Isabela Mihalache, who is an expert on the Roma in Europe and who works at the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), Europe’s largest anti-racism NGO, speaks to Migrant Tales editor Enrique Tessieri about the situation of the Romany minority in Europe.
Read on »Posts Tagged: European Union
Islamophobia is the fear that white Christian Europeans will lose power and privileges to minorities. Disagree? Ask a Muslim woman
A French appeals court upheld this week a ruling that denied an Algerian woman citizenship because she refused to shake the hand of a French official, according to The Local. The woman cited “religious beliefs” for not shaking the official’s hand. The appeals court defended the decision to not grant citizenship on the grounds that the woman, who is married to a French man since 2010, had “not assimilated into the French community.”
Read on »November 9, 2016: “A date that will live in infamy”
It looks like Donald Trump is heading for an upset victory over Hillary Clinton in the US presidential elections, according to the New York Times.
Read on »(Migrants’ Rights Network) Diversity in the Migration Third Sector: Practicing What We Preach
Has the migration third sector got a problem with diversity? Do migrant and ethnic minority staff find it tough to break out of front-line roles and into management? A recent survey takes a look at the situation in the UK, the Netherlands and Austria to find out.
Read on »Brexit proves (again) that Europe’s biggest threat was and still is nationalism and xenophobia
We speak of external threats like globalization and others like asylum seekers as threats challenging this great Post-World War 2 experiment called the European Project. While the achievements of the European Union are formidable taking into account that we’re not going after each other’s throats after 1945, there is one threat that is the greatest of them all and one we should pay more attention to: nationalism and xenophobia.
Read on »Brexit: Stoke the fires of natonalism and you’ll get burned
After the United Kingdom decided Thursday to exit from the European Union, the question remains: why? In many respects, the answer to that question is a similar one that you hear in some European countries why such-and-such country has seen the political rise of populist anti-immigration party. Finland is a good example of the latter. The
Read on »We have the means to challenge and beat xenophobia and fascism in today’s Europe
Even if we should be concerned about the rise of xenophobia and fascism, which disguises itself with populist anti-immigration rhetoric in Europe, there’s one matter that should worry us the most: silence and apathy.
Read on »Launch of ENAR’s 2014-15 Shadow Report on Afrophobia in the European Union
This fact sheet for Finland based on ENAR’s Shadow Report questionnaire 2014/2015 was answered by Enrique Tessieri from Migrant Tales. Go to original link here.
Read on »Dear little boy washed ashore…
In May we learned about a Dear little girl at sea who was kind enough to look the other way as she floated lifelessly in Mediterranean waters.
Read on »Our indecision and indifference to the humanitarian crisis facing Europe is the greatest threat
In the face of the humanitarian refugee crisis that we are seeing today in Europe, some leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel are offering leadership while others are frozen with indecision and indifference.
Read on »Systemic disenfranchisement of migrants and minorities in Europe
One important question that doesn’t appear to bother too many politicians is why migrant voter turnout in Europe is so low. In the 2012 municipal elections of Finland, 20% of eligible migrants voted compared with 18.6% in 2008. This is a far cry from 59.5% and 62.2% of Finnish citizens that voted in such elections,
Read on »Death of Colombian in police custody in Finland sheds light on the desperate plight of many undocumented migrants
The tragic death* of a twenty-six-year-old Colombian should awaken us to the many dangers that some undocumented migrants face in Europe. According to the Finnish police, Sergio Camilo Becerra González, committed suicide while his parents suspect he was a victim of xenophobia, according to Caracol. Both outcomes, death by suicide or xenophobia, are harrowing reminders
Read on »Racism tells you over and over again: don’t bite the hand that feeds you
Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts. E.B. White (1899-1985), USAmerican writer Being an immigrant and Other all my life, researching and especially writing about racism regularly, or daily for the past three-and-a-half years, have taught me a thing or two about this social ill. Some may ask why
Read on »Marine Le Pen fails to form the far-right European Alliance for Freedom
There was great news today when we read that far-right Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders failed to form a European Parliamentary group called the European Alliance for Freedom (EAF)., reports the euobserver. After the gains that the far-right made in the Euro elections of May, Migrant Tales welcomes Le Pen’s and Wilders’ failure to form
Read on »The PS of Finland makes its post-election debut in the European media with labels like “xenophobic,” “far right” and “MEPs with criminal records”
It has been quite a rough two weeks for the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party after the May 25 EU parliamentary elections: accusations of being far-right in the company of neo-Nazi parties like the Golden Dawn of Greece; and speculation by a senior Finnish official in the Financial Times that it was unlikely that the PS would
Read on »The political record and chicanery of the PS of Finland is what has estranged so many voters from politics
