There are many things that one can do to retard or facilitate adaption of newcomers to Finland. One of the worst is constant suspicion by politicians who have no qualifications or understanding of migration. Good examples are National Coalition Party MP Pia Kauma who does not have the faintest idea about migrants but is still
Read on »Posts Tagged: inclusion
KOTOUTUMINEN #14: Disseminate and vanish
Remember back in the 1990s when Finland brought Vietnamese refugees and dispersed them like pepper throughout Finland? It appeared back then that the main goal of the migration authorities was to disseminate newcomers and make them vanish. One matter that this type of coercive assimilation aimed at doing was to ensure that these Vietnamese boat
Read on »KOTOUTUMINEN #13: There is no good Finnish word for inclusion just like with integration before
For decades, Finland has been such a far-flung country that it still does not have any good word for inclusion, never mind any willingness to promote it to newcomers. The same happened to the word “integration,” which became part of the Finnish language in the late-1990s. Those were the good old days when foreigners and
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: How to celebrate Finland’s Independence Day
The best present that we can receive on Finland’s Independence Day is an inclusive society that respects everyone irrespective of their background. Mutual respect is the bridge that unites this society. So set aside your medals, distinctions, and invitations to the President’s Independence Day ball because social equality and respect for diversity is the only
Read on »No Labels No Walls to premiere in Helsinki 23rd-24th September
The Festival is organized by the group, No Labels No Walls, which consists of over 30 organizations from five different countries and brilliant individuals, whose idea is that separation is never equal, and who want to promote, activate and empower everyone to participate in life and society.
Read on »Part I: Racism causes trauma and mental suffering
Maailman Kuvalehti, a periodical which often takes up issues of xenophobia and racism in Finland more bravely than the mainstream media, cited the article Häpeää, itsesyytöksiä, masennusta – toistuvan rasismin vaikutukset mielenterveyteen voivat olla vakavat (Shame, self-blame, and depression – continuous racism encounter impact on mental wellbeing can be severe). Dated April 24th to a study by Robert T. Carter (University of Columbia), it stated that day-to-day exclusion encounters cause mental depression and symptoms similar to war trauma. Read the article here.
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Finnish identity isn’t a monolithic slab held together by power, privilege, prejudice, and bigotry
The biggest challenge facing our culturally and ethnically (non-white) community this century is the narrow definition of who we are. As long as our definition excludes others, all efforts at “integrating” newcomers and ensuring that they become members of society will fail. The aims of our schools to teach children of foreign parents to become
Read on »Naapuriäidit: I am a refugee, but I also have another story
Michelle Kaila Friba Majeed Friba Majeed was born in Balkh, Afghanistan. She came to Finland in 2014 as a refugee. She is presently doing a work practice at Nicehearts in Vantaa, mainly to practice her Finnish language skills. These are the kinds of details we, as migrants, might often exchange with others upon meeting.
Read on »Why are integration programs in Finland doomed to failure?
Here’s the billion-euro question: Why are integration programs in Finland usually doomed to failure? What can Finland and Europe learn from countries like Canada that have a more successful approach to integration?
Read on »Included – not integrated
Inclusion is when everyone is along per se. In Finland we are still struggling with integration issues. We need programmes and policies so that developmentally disabled people can live where other people are living. We need special laws to make sure that they can have the services they need. But those does not matter when
Read on »Defining white Finnish privilege #21: Who can be a Finn?
A Finn is anyone with Finnish citizenship, right? Citizenship can be obtained through birth (jus sanguinis) or naturalization. Even if this should be clear as day, certain public services like the police continue to group Finns according to their so-called “foreign” or “immigrant” backgrounds. I don’t have any problems with my foreign background even if
Read on »Minister Carl Haglund: Sports is an underused yet vital tool for migrant inclusion
A group of 60 experts and others interested in the field of sports and social issues agreed with Minister of Sports Carl Haglund, who stated that sports is an underused tool for social participation and action.
