And a perfect disguise above. Under the cities lies, a heart made of ground, But the human will give no love. A Horse with No name, America Intolerance, bigotry, racism, prejudice and a list of other social ills strike their victims in different ways. Some of
Read on »Cultural diversity is unstoppable – it exposes Finland’s white privilege and intolerance
A Silminnäkijä television program exposed Thursday something we all knew: how you are treated in Finland depends on the color of your skin and ethnic-national background. Should this surprise us? What is more incredible? Is it the indifference of the police, bouncers and near-silence of society as people are openly discriminated right before our very
Read on »The ogre of racism in Finland is learning how to wear a three-piece suit and tie
Matters appear to have changed after the April 2011 election, when the Perussuomalaiset (PS) rose from relative obscurity to become the third-largest party in parliament. The well-known scandals and publicized vicious attacks by the racists of the PS against immigrants and visible minorities appear to have changed their tune. Apart from the row that
Read on »Jussi Halla-aho gets cold feet – another lie exposed
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho announced that he will not take part in a live A2 televised debate on Islam, reports YLE. The MP, who has been convicted for ethnic agitation, said that the debate doesn’t serve the issue. He would, however, be ready to take part in a debate with fewer people. Read full
Read on »Zuzeeko’s blog: Finland’s population registry website excludes visible minorities
Zuzeeko Tegha Abeng* Finland is still very much a racially homogeneous country — predominantly made up of white Finnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking people. The homogeneous nature of the population is reflected in most walks of life in the country where people of African descent or visible minorities are not represented or are relegated to the background.
Read on »Suspected hate crimes in Finland fall by 20.6% in 2012
Suspected hate crimes in 2012 totaled 732, which is a 20.6% fall from 918 cases in the previous year, according to YLE in English. Of the total hate crimes reported to the police last year, 641 cases were classified as racist. Read full story here. According to YLE in English, the most common offense investigated
Read on »Do “mamu” an “maahanmuuttajataustainen” downgrade people in Finland into “us” and “them?”
There are two words I’d be very careful with in Finland: mamu and maahanmuuttajataustainen especially at schools to single out third-culture children. The first label is the shortened word for maahanmuuttaja, or immigrant, while the second one means person with immigrant background. Migrant Tales has written previously about the use of mamu like this blog entry above. Both
Read on »Pressiklubi exposes MP James Hirvisaari’s fabricated lies and ignorance of immigrants and minorities
MP James Hirvisaari, who got expelled from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party last week, appeared on Ruben Stiller’s Pressiklubi Friday. Compared with his appearance on Enbuske & Linnanahde Crew’s talk show the previous day, the new Muutos 2011 MP’s fabricated lies and ignorance were exposed in the raw. See full program (in Finnish) here. Just like the
Read on »How the Finnish media flirts with disgraced former PS MP James Hirvisaari
Why would a Finnish talk show like Enbuske & Linnanahde Crew want to interview a disgraced MP like James Hirvisaari, who got kicked out of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party last week for taking a picture of a person making a Nazi salute in parliament? One of the guests of the show, actress Krista Kosonen, wrapped up
Read on »Jussi Halla-aho appointed as vice member of Finland’s delegation to the Council of Europe
The anti-immigration and anti-EU Perussuomalaiset party nominated MP Jussi Halla-aho as vice member of Finland’s delegation to the Council of Europe, reports YLE in English. The controversial nomination of Halla-aho, who was sentenced for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion, prompted the parliamentary leaders of seven parties to express regret in a joint
Read on »Paljastattu.: Uudet ajat puhaltavat Suomen yllä
Enrique Tessieri Kansanedustaja James Hirvisaaren episodi tällä viikolla nostaa pöydälle yhden mielenkiintoisen kysymyksen: onko se ensimmäinen näkyvä halkeama perussuomalaisten hajoamisesta? Vaikka on liian aikaista sanoo kuinka Hirvisaaren potkut perussuomalaisista tulee horjuttamaan puoluetta, Timo Soini tulee varmasti vakuuttamaan ulospäin ettei puolueelle ole mitään hätää ja oma pesä on nyt kunnossa. Onko niin? Hirvisaaren tapausta huolimatta, ei
Read on »Helsingin Sanomat’s Cold War policy towards immigrants
Immigrants, expats and Finns marched on October 19, 1982 to demand their rights. The march started from Helsinki University’s Porthania building to Parliament. One of the comments that caught my attention on that chilly Tuesday, was that Helsingin Sanomat made a big exception about writing about the march since it did not publish as a rule stories
Read on »Is it ok to be a closet fascist, Nazi and racist in the PS after the Hirvisaari scandal?
In an A-studio talk show Monday, Perussuomalaiset (PS) third vice-president, Juho Eerola, was asked what was the underlying message of MP James Hirvisaari’s expulsion to members of the party. The PS MP said that “playing with issues like National Socialism and misanthropy” are unacceptable in the PS. The person making such a claim, Eerola, wrote
Read on »Why does the Finnish media give so much attention to anti-immigration politicians and parties?
I was invited on Tuesday to speak at a seminar on immigration* for YLE journalists. One of the questions I asked was why do Finnish journalists give so much space and attention to far-right anti-immigration politicians? Why do some give racists inflated respectability and importance? A recent story about Finland accepting 500 refugees from war-torn Syria
Read on »Two important stories this week that may have far-reaching implications for Finland
This week was marked by two important news stories that will could have far-reaching consequences on our country: Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari’s expulsion from the anti-immigration and anti-EU party, and positive words about immigration by Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen. Verkkouutiset is published by the National Coalition Party. See full story here. While the first
Read on »Nazi salutes and the growth of far-right ideology in Finland
In two weeks, two Perussuomalaiset (PS) politicians got their fingers burned badly after one made a Nazi salute with a Hitler mask while another took a picture of another one who made the same salute in parliament. One of the reasons why some Finns can do this in public is because they have a blind
Read on »Analysis: Is sacking MP Hirvisaari the beginning of the end for the PS?
One of the interesting questions that the sacking of MP James Hirvisaari raises is if it is the first visible crack that will force the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party to implode, eventually. Is Timo Soini’s PS a ticking time bomb and Hirvisaari a time counter indicating that we’ve got ten seconds to seek cover before the bomb
Read on »The Perussuomalaiset plan to sack MP Hirvisaari from the party
Inviting Seppo Lehto to parliament, where a picture of him making a Nazi salute, was the last straw for Perussuomalaiset(PS) chairman Timo Soini, who was quoted as saying on MTV3 that PS MP James Hirvisaari will be sacked from the party. Read full story here. The decision to expel Hirvisaari was made by the five-member
Read on »A guest of the Finnish PS gives a Nazi salute in parliament
We all know how a political party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) has declared war against immigrants and other minorities in this country. The latest attack by the PS was against the Finnish parliament by a guest of MP James Hirvisaari, who was pictured giving a Nazi salute. UPDATE: Hirvisaari confirmed Thursday that it was him
Read on »PS MPs like Juho Eerola don’t know how closed Finland used to be to the outside world
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Juho Eerola wrote in 2010 that he was attracted to Benito Mussolini’s fascism. He argues that it is a model that we could learn a lot from. Such a statement not only shows his fascist political credentials, but his ignorance of Finnish history. The Restricting Act of 1939 (law 219/1939), which was
Read on »Abde Hussein shows there is more than one way to put racism on the defensive
There’s more than one way to put intolerance on the defensive. Abde Hussein wrote on Thursday an encounter he had with a young unemployed white Finn, who said in public that he was a “monkey” and “living off welfare.” A discussion ensued but to make a long story short, the young white Finn turned out
Read on »Why doesn’t Timo Soini make a clear split with its PS racists? Answer: political hara-kiri
Columnist Yrjö Rautio of Apu magazine writes that if Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman Timo Soini doesn’t make a clear split with PS MP racists like Jussi Halla-aho and his followers, the party should make official that it supports the following values: “paranoia, hatred and human evil.” Read full story (in Finnish) here. Rautio makes a valid point.
Read on »Saving one life, one refugee from Syria, IS important
Arguing that accepting a few hundred refugees from Syria is not important because it is a drop in the bucket, is an outrageous statement made by Jussi Halla-aho, Vesa-Matti Saarakkala and others. The other point they are trying to drive home, that these people will be a burden on Finland, exposes their loathing and ignorance.
Read on »PS MP Jussi Halla-aho put on the hot chair after his ridiculous arguments against Syrian refugees are exposed
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho was put on the hot chair on A-Studio, when he was asked about his and PS MP Vesa-Matti Saarakkala’s written question to parliament opposing government plans to give asylum to 500 refugees from Syria. A good question to ask is why accepting 500 refugees from Syria is in the national spotlight? Sweden
Read on »Why did a Finnish court absolve two policemen of apparent racist conduct?
When reporting some stories, denials and what is not said are the spotlights that reveal the real story. A flat denial by the police that ethnic profiling doesn’t occur suggests that it is probably more widespread than we think. A court ruled on Monday that the actions of two Helsinki policemen, who used excessive physical
Read on »Thai berry pickers shed light on a much wider problem in Finland for immigrants
The fifty Thai berry pickers, who are protesting against long hours, poor pay and huge risks they take when working for Ber-Ex, not only shed light on their plight but the poor job security that immigrants generally face in Finland. While berry pickers are seasonal workers that come from Thailand, their issues reveal a much serious
Read on »Thai berry pickers in Finland are between a rock and a hard place
I’ve been watching with concern the plight of Thai berry pickers in Finland. You don’t have to be too smart to understand that what is happening is exploitation at its best. It’s ok to treat these berry pickers and pay them a pittance because they are from Thailand and not organized. We have seen this
Read on »Landmark decision in Finland: On September 29, 2013 Sikh busman can wear turban at work
Busman Gill Sukhdarshan Singh told Migrant Tales that his employer, Veolia Transport of Vantaa, has agreed to allow him to wear a turban at work from Sunday, September 29. The Southern Finland Regional State Administrative Agency, which ruled in June that a turban ban by the employer was discriminatory, gave the bus company until the end
Read on »YLE in English: Finnish Sports Federation apologizes after 75 years to a Finnish-Jewish runner
As Finland races into the depths of the new century and distances itself from the Winter (1939-40) and especially from the Continuation War (1941-44), I’m certain that there will be more proof about our collusion with Nazi Germany. One such story appeared Friday, when YLE in English reported on the Finnish Sports Federation’s (SUL) apology
Read on »Does Finland promote two-way or one-way adaption of immigrants?