While some are still scratching their heads about the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* joining the European parliament’s European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group this week, it shows why so many voters have become estranged from politics. Read full story here. Before the historic 2011 parliamentary elections for the PS, when 39 of its MPs got elected
Read on »Financial Times: Finnish and Danish MEPs “with criminal records” join Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron’s group
While some speculated that the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and the Danish People’s Party (DPP), both with MEPs with criminal records, would be given the cold shoulder by UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, the opposite happened, writes the Financial Times. The two MEPs with criminal records are PS MEP Jussi Halla-aho
Read on »Counterpoint: How to compare European populist parties
There’s been a lot of talk as of late in the media about far-right and populist parties that were elected to the European parliament. One way to assess these parties is a chart by Counterpoint, a research group. Gathering from the chart below, European populist parties are mostly racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic and sexist. Their democratic
Read on »Migrant Tales insight on EU elections: Win some, lose some
As the political dust settles after the Euro elections last Sunday, can we claim like the media that the hard right made important gains? How did anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* of Finland fare compared with the previous elections in 2009? Apart from the UKIP and National Front of France’s impressive
Read on »Financial Times: MEP Jussi Halla-aho racist track record leaves PS out in the cold
Success comes with a high political price especially if you base that success on spreading racism and prejudice. That is exactly the case of the Perussuomalaiset (PS),* who are hoping to join the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) in Brussels but have been rejected by them because they see PS MEP Jussi Halla-aho as too racist,
Read on »Disingenuous Finnish PS MEP-elect Jussi Halla-aho fears image would suffer with parties like far-right National Front
In an interview on YLE, Perussuomalaiset (PS) newly elected MEP Jussi Halla-aho said that it was doubtful that the anti-immigration party would form part of a parliamentary group with far-right parties like the National Front of France “because the party’s image would suffer.” What a disingenuous statement by a politician who has based his career
Read on »Pew Research Center survey: Anti-immigration and anti-minority sentiment runs high before Euro elections
Pew Research Center, a Washington-based “fact tank,” reveals in a survey just before the European parliamentary elections on May 22-25 that anti-immigration and anti-minority sentiment runs in countries like Poland, Germany, France, UK, Spain, Italy and Greece. Euro MEP candidates like Jussi Halla-aho and Juho Eerola of the PS have used anti-immigration sentiment to attract
Read on »The Ukraine-Russia crisis can spark ethnic hatred across Europe
The crisis and standoff between the Ukraine and Russia is worrying for many reasons. One of these, which isn’t being covered enough by the European media, is how the crisis is fueling xenophobia and age-old diehard ethnic hatred. There has been, however, a lot of coverage of the ethnic crisis between the Ukrainians and Russians.
Read on »Statement: EU elections 2014: the way towards more equality in Europe, 7 demands from ENAR
The next European Parliament to be elected in May 2014 has a crucial role to play when it comes to reducing the entrenched inequalities faced by its citizens and residents. Among these are ethnic minorities and migrants who often face discrimination on multiple grounds: ethnic origin, nationality, social status, income, gender or age. The European
Read on »Workshop highlights perceptions, problems and challenges of immigration in Greece
Workshops that debate and challenge immigration issues in economically hard-hit countries like Greece are never too many. One of these took place on Friday at the University of Peloponnese and was organized by the Scientific Association of Young Political Scientists. According to a statement: The issue of immigration has become a major national issue and
Read on »Yes Swiss vote against “mass migration” will impact MEP elections in May
Switzerland voted on Sunday to narrowly approve a referendum proposal to stop “mass migration,” reports The Independent. The immediate impact of the referendum, which the “yes” camp won with a slim 50.3% majority, will mean an end to the free movement of people and goods between Switzerland and the EU. Apart from having an immediate
Read on »Higher unemployment and economic woes spell big trouble for migrants and visible minorities
Finland got shocking news Thursday when postal company Itella announced that it may shed up to 1,200 jobs, according to Yle in English. Taking into account that unemployment shot up in 2013 to 7.9% from 6.9% in the previous year, what do these two news stories mean for the migrant and visible minority community? Those
Read on »Migrants’ Rights Network: Another tragedy in Lampedusa, one too many
Clara Dublanc* The migrant boat disaster off Lampedusa has highlighted the struggle of Southern EU members to deal with migrant flows. It is time that Europe steps up and accepts shared responsibilities for the external borders of the Union. Last Thursday 3rd October, the small Italian island of Lampedusa witnessed
Read on »Migrant Tales Literary with Le monde n’est pas: Around Europe by Miguel Velayos