Read on »Racism, children and football in Finland
If you want to find a short cut into racism in Finland, read the anonymous comments after a news story on the topic. One such story, published Monday by Turku-based daily Turun Sanomat, is a perfect example. The news story is about a group of 10-11-year-old boys who were returning by ship to the mainland
Read on »World Café ponders if Porvoo, Finland, is a multicultural city
Migrant Tales insight: The World Café concept is an excellent way to empower and encourage people to participate and promote active citizenship. This World Café session, which took place in Porvoo on May 17, and asked participants to give their views on how cultural diversity is faring in the city. One of the important findings
Read on »Foreign Student editorial (February 1981): On immigrants living in Finland
The Foreign Student was a short-lived but courageous newsletter of the Foreign Student Club of Helsinki. The humble publication appeared from January 1981 to January 1982 and lasted 11 issues. Much of the things the newsletter wrote about 35 years ago are still valid today. Surprisingly those that opposed what we wrote weren’t officials or Finns, but
Read on »I, too, am Finland!
During Europe’s action week against racism (March 15-23), wouldn’t it be appropriate to post something that promotes inclusion and respect? One posting drives home a very important and long overdue message in Finland: #itooamfinland. Read full story (in Finnish) here. What’s the biggest challenge that our country faces during this century? It’s living in an ever-culturally diverse
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 »Fadumo Dayib: To research, or not to research Somalis, is the question
I am here today to reflect on being the other, on othering. I am not here as a PhD student from this University but as an activist, a blogger and as your research object. Read full essay here. The previous presenter raised a very important point that activism does not put bread on your table.
Read on »David Papineau: Civil Society and why Adnan Januzaj should be Eligible for England (Though He Isn’t)
David Papineau Adnan Januzaj is what American sports journalists call a ‘phenom’. Barely eighteen when he was called into the Manchester United first team last August, he immediately proved a match-winner and has been exuding class all season. If he can stay fit and keep his form, he is destined to become one of the
Read on »Dana: Ymmärrättekö Finland – wild culture, wild picture and wild future
Dana How long will I have to endure these racist attacks and hostile looks? And what’s wrong with being a foreigner in Finland anyway? There are no rainbows here if there’s only one color: white. No matter how much you paint your society white, I’m alive and will always feel victorious before you. I have
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 »My naïvity and the Finns
When I moved to Finland in December 1978, I wasn’t naïve about Finland, but super naïve. I was so confiding that I actually believed all Finns were honest. If happiness were a spider, it would spin a web to catch our good thoughts. Apart from a strong admiration for the forests and people who inhabited
Read on »Mulitucltural Ireland’s vision should be ours as well
Why is it that we don’t hear Finnish politicians speaking in the same manner as Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins, who said that a major task of the country’s EU presidency should be to remove ignorance and misunderstanding, which lead to “incipient forms of racism,” writes the Irishtimes.com. Speaking at the launch of the Neighborhood
Read on »When the state and regulations scheme to make life difficult for immigrants
The lives of stateless persons in Finland isn’t easy by a long shot. On the one hand we want newcomers to adapt to our society but deny them a basic right like opening a bank account. Think for a moment how complicated life would be without a bank account. If you are a stateless person
Read on »Visible minorities and immigrant children – be yourselves and proud of it!
A sentence can change your life. I will share with you one of the greatest moments in my life. It happened when I was in elementary school in Los Angeles, California. My fourth-grade teacher, Mr. Dean Arnold, offered me a sentence that changed my life. He said: “You don’t have to be like a [white] American
Read on »Migrant Tales to celebrate its fifth anniversary in May
Migrant Tales will celebrate its fifth year in existence on May 30. By then we’ll have passed the 1,000 posts mark and have received and responded to well over 30,000 comments, the lion’s share of which we have got in the past two years. Migrant Tales is a community of writers: JusticeDemon, Mark, Peter, eyeopener, Jonas, D4R, Sasu, BlandaUpp, Foreigner and many, many others.
Read on »"Real" Finns were, are and will be culturally diverse Finns
People who think that only white Finns are “real” Finns are, in my opinion, seriously mistaken. They represent a modern segregated view of society we saw in the United States before the 1960s and in worst cases in South Africa before 1994. The “Only Whites” sign isn’t posted on doors these days but shines constantly in their minds.
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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