Our integration law promotes two-way adaption as opposed to assimilation, which is a one-way process. Section 17 of the Finnish Constitution states that each person living in this country has the right to maintain and develop their own language and culture. What do these two important laws mean in practice and how are they applied? Sensible Finns
Read on »Helsingin Sanomat poll reveals Finns’ opposition to cultural diversity
A poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomt, Finland’s largest-circulation daily, reveals that 53% of those polled agreed (22%) or partially agreed (31%) that immigrants should aim at becoming as Finnish as possible. That compares with 18% and 30%, respectively, in 2011. If there is something worrying that the poll shows, it’s Finland’s growing opposition to cultural
Read on »How Syrian refugees fleeing war show how the Finnish media gives (again) racists inflated respectability and importance
Migrant Tales published a while back a story about how the media gives racists and radical anti-immigration groups inflated respectability and importance. Why should we care what a Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP like Jussi Halla-aho, who was on top of it convicted for ethnic agitation, thinks about giving asylum to Syrian refugees? Verkkouutiset is run by the
Read on »Turku Islamic Center suffers attack over the weekend
The Turku Islamic Center, which has served the Muslim community of the southwestern city for over twenty years, was attacked over the weekend, according to YLE. Apart form destroying furniture, spreading salt and flour on the ground, a number of Korans were torn. Some 200 Muslims attend the Turku Islamic Center. The police have been
Read on »Government talks in Norway are a preview of what may happen in Finland in 2015 with the PS
Take a close look at Norway if you want to see what may happen in Finland after the 2015 parliamentary elections, when the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) may be in government.The populist anti-immigration Progress party (FrP) of Norway will form part of a coalition government with the Conservative Party (Høyre), Christian Democrats and Liberals. If the Conservative Party
Read on »Artist Kiba Lumberg: “Don’t box me in!”
In order to understand Kiba Lumberg, 57, you need to know some Finnish history, the plight of minorities like the Roma, and what it is like to live in worlds shaded by different hues of grey. Since this story is about an artist who doesn’t want to conform to set norms imposed on her by
Read on »PALJASTETTU.: Voidaanko “väitellä” suvaitsemattomuuden lisäämisestä?
Enrique Tessieri On ollut mielenkiintoista huomata kuinka Kokoomusten Nuorten Liiton (KNL) puheenjohtaja, Susanna Koski, on saanut paljon julkista huomiota tällä viikolla. Tästä kohusta syntyy kysymys: Onko suomalainen media taas antamassa rasisteille ja radikaali maahanmuuttovastustajille tunnustusta? Miksi on niin, että suomalainen media useasti hurmaantuu suvaitsemattomuudesta, rasismista ja nationalismista? Suomalainen media on ollut niin antelias, että se
Read on »Former Perussuomalaiset councilman convicted for ethnic agitation shows no remorse
Who can forget Black February 2012, when three Muslims lost their lives in a span of about three weeks in January-February? The last one, which was horrific, ended with the cold-blooded killing of a Muslim at a pizzeria in Oulu. A former Perussuomlaiset (PS) councilman wrote on Facebook that a medal should be awarded to
Read on »The Finnish and European media still have a lot to learn about racism and intolerance
One matter that is interesting to note when looking at the media before the historic victory of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party in April 2011, is the present controversy surrounding the Youth League of the National Coalition Party’s program. Is the media giving racists, radical anti-immigration groups and voices inflated respectability and importance? The whole Susanna
Read on »YLE in English: Lifting visa requirements from Russians would create thousands of jobs
This has got to be one of the strangest stories I’ve read on YLE in English. It claims that lifting visa requirements for Russians would create thousands of job in Finland. Is xenophobia so ingrained in some Finns that they still think that foreigners and Russians are such a threat that they don’t grasp that tourism, never
Read on »Susanna Koski: “The Youth League of the National Coalition Party has zero tolerance to racism”
Susanna Koski is quoted as saying on Helsingin Sanomat that the Youth League of the National Coalition Party that she is president of has zero tolerance to racism. “We don’t accept racism in any form or shape,” she said. Read original story (in Finnish) here. Right, Koski, you don’t tolerate racism but want to
Read on »Immigrants and visible minorities will defend Finland’s Nordic welfare society
Putting aside the far right opinions of the Youth League of the National Coalition Party and others that want to change this country for good and for their personal benefit, who’s out there to defend our Nordic welfare state that took so long to build? Two important groups that will certainly fight for our Nordic
Read on »The coup that changed the Americas forty years ago
Today, 9/11, is the fortieth anniversary of the overthrow of President Salvador Allende by General Augusto Pinochet. A democratic era in Chile was abruptly and violently put to an end thanks to the support of the US President Richard Nixon and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger. In many respects, the coup of September 11,
Read on »Susanna Koski and the National Coalition Party’s youth wing: The language of barbarians
The more I think about the proposals put forth by the president of the Youth League of the National Coalition Party, Susanna Koski, the more I wonder where this country is heading. Would her suggestion to scrap the Ombudsman for Minorities and laws that govern ethnic agitation constitute barbarism? Even if barbarians are considered “uncivilized,”
Read on »The shadow of Anders Breivik’s mass killings hang over coalition talks after Norway elections
The landslide victory of Norway’s opposition Conservatives (Høyre) on Monday was short-lived after the country’s next prime minister, Erna Solberg, faced tough coalition talks with the anti-immigration and populist Progress party (Fremskrittspartiet) of which Anders Breivik was a member and whose cold-blooded killings continue to haunt the country, reports Reuters. Visit Wikipedia site here. Outgoing Labor Party
Read on »Youth League of the National Coalition Party sees no evil in hate speech
The president of the Youth League of the National Coalition Party, Susanna Koski, surprised even members of her party Monday by proposing, among a long list of other things, that the Ombudsman for Minorities office should be scrapped together with the quota refugee program and ethnic agitation law. The proposals for 2014 by the National
Read on »Are Finns conservatives by nature?
Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman Timo Soini was interviewed on YLE Saturday morning. Commenting on a recent opinion poll commissioned by YLE, Soini claimed that the good showing of the PS and Center Party proved that Finns are by nature conservatives. The YLE poll, which was published Friday, showed big gains by the opposition Center Party (23.8%)
Read on »Immigrants in Finland feel like safe outsiders
There’s an interesting news story on MTV3 that claims that immigrants in Finland feel physically secure in this country but see themselves as outsiders. This is the first story I’ve read in this country that addresses a big issue in Finland, which is common in other countries as well. One of the reason why some
Read on »Why we call the Finns Party the Perussuomalaiset
Some may wonder why we don’t call on Migrant Tales the Perussuomalaiset (PS) by their official English name, the Finns Party. When I speak to people in English and mention the PS, they answer back by naming it the Perussuomalaiset. There was a lively discussion on Migrant Tales in 2010 on whether the correct translation
Read on »PALJASTETTU.: Miksi maahanmuuttokeskustelu Suomessa ei keskity oleelliseen?
Enrique Tessieri Tässä on tärkeä kysymys, joka on tehtävä kun keskustellaan julkisesti maahanmuutto ilmiönä: Jos pakolaiset koostuvat vain pieni osa kaikista maahanmuuttajista Suomessa, miksi maahanmuuttovastaiset tahot ja lehdistö kiinnittää heihin niin paljon huomiota? Vaikka jotkut meistä uskovat että Suomessa on erityisen paljon pakolaisia, totuus on aivan toinen. Viime vuonna, Suomeen saapui 3 129 turvapaikkahakijaa, Maahanmuuttoviraston
Read on »Internal security secretariat head: Many racist crimes go unreported in Finland
Some migrants may not report a racist crime in Finland because of mistrust of the police, poor Finnish-language skills and ignorance of one’s rights, according to Tarja Mankkinen, director of the ministry of the interior’s internal security secretariat. The Police College of Finland reported 918 suspected hate crimes in 2011, which is a 7% rise from
Read on »Why is the immigration debate in Finland so distorted?
Here’s a question that needs serious debating in Finland: If refugees account for a minority of all immigrants, why do they get so much attention in the media? Why do anti-immigration parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) constantly speak of them and give us the impression that all of Finland’s immigrants are mostly refugees and Muslims
Read on »Supreme Court upholds PS city councilman’s conviction for ethnic agitation
The Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it will not grant Perussuomalaiset (PS) Kotka City Councilman Freddy van Wonterghem the right to appeal a conviction for ethnic agitation in February by the Kouvola appeals court, reports YLE. The ruling is similar to a lower court ruling on PS MP James Hirvisaari’s hate speech conviction in June 2012.
Read on »Migrant Tales (May 26, 2011): Racist propaganda during Finland’s Winter War (1939-40)
Consequently, racial prejudice and discrimination are nonexistent (in Finland).
Read on »Fifty years from Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech
Today marks the 50th anniversary when Martin Luther King Jr.(1929-68) gave his historic “I have a dream” speech. When he gave the speech in Washington on August 28,1963, I was eight years old. Even if I knew nothing about MLK at the time never mind anything about his famous speech, his words would have a
Read on »The Jews of Finland
The Jewish side of our family was never discussed openly when I was young. If it was, the matter appeared as a fleeting question: Is it true that part of our family is Jewish? Read full column here on page 14. Silence always followed that question. In retrospect, our silence and answer revealed a lot about
Read on »Racism in Finland: The media is part of the problem
A party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS), which has capitalized politically on xenophobia and racism, claims that the Finnish media picks on it unfairly. The fact is, however, that the PS could have never achieved what it did in the April 2011 election without the help of the media, which gave its racists inflated respectability and
Read on »Old Finnish national social constructs still fuel intolerance and exclude visible minorities
The Association of Finnish Culture and Identity (Suomalaisuuden liitto) is an association founded in 1906 to “strengthen the sense of national identity, to promote Finnish education and culture.” While this statement may appear innocent at first, the association endorses the intolerance white Finnish speakers have today against Swedish speakers never mind immigrants and visible minorities. In
Read on »Child without residence permit denied medical attention in Finland
Migrant Tales recently wrote about the poor treatment a foreign couple received at an Eastern Helsinki health center that refused to treat their sick child. In a fresh case published by Lääkärilehti (Finnish Medical Journal), a three-week old baby suffering from respiratory problems was denied medial attention because the child didn’t have a residence permit. Read full story
Read on »Why does intolerance get so much attention in the media?
Why does racism, xenophobia and intolerance get so much space in the media and so little condemnation by politicians and society? Is it because racism strikes a chord inside of us or is it because we are taught from a very early age to leave if alone? We can make the following argument as well:
Read on »Mixed reactions to Hakkarainen’s racist blog entry that victimizes immigrants and Muslims
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Teuvo Hakkarainen’s recent blog entry, which attacked immigrants and Muslims, has been condemned by the vice president of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Eero Vainio, and by Muslims like Abdirahim Husu Hussein of the Center Party. Reaction to what Hakkarainen wrote is a positive sign that part of Finland’s political establishment considers
Read on »Let’s play fill in the blanks with far-right Finnish MP Teuvo Hakkarainen
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Teuvo Hakkarainen attacked immigrants and Muslims in a latest blog entry, where he accuses them of living off social welfare and Muslims of taking over Europe. In order to understand how ludicrous and racist the PS MP’s arguments are, Migrant Tales will play “fill in the blanks.” Migrant Tales has “played” fill
Read on »PS MP Hakkarainen of Finland launches new attack against immigrants and Muslims
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Teuvo Hakkarainen, who suggested two years ago that homosexuals, lesbians and Somalians should be relocated to the Åland Islands, has launched a fresh attack against immigrants and Muslims on a blog entry. Sensible people understand that generalizing about different groups, like Hakkarainen does, is not only wrong but racist. Migrant Tales strongly condemns
Read on »Anti-immigration forces in Finland loathe cultural diversity in order to defend white privilege
Paavo Arhinmäki, head of the Left Alliance, was quoted as saying in Joensuu that Finland has never been a “monocultural” country. This is true but how many Finnish politicians understand never mind speak out and defend multiculturalism or cultural diversity? Unfortunately, too few. The fact that too few politicians have the courage to speak
Read on »What language are you supposed to use with the doctor if you don’t speak Finnish or Swedish?