Comment: I came across this neat website on Twitter called Le monde n’est pas rond (The world is not round). The website describes itself as “an international artistic newspaper, based in Luxembourg, that explores the contemporary realities of migration, borders, and human rights through the publication of articles, art and illustration, photography, prose and poetry.” Why not
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 »Our response to intolerance in the EU and Finland must be first and foremost a response
Every great journey challenge begins with a single step. A Chinese proverb slightly changed A study by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), reveals how racism and intolerant attitudes are becoming more prevalent in the European Union. What to do? Read ENAR study here. A recent example of how racism and intolerance spread roots in
Read on »Institute for Strategic Studies: Preventing and Countering Far-Right Extremism – European Cooperation
Here’s a good country-by-country report on the history and modern growth of right-wing extremism in ten European Union countries (Sweden, UK, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Hungary, and the Slovak Republic). Read full report here. As Migrant Tales has correctly reported time and again, the biggest sources of right-wing extremism in Finland are the
Read on »Common Ground News Service: Spreading “anti-rumours” about immigrants
By María-Paz López Barcelona, Spain –“They are invading us”, “They don’t respect the rules”, “They don’t pay taxes”, “They don’t want to integrate”, “They get special subsidies to open businesses”, are just a few of the often repeated accusations against immigrant communities in Spain. To deal with rising prejudices, Barcelona City Council is now beginning
Read on »FRA: Hate crime a daily matter in the European Union
Two recent reports published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) confirm that hate crime happens daily throughout the European Union (EU). One of the reports reveals that 32% of Somalis interviewed by the agency that live in Finland reported being victims of hate crimes during the past 12 months. Other countries in
Read on »Migrants’ Rights Network: EU Free Movement Under Threat
Stewart Jackson’s Ten Minute Rule motion to curb EU free movement rights passed the first hurdle on its way to becoming law. Let’s hope no one in government seriously considers it as official policy. Conservative MP Stewart Jackson continues his campaign against “barking mad” European Union law which supports the free movement of people across
Read on »ENAR: Hate crime victims finally recognised with European Parliament vote
Comment: Without a doubt, this is an important piece of legislation by the European Parliament, which will require EU states to systematically collect data on hate crimes. Even if the Finnish police collects such data, reporting hate crimes to the police may be more complicated for an immigrant than meets the eye. The key question
Read on »How much further? A film about the lives of refugees in Greece
This documentary about refugees in Greece is a stark reminder of how Greek authorities and the European Union have turned their backs on asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants. The answer is not higher border fences or fear-mongering by politicians, but finding proactive solutions that take into account the needs and human rights of these people.
Read on »Blaming undocumented immigrants is sweeping the issue under the rug
The treatment of an ever-growing problem like undocumented immigrants in Finland by the media and politicians resembles a debate where nobody really wants to tackle the issue. Our attention too often shifts to the undocumented immigrant, who is seen as the culprit and root of the problem. The ongoing debate resembles discussing the reasons behind
Read on »Migrants’ Rights Network: Border controls against Greece? Be afraid – be very afraid……
By Don Flynn The sun has been brilliant over (most) of the UK for four whole days in a row and we are all extraordinarily happy. But if there’s an inkling of truth in the weekend’s news that emergency border control plans are being prepared against the arrival of Greek citizens, abandon hope for the
Read on »Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from April 20, 1993
Migrant Tales publishes on and off Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through some of the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how some of them reflected our xenophobic, prejudiced, racist or anti-Russian views.
Read on »Nationalism, Fascism, Populism and Racism – a family of Kings or Thieves?
So, nationalism, fascism, populism and racism – ‘who’ are they are and do they share anything in common with each other? Here, I’m going to give a brief but hopefully pertinent overview. Are they Kings or Thieves? Maybe my conclusions will surprise you.
Read on »Europe and Finland must get its immigration policy right
The rise of right-wing populist parties and their ever-growing attacks on immigrants and minorities is an outcome of Europe’s inability to draft and pass a workable immigration and refugee policy. Immigrants and refugees are not the real threat to Europe. It is weak leadership by politicians and standing up to the populist rhetoric that fuel prejudices and urban myths about Europe’s new inhabitants.
Read on »“Living together:” Council of Europe Eminent Persons’ report
On behalf of the Council of Europe Group of Eminent Persons, Javier Solana Madariaga presented the report “Living Together:” Combining diversity and freedom in 21st-century Europe to the Committee of Ministers session meeting in Istanbul. Taking stock of the challenges arising from the resurgence of intolerance and discrimination in Europe, the report analyses “the threat” and proposes “the response” for “living together” in open European societies.