What happens if you don’t speak Finnish or Swedish and need to take your one-year-old baby to the doctor’s? What about if the doctor isn’t a Finn? Migrant Tales got the following email from one of our readers: Hi, I’ve lived in Helsinki for 3 years and would like to share a story that happened
Read on »Lives are put on hold at the Karhula, Finland, refugee center
Have you ever visited a refugee center in Finland? I did on Sunday in Karhula, located 130km east of Helsinki. The refugee center, which comprises of two four-story blocks, revealed some of its inhabitants when you reached a small court in its middle hidden from the outside world. The court, which had bed sheets and
Read on »National Coalition Party of Finland to spearhead ban on begging
Matters are getting tougher in Finland if you are a minority belongs to an affluent group like the Swedish-speaking Finns or a poor one like the Romany minority. What do both initiatives, to demote Swedish to elective status at schools and ban begging, tell about Finland today? One way to answer the latter question is
Read on »Finnish primary school books still depict foreigners stereotypically
It is quite incredible that one of the best school systems in the world still portrays people from different cultures in a stereotypic manner. Eeva Rinna, a doctoral researcher from Tampere University, claims that textbooks in primary school still depict Africans as bongo players, Cubans as happy and sociable and Germans as hard-working, reports YLE
Read on »Direct initiative to demote Swedish language at schools stands slim chance of approval
What are we to think about a direct initiative that got over 50,000 signatures today to demote Finland’s second official language to elective status at schools? While this initiative stands a slim chance of passing in parliament, it shows how intolerance has raised its head in Finland recently. Even if those that are lobbying against
Read on »Switzerland restricts the movement of asylum seekers in the town of Bremgarten
The Swiss town of Bremgarten, located about 16km from Zurich, has banned asylum seekers from swimming pools, sports facilities and other sites, according to Spiegel Online International. The agreement, which has been criticized by human rights groups, was made by the Swiss Office of Migration (BfM) and the town. Read original story here. It’s
Read on »Internal investigation reveals Helsinki Court of Appeal judges use racist and sexist language
What are we to make of a classified internal investigation into the behavior of the Helsinki Court of Appeals, which revealed some judges sexually harassed women at parties, used racist and sexist language during recesses and in meetings outside of the courtroom? If this occurs in our judicial system, how common is it among the
Read on »Victimizing and labeling immigrants for political profit
UK’s David Cameron is one European PM who is using immigration to bolster his Conservative Party’s poll ratings. It’s a recurring and worrisome political story across Europe: let’s get tough on immigration so we can gain a few percentage points in the polls. This type of campaigning is not only cowardly, but racist and disgraceful.
Read on »Why aren’t we outraged enough by intolerance?
Finnish department store J. Kärkkäinen’s Magneettimedia writings are a disturbing sign of how anti-Semitism, like anti-immigration and anti-Islam sentiment, have gained a foothold in Finland. And why shouldn’t it find fertile ground to grow in this country? During the past years, the genie of intolerance has been let out of the bottle and it shows. We’re
Read on »Magneettimedia of Finland will no longer publish anti-Semitic writings of David Duke, Ted Pike and others
Magneettimedia editor and owner, Juha Kärkkäinen, will stop publishing anti-Semitic opinion pieces in the free newspaper, according to Helsingin Sanomat. The publication, which advertises the department store’s products, is published online as well. “A decision has been made with the board and the content [of the publication] must be more market oriented and we must
Read on »Internet policeman Marko Forss mildly reprimanded by deputy ombudsman for tweeting stereotypes of the Roma
Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman Jussi Pajuoja mildly reprimanded Internet policeman Marko Forss for tweeting a so-called joke about the Roma, reports YLE. The personal tweet, as Migrant Tales reported in November, spread and strengthened stereotypes about the Roma. What did Forss, who was named policeman of the year in 2011, tweet? “Some funny things happen in police
Read on »Magneettimedia spreads anti-Semitism in Finland
Should we be surprised if anti-Semitism raises its head in Finland alongside anti-Islam, anti-immigration and anti-gay sentiment? Using the same argument as those who spread hate speech against minorities in this country, Magneettimedia, a publication owned by J. Kärkkäinen, claims that an article by anti-Semitic Ted Pike was published to promote public debate. J. Kärkkäinen is a
Read on »How tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat reinforce our prejudices against immigrants and refugees
Tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat have a lot to learn about fairness, which is the cornerstone of all good news reporting. But tabloids aren’t interested in fairness but in sensationalism. A story by Ilta-Sanomat is headlined: ”Two Somalis use [fake] Yemeni passports to travel to Finland.” Even if the story suggests that these Somalis are committing a crime
Read on »Will anti-immigration rhetoric boost the PS in the upcoming Finnish elections?
Two important questions arise in light of the upcoming Euro MP and parliamentary elections in Finland in 2014 and 2015, respectively: How many parties will use immigration as an election issue, and will the next two elections reveal the ugly face of intolerance of other political parties in Finland? If we look at the United
Read on »Death threats and the PS threat to our Nordic way of life
Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman, Timo Soini, reveals in a recent blog that he got four death threats recently. Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen’s Christian Democratic party received a bomb threat as well, which was reported by tabloid Iltalehti. The death threats are similar to what Swedish-language journalists received a while back. Migrant Tales has been a victim of
Read on »When will the PS sack MP James Hirvisaari?
Recent tweets and Facebook comments by Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari reveal how racism, fascism and right-wing populism have spread like a cancer in Finnish society. Hirvisaari now praises Seppo Lehto and claims the ultimate far right narcissist, like him, is a nice person. Would you praise a man who gives Nazi salutes, likes swastikas, insults immigrants and
Read on »Migrant Tales (July 22, 2012): What have we learned after Norway’s 22/7
What goes around comes around. Exactly a year ago (2012) Anders Breivik carried out his mass killings, which ended up causing the death of 77 innocent victims. Have we learned anything from that tragic Saturday that shook the Nordic region and changed it permanently? In order to answer that question, we’d have to travel back in
Read on »Migrant Tales (September 30, 2010): Populist chatter and a tale of elk flies
MT comment: This is Migrant Tales’ first story on Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari published on September 30, 2010. The extremist anti-immigration politician was spreading is views back then. Like today, his pet topics were rape and far right nationalism. ____________ There is a True Finns candidate in the April 2011 elections that spreads elk
Read on »PS MP James Hirvisaari claims journalist “masturbated wildly” in phone interview
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari is the best gift that anti-racists could have in this country. If there is a loose cannon in parliament, it’s Hirvisaari. The PS MP has a pretty one-track mind. When he opens his mouth, he usually talks about Muslim rapists, skid marks on toilet bowls and now his latest topic, masturbation. Here’s
Read on »Two Finlands will be celebrating our country’s first centennial in 2017
When Finland celebrates its first centennial on December 6, 2017, what will we be commemorating? Independence? Our Nordic way of life? Social equality? Will there be two Finlands, one that is socially included and another one that is not, celebrating on that special day? Source: Cornerstone News and Information. People who aren’t socially excluded
Read on »Finland’s anti-immigration sentiment surprised a lot of people
Finland is a country that is graying at a rapid pace and needs to bring skilled labor. Some parties, like the Perussuomalaiset (PS), believe that immigration especially from outside the EU should be stopped at all costs. Others don’t mind as long as immigrants bring skills and contribute to society by paying taxes. In the
Read on »Is Finland’s interior minister promoting a country built on equal treatment and equal opportunity?
Päivi Räsänen is in charge of the interior ministry that makes the following mission statement on its website: “Finland will be the safest country in Europe – a country built on equal treatment and equal opportunity.” Fine, agreed. How does Räsänen further the equal treatment of immigrants, gays and visible minorities when she speaks so
Read on »Interior Minister Räsänen disagrees with findings of police report on the Romany minority
Migrant Tales asked Monday what kinds of arguments will politicians now come up with to criminalize begging after a police report didn’t reveal any links between Romany beggars and human trafficking and organized crime. The police report not only exposed shameful urban legends used to victimize poor Romanies from Romania and Bulgaria, who make 10-20 euros a
Read on »Finnish police: Roma beggars are not victims of human trafficking or linked to organized crime
Remember the hostile reception that Romany beggars have got in the past from some Helsinki municipal politicians like mayor Jussi Pajunen, Christian Democrat Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen, Perussuomalaiset (PS) MPs like Olli Immonen and National Coalition Party MP Arto Satonen, who wants to make begging illegal? The Finnish police now claims that Romanian and Bulgarian
Read on »Why we must challenge anti-immigration parties across Europe
A political party that bases its popularity on anti-immigration and populist rhetoric is like playing a risky political game of Russian roulette. The game continues until the only bullet in the revolver goes off in your head. Higher bets are placed each time that the revolver doesn’t fire: more xenophobia, more hate speech, more racist
Read on »What does the PS’ new party secretary mean by “tightening [Finnish] immigration policy?”
Left Alliance MP Risto Kalliorinne asks Perussuomalaiset (PS) new party secretary Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo to elaborate what she means by ”tightening immigration policy?” Apart from labeling herself a chauvinist, Slunga-Poutsalo “demanded” that Finland should tighten immigration policy. Read original story here. While Left Alliance MP Kalliorinne poses an important question, we all know the answer that Slunga-Poutsalo
Read on »Ask Finland’s Romany minority about ethnic profiling by the police
Two talk shows today, one on television and another one on radio, on ethnic profiling follows a report published Tuesday by the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI). Contrary to concerns by the ECRI, the police flatly deny in both shows that ethnic profiling takes place even if a policeman at the Helsinki Railway admitted that
Read on »Finnish Defence League strikes Mikkeli, Finland
I was quite surprised to find this rude sticker of the far right Finnish Defence League (FDL) near my home today. That follows another one placed on a lamppost in front of my house in March 2012 by the neo-Nazi Kansallinen vastarintaliike (SVL). The good news is that the FDL stickers, which erroneously claim the
Read on »Council of Europe concerned about ethnic profiling by police in Finland
Is it a surprise that the Council of Europe’s anti-racism body expressed concern in a report that Finnish police ask people’s ID based on ethnic appearance? No need to get an official answer to find out because ethnic profiling doesn’t happen in Finland. Why not ask immigrants and visible minorities instead if you went a candid
Read on »Former SMP leader links Immonen’s writing to Nazis
The former chairman (1979-89) of the Rural Party (SMP), Pekka Vennamo, linked Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen’s recent column to Nazis, according to tabloid Iltalehti. The far right PS MP wrote in his most recent blog entry about how nationalism should play a central role in Finnish politics. Vennamo, who is the son of Veikko
Read on »Blog “neighbor” Zuzeeko: Keep up the great work!
Immigrants and minorities should never forget to stand up for each other, especially if anyone of us is being harassed in a racist manner. When I worked as bureau chief in Colombia, one of the most violent countries in the world at the time, I always felt that I’d never be abandoned by my employer
Read on »UK study links hate crime with far right EDL
A study in the UK finds that members of the far right English Defense League (EDL) were linked to a third of the abuses against Muslims last year. Almost two in every three cases of anti-Muslim incidents go unreported in the UK, according to Teesside University’s Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies. Read full report
Read on »Finland never was, is, and will be only “white”
Whenever a far right politician like Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen, Jussi Halla-aho or James Hirvisaari comment on what is or who has the right to be Finnish, they always get it wrong. Their views, that Finland is only white, is not only wrong but a hostile act towards the tens of thousands of Finns
Read on »PS’ Slunga-Poutsalo is “extremely concerned” about Finnish immigration policy
In a short interview on A-Studio Monday, the new party secretary of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) reinforced her anti-immigration stance. “I’m not annoyed by anything concerning immigration,” said PS secretary Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo, “but extremely concerned about the immigration policy we pursue in Finland.” Don’t be fooled, the PS’ new party secretary, Riikka SLunga-Poutsalo, is in the
Read on »Edward Snowden would help to put to rest Finland’s Cold War legacy
Wikileaks said in a statement that whistleblower Edward Snowden had asked for political asylum in twenty-one countries, one of which included Finland. Understanding Finland’s history and its historic suspicion of foreigners, granting a high-profile asylum seeker like Snowden asylum in Finland would not only help to put to rest for good our poor record but have
Read on »The PS’ not too public love affair with the Danish People’s Party
The DPP is an anti-migration, ethno-nationalist, anti-Islam,populist anti-elitist and anti-EU party that wants welfare only for native Danes. The PS is the a carbon copy of the latter. If you want to know what kind of a Finland the Perussuomalaiset (PS) want to turn the country into, take a good look at their political mentors
Read on »New PS party secretary Riikka Slunga Poutsalo “demands” tighter immigration policy
As Migrant Tales correctly pointed out, it didn’t take long for the new party secretary of the Perussuomalaiset (PS), Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo, to show her far right anti-immigration credentials. Interviewed by YLE’s 8:30 pm news, Slunga-Poutsalo “demands” Finland should tighten immigration policy further. Migrant Tales wrote Saturday that one of the aims of the PS annual congress
Read on »The PS’ new Cadillac model of racism
How does intolerance and racism work in Finnish politics? How does it manifest itself today in anti-immigration parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)? A quote by U.S. civil rights leader Malcolm X (1925-65) provides us with a partial clue to these questions: “Racism is like a Cadillac, they bring out a new model every year.” Is
Read on »Annual congress: The PS aims to become the biggest party in Finland with anti-EU and anti-immigration platform
The first day of Perussuomalaiset (PS) annual congress in Joensuu (July 29-30) did not produce any surprises but reinforced the party’s anti-immigration, and especially its anti-Islam and anti-cultural diversity stand. The party leadership, starting from Timo Soini to its new secretary, Riikka Slunga-Putsalo, confirm this. Soini, who was reelected chairman of the party by a
Read on »Sikh busman confident that employer will lift turban ban
Busman Gill Sukhdarshan Singh is confident that his employer, Veolia Transport of Vantaa, will honor a Southern Finland Regional State Administrative Agency ruling that imposing a turban ban by the employer was discriminatory. Source: Gill Sukhdarshan Singh. ”I have no doubt that that in two months, when I will get written permission from the employer, I will
Read on »Let’s challenge Finland’s disgraceful family reunification obstacles
Migrants’ Rights Network (MRN) of Britain shows how organizations can do valuable work in lobbying for change against unfair family reunification laws (see Migrant Tales 28.6.13). Politicians, who have tightened such laws, are short-sighted and have created a tragedy for those who live separated from their loved ones. The same suffering that separated families suffer in Finland
Read on »Do we have the resources to keep a check on cyberhate thanks to Prism and Tempora?
Intelligence whistleblowers like Edward Snowden have not only shown the extent of global surveillance by the NSA and GCHQ, but how much governments like the United States flirt with totalitarianism and invest billions of dollars in trying to find a needle in a haystack. Writes the Anti-Defamation League, which was founded in 1913 to address anti-Semitism
Read on »Soaring unemployment in Finland hits immigrants and visible minorities especially hard
It was shocking to read how Finland’s jobless rate shot up in May to 10.8% from 9.5% a year ago. Since immigrant unemployment is about three times higher than the national average, it means in theory that the unemployed rate for immigrants is at least 30%. Matters are expected to get worse before they improve.
Read on »PS MP Hirvisaari gets publicly enraged with daily Etelä-Suomen Sanomat
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari has done it again. He didn’t lambast immigrants and Muslims this time, but got publicly enraged with a journalist working for Lahti-based Etelä-Suomen Sanomat (ESS). What happened? Ari Helminen reported that Hirvisaari, together with another PS MP, had the most absences in parliament during spring. Hirvisaari is from Asikkala, a
Read on »About half of the PS MPs want to deny Finland’s cultural diversity
Roughly half of the 39 Perussuomalaiset (PS) MPs have signed a draft law that would in effect deny Finland’s ever-growing cultural diversity in the youth law. If PS MP Olli Immonen had his way together with twenty other PS MPs, Finland would go into denial mode and conveniently brush its immigrants and visible minorities under
Read on »Should Finns trust the police?
“…when the laws have ceased to be executed, as this can only come from the corruption of the republic, the state is already lost.” Montesquieu (1689-1755) A survey by T-Media reveals that Finns trust the most the police, educational and justice system and the least the media, EU and employer’s associations. Of those surveyed, 69%
Read on »Migrant Tales Literary: Midsummer
By Leo Honka Water, sky and land. on fire a day that refuses to die. Water… …sky… …land. And fire.
Read on »Immigrants and visible minorities would be the biggest losers if Supo gets greater online surveillance powers
Is it a coincidence or just bad timing that the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) wants greater online surveillance powers? It was only last week when Edward Snowden revealed to the world how the NSA accessed private information of billions of people without their knowledge never mind their permission. Read original story here. Who would
Read on »The media should stop stereotyping immigrants!
Black is beautiful, but I have a question: Why is it that whenever there is a story about immigrants or refugees in the Finnish media, the picture that is published with the story is usually of a black man or Muslim woman? Publishing pictures that feed the public a stereotypical image of immigrants does nothing more
Read on »Center Party politician’s home attacked the third time in Helsinki
Abdirahim “Husu” Hussein, a Center Party politician who hosts the Ali and Husu talk show on YLE, found a rude message at 4 am in the front of his apartment building door: a shattered beer bottle. It’s not the first time his family has been targeted in such a manner at their Helsinki home. The
Read on »Ariela Patterson: The right to be me on my terms
One of the biggest challenges facing Finland in the new century is to come to terms with its ever-growing cultural diversity. While some Finns have no problems with this, others oppose it. Finland’s cultural diversity is, however, something that nobody can stop. There are today tens of thousands of Finns with multicultural backgrounds. Ariela Patterson,
Read on »OECD study states that immigration boosted Finnish economy
An OECD study claims that immigration boosted the Finnish economy by 0.16% in 2011 including pensions. This revelation is a blow to anti-immigration pundits, who commonly claim that immigration drains social welfare resources and offers no economic benefits. As Migrant Tales has shown over and over again the red herrings, urban tales and outright racism
Read on »How the Finnish police and media spread prejudice against Romanians and the Romany minority
Here is a good example of how the police and media treat certain immigrant and ethnic groups publicly. A story on YLE tells us that the overwhelming amount of grand larceny cases committed by foreigners in Finland are by Lithuanians. The majority of suspected grand larceny cases in Finland are committed by Lithuanians. Why
Read on »Terveisiä Scriptablogista 12 syyskuuta 2008
Yksi monista tuhansista Migrant Tales:ia vastaan kohdistetuista viesteistä, jonka muistan hyvin oli hyökkäys Jussi Halla-ahon Scriptablogista. Alla olevaa viestiä en unohda koskaan. Noin neljän tunnin sisällä, Migrant Talesin blogiin hyökättiin. Hyökkäys torjuttiin ja tänään olemme yksi luetuimpia anti-rasistisia blogeja Suomessa. Nimi :Old No. 7Mitä teen :Kommentoin Viesti :Mikäs mies tuo Enriikke Tessieeri on olevinaan?
Read on »How serious is the Future of Migration 2020 Strategy?
The more I think of the government’s published white paper on immigration policy made public on Thursday, the more I have reason to worry. Apart from omitting altogether the term multiculturalism and cultural from diversity in the Future of Migration 2020 Strategy, your suspicions aren’t put to rest by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK),
Read on »Government announces Future of Migration 2020 Strategy
The government published Thursday its Future of Migration 2020 Strategy. While these types of official strategy reports are important and offer a general view, the big question is if they gives us a bigger picture of the direction our society is heading in this century. Read the white paper (in Finnish) here. An English-language version will be
Read on »European Commission vice president condemns death threats to journalists in Finland
It’s a good matter that the vice president of the European Commission, Neelie Kroes, speaks out against the death threats that Swedish- and Finnish-language journalists and public figures have received recently. Read Neelie Kroes’ blog here. The Dutch vice president of the European Commission expressed concern about media freedom in Finland and Greece. She writes: ”Death
Read on »The NSA and the path to tyranny
A nation may lose its liberties in a day and not miss them in a century. Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) The leak by US National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden has given us a unique opportunity to ask a vitally important question: Do we want unchecked surveillance? If we give up our right to
Read on »Where are you from?
Even if I have lived most of my adult life in Finland and my mother is Finnish, I’m still asked occasionally where I’m from. In a spirit of mutual respect, I ask the person the same question. Some don’t like it. The innocent question, where are you from, reveals a lot about our prejudices and
Read on »Buenos Aires Herald (February 12, 1987): The old-new frontier*
Comment: It’s sad to point out 25 years after writing this opinion piece that Argentina has become a poorer country. Emigration continues to be the rule, not the exception. The opening up of the economy to foreign investment during the 1990s was a disaster. Too many foreign companies did not invest in Argentina to make
Read on »Burqas, nijabs, the PS and red herrings
A tabloid Iltalehti story wrote about a heated debate in parliament Friday between the anti-immigration populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) party and the Greens over a draft bill spearheaded by PS MP Vesa-Matti Saarakkala, which aims to ban the burqa and nijab in public places. The PS MP considers the law as a “preventive measure” even if the nijab
Read on »“Only Finnish spoken here” versus cultural diversity
What would you do if you saw on an elementary school classroom door the following message: Only Finnish spoken here? Would you ask if speaking Swedish is ok? Would it raise disturbing memories of how minorities like the Saami were persecuted and discouraged at school especially after World War 2 for speaking their own language?