Read on »True Finns’ Soini lashes out at the foreign media
While True Finns’ chairman Timo Soini tries to calm Finns and the outside world that “we’re not extremists, so you can sleep safely,” an eerie lull prevails in Finland as talks begin on forming a coaltion government with Kokoomus, Social Democrats and the True Finns. Soini’s most recent outbreak was with the Swedish media, whom he branded on MTV3 as “unbelievable.”
Read on »Finland election today: What future awaits us and Europe?
Today Finnish voters will head to the polls. What their collective message may be for the direction Finland will take in the following four years remains to be seen. One of the most tragic aspects of the campaigning to April 17 is how some, like the True Finns and individual members of all the parties in this country, have used fear-mongering of immigrants and refugees to further their political careers.
Read on »Finland election: Flirting with isolationism and xenophobia
In our neck of the woods in the Nordic region, ultra-nationalistic and xenophobic parties have made their mark in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and most likely now in Finland on Sunday when the True Finns are expected to score a historic victory. Will the election embolden other xenophobic parties in this region and Europe? Will it send shock ripples in the EU?
Read on »Migrant Tales memorable quotes of the week to March 28
Migrant Tales publishes on Monday some interesting quotes on the ongoing immigration debate in Finland and elsewhere. If you have some quotes you would like to share with us, please forward them to [email protected] ET
Read on »guardian.co.uk: France’s minorities under fire
The recent local elections in France witnessed not only increased pressure from the extreme right National Front (FN), but also division within the conservative party in power, the UMP, which fluctuated uncertainly between an alliance with the FN and one with the opposition parties. As for the left, it can hardly be seen as a credible alternative. The situation for minorities in France has therefore become more than difficult. It has become critical.
Read on »Migrants’ Rights Network: Human Rights Court rules that asylum seekers cannot be sent to Greece
The European Court of Human Rights ruled last week in the case of M.S.S. v Belgium and Greece. It found that the Belgian authorities had violated the rights of asylum seeker M.S.S., and an Afghan national by sending him to Greece using the Dublin II regulation. This in effect means that asylum seekers from the UK cannot be returned to Greece under the Dublin regulation.
Read on »Aamulehti: Suomessa pian kansalaisuuden saa helpommin kuin oleskeluluvan?
Suomen kansalaisuus voi irrota jatkossa helpommin kuin oleskelulupa. Vakavakaan rikos ei estä kansalaisuuden saamista – toisin kuin monessa muussa EU-maassa.
Read on »Muslims are not the real enemy to European democracy
It is quite significant when EU heavyweights such as France and Germany start using anti-immigration sound bites. Recent statements by German Chancellor Angela Merkel are a good example of the disturbing trend, when she stated that multiculturalism has “utterly failed” in Germany.
Read on »Islamization and Islamophobia in Europe and Finland
There was a letter to the editor in Saturday’s Mikkeli-based Länsi-Savo about the Islamization of Europe, while Time magazine asks in its August front cover if America is Islamophobic? The two headlines, although from vastly different publications, shed in my opinion light on how some Europeans and USAmericans see Islam: a threat or over-reaction.
Read on »A disfavor to Finland’s future
With the April 2011 election approaching, parties in Finland are feverishly searching for ways to lure voters. One campaign issue that has the ability to move voters and inflame passions are immigrants and immigration to Finland. I personally feel that Finns are not going to be led by rhetoric and false arguments.
Read on »Fallacies of Finland’s immigration-refugee debate
If we look at the ongoing immigration-refugee debate in Finland, there are five fallacies that one should look at critically in order to understand the debate. I have compiled a list of the top five claims that I consider the most absurd and politically questionable but are used constantly in the ongoing debate:
Read on »YLE: Another feather in Finland’s media immigration hysteria hat
As apparently the political climate gets tenser in Finland due to the recessions, a good example of another red herring threat caused by immigration is a news story by YLE on Wednesday that claims that 3,200 foreign nationals were not allowed to enter Finland illegally, according to the Finnish Border Guard.
Read on »US Louisiana justice of the peace refuses to wed white woman with a black man
The refusal of a Louisiana justice of the peace to marry a white woman and a black man has caused dismay and calls by government as well as civil rights groups the removal of justice of the peace Keith Bardwell.
Read on »Jimmy Carter said Republican congressman’s outburst was based “on racism”
Here is an interesting case: The biggest military and economic power in the world, the United States, continues to be hounded by one of its dubious legacies – racism. On the other side of the Atlantic, we too have a long way to go before we wipe the scourge of racism from our continent.
Read on »Finland also locks up asylum seeker children
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- A child in the Joutseno Immigration Removal Center.
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