Read on »Broadcasting hatred and racism against Romanis from Bulgaria and Romania
I was surprised to listen on Thursday morning to Anssi Honkanen’s and Renne Korppila’s Aamupoika radio program on NRJ about Bulgarian and Romanian Romanis that come to Finland to beg. If you want to find the sources of Finnish racism and loathing for the Romany minority, tune into their morning program. The program said, and this is not
Read on »Dissecting Finnish racism and bigotry
“Racism is like a Cadillac, they bring out a new model every year.” Malcolm X (1925-65) The quote by one of the most powerful voices to emerge from the U.S. Civil Rights Movements, reveals how racism survived in the 1960s to see another day. Even though the quote by Malcolm X was made about a
Read on »When Timo Soini and the PS cross the political point of no return
When do you know when Timo Soini and the Perussuomalaiset (PS) have crossed the line and passed a political point of no return? The 50,000-euro ad on the front page of Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest-circulation daily, blasting the government’s euro bailout policy is one of many examples. While more voters are turning their backs to the
Read on »Ricky Ghansah and the “super racist:” All’s well that ends well
Following the way some social and print media tried to substantiate whether Ricky Ghansah forced a “super racist” to apologize on a bus, reveals how some took the whole incident personally. Racism is a serious social ill and to have a shameful racist apologize to a young black man on a bus maybe too much
Read on »We must go to the source if we want to challenge intolerance in Finland
Even if the Continuation War (1941-44) and our military alliance with Nazi Germany ended 69 years ago, much of the ethnic ideology that sprung from that period is still alive and kicking. If we are serious about confronting intolerance in our society, we must challenge its many sacrosanct sources. When I think of Finland’s short-lived
Read on »Suomalaisuuden liitto: Seeing Finland through blue eyes
Suomalaisuuden liittto, an association taken over by the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party to lobby against Finland’s ever-growing cultural diversity, condemns in a statement death threats to leading figures of the Finnish Swedish-speaking community. While it is a good matter that the association’s chairman Sampo Terho condemns such death threats, it is quite another matter if we
Read on »Migrant Tales turns six years today
Migrant Tales celebrates its sixth year as a blog today. Our blog has grown from a humble voice to one that gets noticed in Finland and abroad. Our aim is a simple: Migrant Tales is a blog community that debates some of the salient issues facing immigrants and minorities in Finland and elsewhere. It aims to be a
Read on »Ombudsman for Minorities responds to Migrant Tales’ queries concerning phone operators and insurance companies
Migrant Tales spoke recently to the office of the Ombudsman for Minorities about two cases by Finland’s mobile phone operators and insurance companies. We asked as well if using the term students with immigrant backgrounds, or maahanmuuttajataustainen, at elementary and middle schools was discriminatory. The term maahanmuuttajataustainen appears to be so common in some Mikkeli schools that
Read on »Finnish Swedish-speaking journalists and public figures receive death threats
Is it a surprise that prominent Finns belonging to the Swedish-speaking minority received anonymous hate mail and death threats this week? If you want to find the roots of such hatred, one place to look is the anti-immigration, anti-Swedish language and anti-EU Perussuomalaiset (PS) party. Members of the Swedish-speaking communities are not the only ones
Read on »Sweden and Woolwich reveal the eager face of intolerance
Be it the riots in Sweden or the tragic murder of a British solider in Woolwich last week, it’s always the eager face of intolerance that is ready to expose itself. The knee-jerk reaction to these events reveals something disturbing about us: our prejudice, intolerance and near-clueless answers on how to move forward in a
Read on »Sweden riots: People cannot live off football, crumbs and destitute pity
In the face of the riots in Huusby, Sweden, which have now spread outside the northern Stockholm suburb, there’s one culprit we should pay close attention to especially here in Finland: The erosion of Sweden’s comprehensive welfare state system. Faced with a seven-billion-euro budget deficit, it isn’t surprising that few if any politicians in this
Read on »Suurin uhka Euroopalle ovat he, jotka haluavat puolustaa meitä toisilta
Minua ei pelota kulttuurinen moninaisuus puhumattakaan terrorismi. Toisten kulttuurien olemisen kieltäminen globalisoituneessa maailmassa on sama kuin yrittäisi kieltää seksin. Kulttuurinen moninaisuus ja seksi ovat osa ihmisyyttä. On turhaa kieltää jotain niinkin luonnollista. Toki on paljon uhkia. Yksi niistä on äärioikeistolaiset, populistiset sekä maahanmuuttovastaiset ideologiat, jotka ovat hyvin yleisiä tämänpäiväsissä Euroopassa. Jos emme haasta näitä ilmiöitä
Read on »The biggest threat to Europe are those who claim to be afraid on our behalf
I’m neither afraid of cultural diversity nor terrorism. Being against different cultures in a globalized world is like being against sex. Cultural diversity, interculturalism and sex are part of the human condition. You cannot make them illegal in any way, shape or form. If we’d embrace far right and mainstream anti-immigration ideologies so common in today’s
Read on »The Stockholm riots reveal in the raw our prejudices and loathing for cultural diversity
Apart from being a wake-up call to ever-growing social exclusion, discrimination and outright intolerance that is alive and kicking in Sweden, the riots in the northern suburb of Stockholm have revealed in Finland our prejudices and loathing for cultural diversity. The Local writes: “Stockholm is not on fire. Let’s get that clear immediately.” Read full
Read on »The riots in Stockholm could happen in Finland sooner rather than later
Center Party municipal politician Abdirahim “Husu” Hussein told the Finnish media that the riots we are seeing in the Stockholm suburb of Husby could well happen in Finland in 10-15 years if we commit the same mistakes. The ugly face of intolerance, which is raising its head in Finland conspicuously, reinforces Hussein’s claim. By “mistakes” I mean
Read on »Fighting racism in Finland the Ricky Ghansah way
Ricky Ghansah is a young African who was being harassed by a “super racist”at a Helsinki bus stop. On entering the bus, Ghansah noticed that the man had forgotten at home his wallet and bus pass. He went to the bus driver and paid the man’s ticket. Read Facebook thread here. The man, who had
Read on »Calling Timo Soini’s bluff
The Perussuomalaiset (PS) is a desperate party and Timo Soini’s claim over the weekend, that the Social Democrats had abandoned working-class men, is another example of how this populist anti-immigration party bluffs at the political poker table. The type of attack by Soini on the Social Democratic Party is in line with how the party
Read on »Dominic-Savior Chukwu: How to avoid migrant exploitation in the Finnish labor market
Dominic-Savior Chukwu’s BA thesis addresses some of the challenges that immigrants face when employed at a Finnish company. Apart from practical problems like understanding the work contract that he or she will sign, some immigrants are apprehensive about demanding their rights. Chukwu’s states that some migrants come from countries where there are inadequate labor laws
Read on »Dear Migrant Tales…when the workplace becomes a hostile place
Dear Migrant Tales, Being the only black person at work can be challenging but what about if the workplace becomes openly hostile to you? By hostile I mean being constantly watched by your coworkers, if you make a mistake it’s always a bigger deal than if a white coworker did it, if you’re speaking on
Read on »Assaulted Helsinki, Finland, black bus driver: Immigrants are treated unfairly by the police and law
Ali Dahir, the black bus driver who was assaulted Tuesday in Helsinki by a white Finn, claims that the police and the law treat foreigners differently from Finns. The bus driver, who is a Finnish citizen and a native of Somalia, was attacked while at work and suffered concussions. While the police and government officials
Read on »UPDATE: Black bus driver assaulted in Helsinki
A black bus driver from Somalia was assaulted Tuesday in Helsinki by a white Finn, who apparently didn’t like a black man honking the horn at him. Ali Dahir, the victim who has been given sick leave from work, was hit by the attacker and suffered concussions. “I had to stop at an intersection and
Read on »Go GO PS MP Hirvisaari! Let all of your intolerance and racism hang out!
We have written so much about the outbursts of far right Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari that it isn’t funny. One of his latest statements on Facebook, where he considers using the Swedish language in parliament as “ridiculous,” is not an attack on this language minority but serves to expose the intolerance and loathing that the
Read on »Councilman Mika Hiltunen gets sentenced for ethnic agitation but gets pat on the back by the PS
After Perussuomalaiset (PS) party Kontiolahti town councilman Mika Hiltunen was sentenced Tuesday by a court for ethnic agitation, we saw once again a familiar balancing by the PS: stating to moderates it doesn’t accept racism but at the same time assuring the extreme right that the party accepts racist outbursts by its members. We have
Read on »Record number of immigrants become Finnish citizens in 2012
A record number of immigrants got Finnish citizen in 2012, rising by 4,530 to 9,090 persons, according to Statistics Finland. The lion’s share of these naturalized Finns were Russians (2,480) followed by Somalis (610), Estonians (520) and Afghanis. While citizenship grants many rights to an immigrant, it does not mean that the person will be
Read on »DNA, Saunalahti, IF, Nordea: “Backward-looking” rules and laws mirror Finland’s anti-foreign sentiment
A comment on Migrant Tales by Chef summed up pretty well how “several backward-looking” rules used arbitrarily by mobile phone and insurance companies continue to discriminate and make life difficult for immigrants. Why does this still happen in Finland, a Nordic welfare state country that promotes and bases its values on social equality (tasa-arvo)? The suspicion that
Read on »DNA and Saunalahti don’t openly advertise that immigrants must live in Finland for two years and pay a deposit
Migrant Tales got in touch today with two telephone operators: DNA and Saunalahti. Both companies said that the minimum residence requirement of two years in Finland for an immigrant to get a mobile phone line or contract. Everything got complicated, however, when I asked them to tell me what they said in writing. When I asked a
Read on »A case for the Ombudsman for Minorites: Finnish mobile phone and insurance companies
Migrant Tales has reported on how difficult it has been for some immigrants to open a bank account in this country never mind get access to online banking services. We learned last week that immigrants are having similar problems with mobile phone operators and obtaining life insurance. Migrant Tales will send Monday to the Ombudsman for
Read on »Migrant Rights’ Network: UKIP has an advantage that is not based on concrete policy proposals
By Awale Olad The aftermath of the UKIP surge in the polls in the local elections has led to a lot of soul searching in mainstream politics. To the detriment of the Conservative Party whilst also hacking away at both the support of the Labour and Liberal Democrats parties, UKIP emerged as the third most
Read on »How ideologically alike is the PS with the UKIP and BNP?
The recent local election victory of the anti-EU and anti-immigration UKIP of Britain is a good example of what Finland experienced with the rise of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) in April 2011. While the United Kingdom and Finland are vastly different countries, the knee-jerk reaction of the ruling parties to right-wing populism and rhetoric is strikingly
Read on »The Finnish media should stop picturing immigrants on social rollators
One of the problems when we challenge intolerance is to find its many hiding places and sources. Intolerance has many ways of surviving. One of these is microaggression that appears innocent on the surface but reinforces your exclusion, inferiority and to walk about in your new homeland with a social rollator as a marked human being. A
Read on »Microaggressions: How “law-abiding” community members discriminate
Microaggressions, the subject of a book by Derald Wing Sue of the Teachers College, Columbia University, highlights perfectly one of the ongoing problems in Finland. Microaggressions occur unconsciously and underline inclusion-exclusion and superiority-inferiority. They are everyday putdowns, insults that aim to undermine the dignity of visible minorities, women, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights
Read on »Do mobile phone companies and insurers discriminate against immigrants living in Finland?
Migrant Tales published Monday a story about how mobile phone operators in Finland require immigrants to make at least a 300-euro deposit and be a resident of this country for two years to get a mobile phone line. The Ombudsman for Minorities is a good place to inquire about your rights. They have a
Read on »Kansanedustaja James Hirvisaari ja hänen mielikuvituksellinen Suomi
Perussuomalainen kansanedustaja James Hirvisaaren Facebook sivun kommentit Itä-Suomen hovioikeus tuomiosta niin sanotussa Lieksan Facebook-rasismijutussa, ovat hyvä esimerkki siitä kuinka suvaitsemattomuus on saanut jalansijan Suomessa. Riippumatta kuinka paljon perussuomalaisten puheenjohtaja Timo Soini haluaa antaa maltillisen kuvan puolueesta, siinä aina nousee samat tekijät ja viha pintaan. Suomessa vihataan paljon tänä päivänä. Vihataan maahanmuuttajat, homot, feministejä, suomen ruotsalaisia,
Read on »Why do immigrants have to wait two years to get a mobile phone line in Finland?
We have read in the past how difficult it is for some immigrants in Finland to open a bank account never mind get access to online banking. All of Finland’s phone operators require immigrants to be residents for two years and a deposit of 300-500 euros in order to get a mobile phone line. A
Read on »Landmark busman turban case will be another watershed in Finland’s acceptance of cultural diversity
Finland is about to cross another watershed in cultural diversity, when busman Gill Sukhdarshan Singh of Vantaa was prohibited from using a turban at work, reports Helsingin Sanomat. Some legal experts see it an open-and-shut legal case. The excuses for a turban ban by bus company Veolia highlight, however, a wider challenge facing our ever-growing
Read on »Migrant Tales story sheds more light on a wider problem at schools in Mikkeli
Who says that writing cannot change matters? Migrant Tales published on Monday a story about a single mother who moved out of Mikkeli with her child because of the racist harassment at school. The story was picked up by Länsi-Savo, Itä-Savo, Peruopetus and commented widely in different national chat forums. Read whole story here. On Friday Länsi-Savo wrote an
Read on »We speak of two-way integration but too many still believe in assimilation
Finland’s integration law is exemplary in many respects because it aims to integrate newcomers as equals in our society. No law is, however, written in stone and is only as good as the institutions and people that enforce it. One of the matters that some have a difficult time grasping is what two-way adaption, or integration,
Read on »Cecile Kyenge: Italy’s first-ever black minister
The appointment of Italy’s first black cabinet minister, Cecile Kyenge, 48, is a good example that we can pull together on a difficult issue like race for too many European countries. Kyenge’s appointment has ushered in a new era in Italy politics. Even so, her appointment has exposed in the raw the nation’s ugly race
Read on »How can we challenge racism if it isn’t a problem?
As long as we don’t see racism as a big enough problem in our society, our response to it will be inefficient. Just like any illness, we must first diagnose it and then prescribe a cure. It’s disappointing to read how some people can insult others in a racist manner. Yesterday’s news story published
Read on »Suvaitsemattomuudesta ei löydy ratkaisu, koska sitä ei koeta tarpeeksi isoksi ongelmaksi
Tässä on mielestäni ongelman ydin kun puhumme rasistisesta kiusaamisesta koulussa tai häirinnästä julkisella paikalla: jos kiellämme ettei rasismi ole ongelma, lääkkeet sen vastustamiseen ovat puutteelliset. Tärkeintä on löytää keinot haasta tämä ilmiö koulussa. On surulista lukea kuinka ihmiset voivat nimettömänä loukata toisia rasistisesti. Eilisen kirjoitus yksinhuoltajasta äidistä ja hänen pojastaan, jotka muuttivat Helsinkiin Mikkelistä rasismin takia, kertoo
Read on »Sara kertoo kuinka hänen poikansa joutui rasistisen kiusauksen kohteeksi Mikkeliläisessä koulussa
Mitä ajattelisit, jos kuulisit afrikkalaisesta yksinhuoltaja äidistä, joka joutui muuttamaan Helsinkiin sen vuoksi että hänen poikansa joutui kokemaan koulussa kiusaamista ja rasismia? Ottaisitko tiedon vastaan ja lakaisisit sen maton alle vakuuttamalla itsellesi ettei tätä voi tapahtua kaupungissa missä asun? Migrant Tales blogi otti yhteyttä äitiin Sara (nimi muutettu), joka kertoi että hänen ja pojan elämä
Read on »Sara speaks out against the racist harassment her son endured at a school in Mikkeli, Finland
What would you do if you heard that an African single mother decided to leave Mikkeli for Helsinki because her eight-year-old child was a victim of racist harassment or bullying at school? Would you just register the news and brush it conveniently under the rug and reassure yourself that these types of things don’t happen
Read on »Our lopsided debate on immigration and refugees serves to keep our society white
The most startling fact about a US state department report on human rights for 2012 weren’t the sentences for hate speech handed to Perussuomalaiset (PS) party members such as MP Jussi Halla-aho and Freddy Van Wonterghem, but the discrimination suffered by Finland’s Romany minority, which number about 10,000. Read full US secretary of state human
Read on »Matias Turkkila reveals how Finnish racism became acceptable thanks to Hommaforum and the PS
Matias Turkkila, the editor of the Perussuomalinen newspaper and founding member of Hommaforum, reinforced on Friday’s A-studio: Stream talk show on hate speech what we always knew: some Finns have serious problems in tolerating others who are different from them. The whole debate surrounding hate speech, freedom of expression and what these two matters are becomes clouded
Read on »Intolerance is a wonderful weapon to exploit newcomers and strike a blow to organized labor
There’s little chance to stop Finland from becoming an ever-growing class society or that its suspicion of immigrants and visible minorities will lessen anytime soon. Our greater intolerance of other groups won’t only be fueled by our prejudice and loathing, but by Finland’s “other” that will be more than happy to oblige. Some immigrants and
Read on »Migrant Tales (November 28, 2011): Who is Finland’s Uncle Tom?
Comment: This blog entry was first published on November 28, 2011. For some reason, it’s impossible to access this posting from the old Migrant Tales site. I have reposted it on www.migranttales.net. _____________________ Is there such a concept as Uncle Tom in Finland? @HelsinkiObs helped me out with this question: “It’s Setä Tuomo (older style)
Read on »Blood strawberries from Nea Manolada, Greece
As Europe’s far right raises its head, the more violent things become. Some 30 migrant workers were injured in a shooting on a strawberry farm in Nea Manolada, Greece, after requesting salaries that had not been paid. Thanks to @ritorikaxalikia for the heads-up and the poster below. Writes the BBC: “The Council of Europe – the main
Read on »Does PS MP Olli Immonen have any idea what Finnish culture is?
There’s a three-part story published on Suomen Kuvalehti with Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen, who states why postmodern movies, or those that don’t strengthen Finnish national identity, shouldn’t be funded by the state. Immonen was elected the new president of Suomen Sisu, an extremist association that discourages white Finns from marrying foreigners. Suomen Kuvalehti published
Read on »A rude message on a Center Party politician’s door
Abdirahim Husu Hussein, who is a Helsinki Center Party politician and hosts a popular radio talk show on YLE with Ali Jahangiri, his wife was the first to read a rude message written on their apartment door: “Binladen was here.” If I’d read something similar on my door, I’d be pretty annoyed to say the least. Some
Read on »Does PS MP James Hirvisaari have any idea what racism is?
Migrant Tales aims to publish on the same day news that appears in the media. There was one opinion piece written on March 21 by Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that should have received our attention. Our intention is not advertise James Hirvisaari, who was
Read on »Abdulah: Healing the wounds inflicted by intolerance and regaining balance
Abdulah, who has appeared in a number of postings on Migrant Tales, hasn’t yet rallied enough courage to speak without the veil of anonymity. Like many who are scorned in Finland because of their ethnic background, regaining one’s balance and healing the wounds inflicted by intolerance can be a long process. “I have learned a
Read on »Migrant Tales (July 22, 2012): What have we learned after Norway’s 22/7 and the Boston bombings?
Comment: As the manhunt for one of the two suspects continues in Boston, what should our reaction be to the two Chechen killers? This blog entry written on the first anniversary of the horrific killings in Norway by Anders Breivik could shed light on that question. ____________________ What goes around comes around. Exactly a year
Read on »Whiteness and white privilege speak European languages
As we hold our collective breaths and await to know the identity of the bombings in Boston Monday, too many don’t see a suspect but a whole ethnicity or religious group. Tim Wise put it very well in an opinion piece where he makes some distributing revelations about the power of whiteness. If we understand
Read on »The Boston bombings reveal a deadlier blowback
I was shocked to hear about the twin bombs in Boston and my heart goes to the victims. Two days after the incident, however, speculation has been rife about the probable ethnicity of the perpetrator. The eerie silence of the killer suggests that this was probably carried out individually. The latest story on the
Read on »How can immigrants and visible minorities clear the minefields of misinformation?
There is an interesting news story on today’s YLE that raises a timely question: Not why there is so much misinformation spead about immigrants, but what does this reveal about us as a society? Does it bring to light ignorance or a subtle conspiracy that permits us to have and eat our racist cake simultaneously?
Read on »Migrant Tales administrator area access disabled temporarily due to widespread brute force attacks
I noticed this message late-morning Sunday when I attempted to access Migrant Tales from another computer. Let’s hope that this matter is resolved soon and that this is a general problem. Roughly a year ago we were deactivated for 13 hours and received hostile emails. Those who speak out for freedom of speech, or the
Read on »Margaret Thatcher’s New Right and Finland’s Perussuomalaiset party
As Perussuomalaiset (PS) leader Timo Soini promises that his party will become the biggest party in next year’s European parliamentary elections, which would give him a spring-board to score a similar election victory as in 2011, it’s still too early for the party to reveal how it would deal with its usual enemies like the
Read on »It’s the cultural diversity, stupid!
Would it be fair to say that the biggest challenge facing Finland during this century is accepting its cultural diversity and deconstructing our white national identity in order to make our society more inclusive? Will this happen easily? The central issue being debated in Finland today about immigrants boils down to one question: How much
Read on »Pastor Ansku Jaakkola says that racism in Jyväskylä is far worse than many think
Difficult times bring forth exceptional people. One of these is Pastor Ansku Jaakkola of the Adventist Church in Jyväskylä, who believes that racism in her Central Finnish city is far worse than many think. ”Our new [foreign] friends have told us that yelling and harassment happens on a daily basis,” she was quoted as saying
Read on »How can Finland tackle intolerance today if it cannot come to terms with its past?
Finland’s present political and social dilemma could be best described in the following manner: On the one side it has a difficult time acknowledging ever-growing intolerance in its society, but on the other slowly understands that one major source of that intolerance are groups like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party. The PS has grown into a
Read on »Migrant Tales takes part in German Broadcasting Company program on hate speech
Those that promote anti-cultural diversity sentiment are not only out to destroy your arguments but your self-esteem. Migrant Tales has proven over again that what we say on this blog has importance and does get noticed in Finland and abroad. The German Broadcasting Company aired on Friday a program on hate speech in which we took
Read on »Finland’s tolerance for cultural diversity is being tested to the limit these days
Finland’s tolerance to Otherness is being tested to the limit these days. If we look at it from a political perspective, the knee-jerk reaction is clear. Denying that there isn’t a connection between the stellar rise of an anti-EU, anti-immigration and anti-Islam party and our ever-growing cultural diversity is understanding a little or erroneously the
Read on »Maaseudun Tulevaisuus: Soini sees himself forming government after the 2015 elections
What are we to think and believe about Timo Soini’s opinion piece on Maaseudun Tulevaisuus, where he claims that the next government formed after the 2015 parliamentary elections will comprise of three major parties? Certainly Soini sees his party emerging as the victor and Finland’s next prime minister. Read Maaseudun Tulevaisuus news story on Timo
Read on »Three news stories that expose the challenges facing Europe: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, anti-Roma and official approval of the latter
Three stories this week spoke volumes about the challenges facing Europe during these times: discrimination against Muslims is widespread in many European countries; a string of anti-Semitic attacks have been reported in Eastern Europe; and Hungary’s top journalism prize is awarded to an anti-Semitic and Roma basher. Despite their geographic differences, all three stories are related shedding light on
Read on »Finland’s response to extremism should be more openess and democracy
An editorial on Thursday’s Helsingin Sanomat comments about Anjem Choudary’s visit to Finland last week. It points out correctly that hate speech should be condemned irrespective who makes it. Living in a culturally diverse society requires more mutual acceptance, not less acceptance and respect. Some of the controversial statements made by the cleric was that
Read on »YLE now ensures that it will be easier to distinguish news from opinion pieces
Migrant Tales has received an email from YLE regional and radio current affairs director, Teijo Valtanen, ensuring that the broadcaster will make sure that the blog entries of MPs published Fridays are clearly separated from news. If we look at the opinion piece by Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen, which was published on Friday, the
Read on »The repackaging and marketing of hate by anti-immigration parties and groups in Finland
Migrant Tales has shown on a number of blogs how neo-fascist groups like Golden Dawn of Greece, Hungary’s Jobbik and our own Finnish version of the latter, the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party, are examples of the growing intolerance in Europe. Any sensible immigrant, visible minority and European should be worried by the situation. In Finland, our
Read on »Suomen Sisu and its red herrings: Radical Islamists are now gaining a foothold in Finland
Suomen Sisu, a far right anti-immigration association, said in a statement today that it was concerned about “radical Islamists” gaining a foothold in Finland after Anjem Courdary’s visit to Helsinki on Thursday. Is the extremist association were honest, it would take a good look at itself in the mirror and warn us as well about
Read on »Migrant Tales (March 10, 2011): Is Finland a safe country for non-whites?
Scores of stories have been published recently in the Finnish media on how non-white Finns and people with immigrant backgrounds have been harassed and attacked in broad daylight. Even though it is a positive sign that the media has pointed out this worrying trend there is still a lot of work to be done on this front.
Read on »It’s official: The PS doesn’t mind racists, Nazis and neo-Nazis among its ranks
A Perussuomalaiset (PS) party statement, giving Vaasa councilman Risto Helin a warning about a Hitler clock he gave to a neo-Nazi club in Vaasa, is a good example of political deception. If you read the statement carefully, it says that the party doesn’t mind racists, Nazis and neo-Nazis among its ranks as long as you do
Read on »Risto Helin: The PS says it’s ok to hang around neo-Nazi groups
As Migrant Tales correctly predicted on Thursday, Vaasa Perussuomalaiset (PS) councilman Risto Helin got away with a warning from the party for giving a clock with Hitler to an anti-immigration neo-Nazi group, reports tabloid Ilta-Sanomat. The PS sends a loud and clear message with this decision: It’s ok to hang around neo-Nazi groups and even have the
Read on »Jane Elliott’s blue eyes and brown eyes experiment in racism
After the death of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, an elementary school teacher called Jane Elliott of Riceville, Iowa, carried out an experiment on her third-graders to demonstrate the destructive force that racism and discrimination unleashes. Since the small farming community had no blacks, she divided her students according to the color of their
Read on »What separates our counterjihadists from jihadists?
Anjem Choudary took part in a talk in Helsinki Thursday about freeing Muslim hostages. The Muslim cleric has said a lot of controversial things in the past like Islam will overrun Europe and that Prime Minister David Cameron and U.S. President Barack Obama should be killed. He’s even predicted that a “tsunami” of Muslim immigrants will sweep
Read on »Finland’s and the PS’ three mentors: See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Speak No Evil
The latest scandal in the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party concerning a councilmen who gave a clock with Hitler and swastikas to a neo-Nazi club in Vaasa, is another worrying example of how low we have stooped as a nation since the April 2011 election. Contrary to what some populist anti-immigration politicians may claim, we are not
Read on »The PS shamefully supports neo-Nazism with its silence
Finland is one of the few countries I know in Europe where you can openly support a neo-Nazi group and Nazism and be elected to city council. The only catch is that you belong to the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party and state that your are neither a racist nor a Nazi like Vaasa city councilman Risto
Read on »Council of Europe: No hate speech movement
This campaign, No hate Speech Movement, is long overdue and in great need. It’s a good matter that we are waking up to this menace even if politicians shamelessly play it down. The reason why hate speech exists is because we permit it. In Finland we have politicians who have been sentenced for hate speech.
Read on »The long battle for ethnic equality has begun in Sweden and Finland
One wonders how Sweden’s embattled migration minister, Tobias Billström, could make his “blonde, blue-eyed” comment on asylum seekers and get away with it without losing his job. Here in Finland we give prime television time to representatives of racist association like Suomen Sisu, whose views on cultural diversity don’t vary greatly from the U.S. American Nazi
Read on »Why doesn’t YLE differentiate clearly what is news and opinion?
On Friday we saw Suomen Sisu’s new president and Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP, Olli Immonen, publish an opinion piece on YLE as “news.” YLE saw the problem and changed the heading of Immonen’s column to “opinion” from “news.” Migrant Tales published part of an email from YLE explaining that since a reader of this blog considered it
Read on »PS far right: Hirvisaari publicly supports the Finnish Defense League
Is it a surprise that far right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP James Hirvisaari now publicly supports the Finnish Defence League, which is an offshoot of the far right English Defense League (EDL)? Not really. The EDL is the fastest-growing far right street movement in England since the National Front erupted in the 1970s. In a span
Read on »How ideologically similar is Suomen Sisu to the Ku Klux Klan and U.S. American Nazi Party?
While some may claim the headline to be provocative, it’s not too far off the mark. With what we already know about Suomen Sisu, is there a potential that it could evolve into a Finnish version of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and U.S. American Nazi Party? Absolutely. You can read about Suomen Sisu’s (in Finnish)
Read on »YLE ensures that opinion pieces and news will be easily identifiable in the future
YLE emailed a Migrant Tales reader, who expressed concern Friday about an opinion piece written as news by Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen. It was an odd coincidence that Immonen’s opinion piece was published in such a manner, considering that the PS MP is the new chairman of Suomen Sisu, a far right anti-immigration association.
Read on »Case Suomen Sisu: YLE corrects mistake but remains quiet about it
The opinion piece of Suomen Sisu’s new chairman, Olli Immonen, was mistakenly published as “news” on Friday by YLE. That was later corrected by YLE, apparently after the broadcaster got a number of concerned emails from readers. The latest problem? YLE didn’t mention that it had corrected the mistake. Why is this important? Because YLE has
Read on »YLE presents far right Suomen Sisu chairman’s opinion piece as “news”
Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) appears to have published ad verbum an opinion piece by the new Suomen Sisu president, Olli Immonen, as “news.” Nowhere in the story does it tell readers that this is an opinion piece written by the Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP but presents it instead as a news story, which it is not.
Read on »Some Finnish banks require Somalis to be Finnish citizens to have access to online banking
Migrant Tales understands that employees of banks like Nordea, Osuuspankki and Handelsbanken in Kouvola and Mikkeli tell Somalis that they must be Finnish citizens in order to have access to online banking. A blog entry published in March 2012 highlighted the difficulties that stateless persons face in opening a bank account never mind gaining access to
Read on »Länsi-Savo: Osaava ulkomainen työvoima tarpeen
Ei tarvitse mennä kauas todetakseen, että tulevaisuus on jo laskenut Etelä-Savossa: Sulkavan kunnassa 31,1 prosenttia väestöstä on eläkeläisiä ja vastaavat luvut Heinävedellä ja Puumalassa kiipeävät 30 prosenttiin. Mikkelissä asiat ovat hieman paremmin (20,3 prosenttia), mutta huonommat jos vertailemme koko maata (18,1 prosenttia). Alkuperäisen kirjoituksen voi lukea tästä. Etelä-Savo ei ole pelkästään nähnyt sen väestön ikääntymistä nopealla vauhdilla, väestökato
Read on »Tenth anniversary of the Iraq war: Washington’s new-old foreign policy
Comment: This story appeared on Suomen Kuvalehti’s website shortly after the US-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003. All you needed back then was common sense to understand that the invasion of Iraq was a huge and costly lie. The column reposted in June 2007, shortly after the birth of Migrant Tales in May of
Read on »Some immigrants adapt so well to Finland that they even parrot the language of the racist
Intolerance doesn’t only originate from the majority group, but is alive and kicking among some immigrants as well. White immigrants may have prejudices against their fellow black ones, gays against heterosexuals, religion x against religion y. In sum, there’s a lot of intolerance promoted out there that reveals itself in the most surprising places. One
Read on »The National Discrimination Tribunal of Finland fines Nordea for discrimination
The National Discrimination Tribunal of Finland (Syrjintälautakunta) has given Nordea Bank Finland a conditional fine of 5,000 euros for not accepting a French identity card as proof of identity, the Tribunal said in a statement. Moreover, the Tribunal considered the bank’s refusal to serve the client and his removal from the premises as an infringement
Read on »What Finland can learn from countries like the U.K. about racism
We can learn a lot from countries like the United Kingdom, where multiculturalism is an official social policy. Few won’t deny that the U.K. as well as other European countries don’t know what racism is if we look at their direct involvement in the slave trade and in the systematic genocide of indigenous peoples outside Europe.
Read on »What will happen to Finland if the PS matches its parliamentary election result in 2015?
Should we be worried by the latest polls, which show the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party vying for second place? What does the rise of the PS say about the present state of Finland? What will happen if the party matches its 2011 election result in 2015? Right after the disappointing municipal election, PS head Timo Soini promised that
Read on »If you loathe cultural diversity you most likely are suspicious of wolves and biodiversity
A news story on Green Party’s Vihreä Lanka asks if the wolf population of Finland has fallen to under 120 from an estimated 120-135 by Game and Fisheries Research. How many and what threat do they pose to people is part of an ongoing debate in Finland that is very similar to how some Finns
Read on »How far to the right will the PS and Suomen Sisu take Finland?
Even if Suomen Sisu president Olli Immonen and Jussi Halla-aho, both MPs of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party, tried to assure television viewers Thursday on A-Talk that the association is neither racist nor far right, nothing could be further from the truth. In order to keep immigrants and visible minorities disenfranchised, Suomen Sisu must come up
Read on »Cultural diversity: The key question that should have been asked on YLE’s A-Studio talk show
YLE A-Studio had an interesting debate with Perussuomalaisiet (PS) MPs Olli Immonen, Jussi Halla-aho, Left Alliance Helsinki city councilman Dan Koivulaakso and Swedish-language daily HBL journalist Marianne Lydén. Despite assurances by Immonen, Suomen Sisu’s new president, that the extremist anti-immigration association is against racism, they should their same colors by reinforcing over and over again their
Read on »Timo Soini and Olli Immonen, the foxes in the chicken coop
Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman Timo Soini was asked Tuesday by YLE what he thought about PS MP Olli Immonen being elected as the new chairman of Suomen Sisu, an extremist anti-immigration association. Soini offered his usual cock-and-bull answer by comparing Suomen Sisu to a harmless hunting, farming or youth association. It appears that YLE has learned a
Read on »Who do death threats and hate speech intimidate?
Finland’s largest daily Helsingin Sanomat asked twenty-three racism researchers if they had been harassed and received death threats. Sixteen researchers answered the questionnaire of which 14 responded affirmatively that they had received hate mail. This story by Helsingin Sanomat confirms the concern of other researchers at the University of Eastern Finland. The first time I
Read on »Max Jakobson dies but his legacy and the cold war linger on
This blog entry is dedicated to the late Donald Fields, Helsinki correspondent of the BBC, The Guardian and Politiken to 1988. I read with mixed thoughts about the death of Max Jakobson (1923-2013), a diplomat who shaped Finland’s policy of neutrality during the cold war. While I am certain that he was an able
Read on »Is the far right a threat to Finland?
Pia Growchoski asks an important question on her recent blog entry on Migrant Tales: Why is the national media so interested in far right groups and their resentful rhetoric? Why do we give space to Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman Timo Soini’s blatant incompetence on our Facebook pages? Are we in denial about what these groups represent
Read on »Police apprehend suspected attacker of black VR worker of Kajaani, Finland
The police have apprehended the suspect who violently attacked on Tuesday a black train cleaner working for state railways, VR, reports Kainuun Sanomat. The suspect, who is a foreigner, admitted to the police of attacking the VR worker, who has returned home after being operated twice in hospital. Just because a person is a
Read on »Columbus brought destruction, resentment to America and future wars to Europe
Imagine if the Internet existed when Christopher Columbus landed on Hispaniola in 1492 and we’d read about what ensued. Would our selective memory get the best of us and keep us in the dark for centuries about the systematic extermination of the Amerindians? Even if Bartolemé de las Casas (1484-1566), a historian and Dominican friar,
Read on »Hate crimes in Finland are shameful but reveal our meek response to intolerance
Just like over a year ago, during Black February, when three Muslims died under violent circumstances in a span of about three weeks, Migrant Tales learned of a new tragedy in the city of Kaajani. A black man, who is a train cleaner for the state railways company VR, was violently attacked by two men on
Read on »Foreign train cleaner violently attacked in the Kainuu region of Finland
A black train cleaner working for VR, the state-owned railways company, was violently attacked on Tuesday by two men in the city of Kajaani, located in the region of Kainuu, according to Iltalehti. The wounds the attackers inflicted on the man are so serious that he will be operated. Iltalehti repors that the wife of
Read on »Is Finland in the anti-racism farm leagues?
On a recent Migrant Tales blog entry we wrote about racist harassment and bullying at schools. For some parents, the problem is so serious at some schools that the only solution is to move to another city like Helsinki, where there are more visible minorities and immigrants. Source: The Speak Out project. Why are we still in
Read on »Migrant Tales (October 1, 2011): Multicultural Finns – “Accepting yourself is the first step”
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Martin Luther King, Jr. A guest speaker gave on Friday her recipe on how young adolescents from different countries living in Finland could build a space for themselves in society. Two matters struck me from
Read on »How do Finnish schools treat cultural diversity?
In theory, the answer is straightforward: Finnish schools should respect cultural diversity but a lot depends on the school and the principle. If we compare how elementary and middle schools treated visible minority students in the 1990s, we hope that matters have improved since then. But have they? Cultural diversity in Finland up to the
Read on »Haglund continues to challenge Soini on his broken campaign promises on racism
The rift between Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman Timo Soini and Carl Haglund, head of the Swedish People’s Party, reveals an ongoing David and Goliath duel where Soini is showing his true autocratic colors. Haglund challenged Soini last week to an open debate on racism after the PS leader was grilled on HARDtalk about this festering issue. Soini
Read on »Say no to stereotypes because they are the fuel that myths and prejudice feed on
“Stereotypes have some truth to them” has some truth to it but not in the way people think. That truth is not about the stereotyped but the stereotyper. Julian Abagond The quote by Abagond not only exposes the stereotyper for what he or she is, but how racist myths and views of other groups are
Read on »Holocaust toll was much higher than believed – what will the deniers and Counterjihadists now say?
Finnish police find list of hundreds of “enemies” at neo-Nazi’s home
The Finnish police, who are investigating neo-Nazi Kansalinen Vastarinta (KV) activists for storming a book event on the far right in Jyväskylä in late-January, have found over 300 photos and personal information of “enemies” on one of the suspect’s memory stick, according to the police. Writes YLE in English: “The [memory] stick contained details about the religious and
Read on »Swedish People’s Party chairman challenges (without luck) PS head Soini on racism
Migrant Tales raises its hat to Swedish People’s Party chairman, Carl Haglund, for challenging Perussuomalaiset (PS) Timo Soini on Helsingin Sanomat to an open debate about racism. Apart from immigrants and visible minorities, Finland’s Swedish-speaking population, which number about 291,000, has been under near-constant attack by the PS. It is unfortunate but understandable in today’s Finland that only
Read on »Anti-gay vote in Finland was a vote for intolerance
The vote to defeat the draft bill that would have legalized gay marriage by the legal committee of parliament sets not only a dangerous precedent but reveals Finland’s ever-hardened stance not only against gays, but against all minorities. If there were a Hall of Shame for MPs, its members would consist of those who voted against the gay-marriage
Read on »Finnish parliamentary committee votes 9-8 against gay marriage
A draft law to legalize gay marriage in Finland has been defeated by a vote of 9-8 by the legal committee of parliament, reports Uusi Suomi, citing Tweets by Green Party MP Jani Toivola and Aino-Kaisa Pekonen of the Left Alliance. Green MP Jani Toivola tweeted that he was “disappointed” by the gay marriage vote today. The members
Read on »Far right and anti-immigration quotes in English by the PS
There’s a new site that publishes quotes by your favorite Perussuomalaiset (PS) politician in English. Those PS politicians are none other than Jussi Halla-aho, James Hirvisaari and Juho Eerola. You can visit the site at truefinns.tumblr.com The editors state the following: “Quotes by some leading politicians of the True Finns party. Note that we do
Read on »Finland, the PS and far right: How long before the chickens come home to roost?
I’ve lived and worked in countries like Colombia and Argentina during the dirty war (1976-83), where people were and still are killed for what they write. Never would I have imagined that I’d receive my first death threats twenty years ago in this country, Finland. The threats and harassment haven’t stopped. When I read
Read on »PS MP Hirvisaari now says he was “pressured” to resign from Suomen Sisu
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari, who was convicted for ethnic agitation in December, announced Saturday on Twitter that he was “pressured” to resign from the extremist Suomen Sisu association. He announced on Friday that he was resigning from Suomen Sisu because he was too old to belong to “a youth organization.” Hirvisaari tweets, “The truth:
Read on »Finland’s biggest threat is itself
As Finland awakens to the reality that it is a culturally diverse society, one of the biggest threats and challenges we face doesn’t come from abroad but from our backyard. When the Civil Rights Movement ended in the United States in 1968, the first matter that we learned we should stop doing is generalizing about blacks
Read on »Far right PS MP Hirvisaari resigns from Suomen Sisu
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari, who was convicted for ethnic agitation in December, announced on his blog that he has resigned from the extremist Suomen Sisu association. The whole announcement is fishy: Why is Hirvisaari resigning now? Does it make any difference? Who cares. The Supreme Court upheld in June Hirvisaari’s ethnic agitation conviction. Hirvisaari’s
Read on »Ethnic agitation charges will be brought against another PS politician
Charges of ethnic agitation will be brought by deputy state prosecutor Jorma Kalske against Kontiolahti councilman Mika Hiltunen, reports YLE. Hiltunen claimed on his Facebook page in January that refugees and asylum seekers “are social-welfare bums and rapists.” JusticeDemon asks an interesting question about the case: “… this particular statute [Section 10 of chapter 11 of
Read on »Timo Soini’s fast one: “Only one or two [racist] outbursts”
Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman, Timo Soini, claimed on BBC’s HARDtalk that his party doesn’t have a strand of racism because there were only “one or two [racist] outbursts” in the past. Only one or two?! Try a long and disgraceful list of racist outbursts, criminal convictions and shameful denials Mr. Soini. The HARDtalk interview with Stephen
Read on »BBC’s HARDtalk: Soini defends decision to not sack Halla-aho
Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman, Timo Soini, said on BBC’s HARDTalk that the five-year ordeal that lead to a Supreme Court ruling against PS MP Jussi Halla-aho for inciting ethnic hatred was enough punishment, according to YLE. Soini had promised previously to sack any member of the party if they were sentenced by a court for hate speech.
Read on »If you’re anti-gay you’re probably anti-immigration (or don’t understand what is at stake)
It is surprising that a country like Finland, which claims to be a Nordic democracy, we see so much opposition to gays not only from anti-immigration parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS), but from other ones as well like the National Coalition Party. PS MP Mika Niikko, a fierce opponent of gay rights, echoed on Helsingin
Read on »Former undocumented immigrant Edgar Ortega: A true survivor
I read a fascinating story on YLE in English about a former undocumented immigrant in Finland, Edgar Ortega of Mexico. He’s a true survivor. Ortega would clean construction sites, distribute pizza adverts and engage in other work before he got a residence permit. Ortega made 4-5 euros an hour as an undocumented immigrant, according to
Read on »Creating political Frankensteins with the help of social media and prejudice
In Saami mythology there’s a large-but-not-too-bright monster called Staalo, which was made from a log, lichen and a few incantations. If we look at the recent rise of intolerance in Finland and Europe, social media has breathed life back to many Staalo-like political Frankensteins. Staalo is a monster found in Saami mythology. Source: Tajukangas. In
Read on »FIS: Somali family reunifications plummeted to just over 500 in 2012
The number of Somali family reunification applications in 2012 plummeted to just over 500 application compared with 1,900 in the previous year and 3,900 in 2010, reports Helsingin Sanomat, citing the Finnish Immigration Service (FIS). There were a total of 8,600 applications in 2012. The highest number were from were from citizens of the
Read on »University of Eastern Finland concerned over threats to their racism researchers
Unions representing racism and multiculturalism researchers at the University of Eastern Finland, expressed concern Wednesday over the threats they are receiving, reports YLE in English. In a joint statement, the unions said that such threats to its researchers should be a cause for concern, especially in a region where intolerance is on the rise. “Our
Read on »How far has the PS beachhead spread in twenty-two months?
Migrant Tales wrote the following day after the historic April 17, 2011 election had sent shock waves throughout Finland and Europe: “Far-right populism is an illness inflicting Europe at present and it now has a beachhead in Finland.” Back then, our blog got got cited by Time Magazine. The above quote was a response to
Read on »Oulu city councillor and transsexual attacked
Green Party Oulu city councillor, Janne Hakkarainen, was attacked and beaten over the weekend while accompanying a transexual, reports Oulu-based daily Kaleva. Hakkarainen said that three men attacked them in a park after he accompanied his friend home from a bar after 4:30am. Fortunately a person spotted what was happening and forced the
Read on »Helsinki’s and Greater Helsinki’s immigrant population to rise by over 131% in 20 years
A forecast that will be published Monday by Statistics Finland sees the immigrant population of Helsinki and its surroundings rising by over 131% in two decades to around 300,000 from 130,000, reports YLE in English, citing Swedish-language daily Hufvustadsbladet. Writes Yle in English: “Most non-Finnish speakers come to Finland and the Helsinki region from Africa