THE STORY WAS UPDATED When you leave out the context in a news story, you leave the door open for bias. One topic in Tuesday’s A-studio talk show was whether it’s ok to burn the Quran in Finland. Contrary to other Nordic countries like Sweden and Denmark, burning the Koran in Finland is illegal. While
Read on »Posts Tagged: Islamophobia
Finland’s fictitious search for the ideal foreigner
Contrary to the last three parliamentary elections in 2011, 2015, and 2019, the upcoming parliamentary election on April 2 is different for several reasons: war rages in the Ukeraine, Finland has sought Nato membership, economic growth, and chronic labor shortages are just a few. Apart from labeling people from outside the EU as “harmful” migrants,
Read on »Voting down the Perussuomalaiset in April is the best indication that matters have changed for the better
Despite the fake claims by parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, Finland has historically done everything possible to halt foreigners from moving to Finland. It was not until 1983, or 65 years that Finland passed its first aliens act. Restrictions on foreigners and foreign companies were the rule. Did you know that even if women had
Read on »Do Finnish voters want a toxic cocktail of masochism and xenophobia in April’s election?
The latest opinion poll published Thursday by Yle shows three important matters: Support for the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) and Perussuomalaiset (PS)* slip while the Social Democrats regain second place. Another takeaway is the Greens, which took over the Center Party to capture fourth place. In my opinion, two reasons for the big drop in
Read on »Finland’s radical-right party’s xenophobic copy and paste of Denmark’s hardline immigration policy
There is nothing new in the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* immigration program announced Monday. A surprise for me was that the PS hardline stance means ALL migrants. Previously, I thought the term “migrant” used by the PS was code for Muslims or persons from outside the EU. If the PS had its way, it would completely overhaul
Read on »Riikka Purra and the anti-EU PS may be too radical for Finland’s taste
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson, Riikka Purra, stuck her mouth in her foot at a debate with National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) head Petteri Orpo, when she said that it is still the radical-right party’s long-range aim to leave the EU. “Finnish citizens are not in favor of leaving the EU,” she was quoted as saying in Helsingin
Read on »Kokoomus proves it again: racism coupled with nationalism is a good fix before a parliamentary election
Perussouomalaiset (PS)* head Riikka Purra wasn’t the only one overjoyed by the latest Helsingin Sanomat opinion poll, which showed the radical-right party overtaking the Social Democrats to second place after the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus). Behind Purra was Kokoomus chief Petteri Orpo, gleeing. Finns will go to the polls on April 4 to elect 200 MPs. While observers
Read on »Sanna Marin: Bravo for stating that the PS is a racist party! Better late than never.
Politicians like Prime Minister Sanna Marin have offered long-overdue leadership when challenging racism in Finnish politics by stating what many know: The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is a racist party. “Looking at the speeches of individual [PS] MPs, these speeches have been racist and genuinely hostile to certain minorities,” said Marin in a debate with Petteri Orpo,
Read on »Riikka Purra: I am a racist and proud of it!
After the leaders of the Social Democrats, Greens, and Left Alliance announced that they would not form part of a future government with the radical-right Perussuomalaiset (PS),* Riikka Purra has lashed out against her party’s critics. The latest racist taking points of the PS is excluding foreigners from getting social welfare and creating a modern
Read on »Finland’s security business sector must be placed under greater scrutiny
THE STORY WAS UPDATED I always ask if the politician or public official will change anything or keep the status quo. The answer you may get offers rapid insight into the problem. The security business scandal grew Thursday when a former Securitas manager is suspected of aggravated fraud in a fictitious case involving protection for
Read on »The PS is “offended” because they are not treated as a “normal” party
Bravo, Social Democratic Prime Minister Sanna Marin! Bravo, Green League Minister of the Environment Maria Ohisalo! Bravo, Left Alliance Minister of Education and Culture Li Anderson! Bravo for stating in plain Finnish that your parties would not form part of a new government with the radical right Perussuomalaiset (PS).* When the PS took 39 seats
Read on »Media Monitoring Group of Finland*: HS can and should do a better job when reporting on Riikka Purra
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party chairperson, Riikka Purra, has actively promoted her racist talking points. Some of these are the far-right great replacement theory and, most recently, her party’s aim to exclude non-Finnish citizens from getting social welfare. While such a suggestion may appear for now a political stunt to lure voters, Purra’s suggestion is outrageous, to
Read on »Surprised that former Kokoomus MP Wille Rydman found his new home in the PS? Not.
Disgraced former National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman announced that he’d join the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*. After announcing Monday that he’d leave Kokoomus, the latest announcement did not come as a surprise considering Rydman’s anti-immigration stance. But some questions remain. In Kokoomus, he had built a reputation for being the Jussi Halla-aho of the party.
Read on »Oulu 2019: Is the media going to allow the PS to pull another fast one on it?
What kind of reaction can you expect from a country that continues to see foreigners like Muslims and other people of color as a threat? Remember Oulu and the sexual harassment cases that spun out of control thanks to the fuel that politicians, the media, and the police were feeding? It’s déjà-vu again: politicians, the
Read on »Kokoomus’ Atte Kaleva: The MP cashing in on anti-immigration tirades for political profit
Parliamentary elections are in April. How can I tell? When National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) politicians like MP Atte Kaleva spread lies and populist soundbites about migrants. Kaleva has a tough time stomaching criticism, and usually, his answers are knee-jerk reactions. One of these is when he charged Professor Panu Ratikiainen with defamation because he called
Read on »A watershed that may impact April’s parliamentary election
Two hard-hitting editorials by Helsingin Sanomat on the mistreatment of labor migrants could indicate how the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset* will do in the parliamentary election. I make such a claim because I am an optimist. We saw something similar in the US Midterm elections, which showed how voters rebuked Donald Trump and his election deniers. Apart
Read on »Migrant Tales Media Monitoring: PS’ Riikka Purra “praises” Ykkösaamu. Complacency devours facts.
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Riikka Purra praised Ykkösaamu, claiming that it “has the best news and current affairs format in Finland, led by a professional journalist.” It is further proof of how the host, Seija Vaaherkumpa, didn’t do her job but offered journalistic lipservice to a radical right party with ties to violent groups in the
Read on »Migrant Tales Media Monitoring: An interview with Riikka Purra that reveals why the media is part of the “r”problem
Saturday’s interview with Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Riikka Purra on Ykkösaamu was a good example of how the media avoids asking tough questions, never mind doing fact-checking. Purra was able to spread her urban tales about migrants. Considering that the PS is a radical right party, host Serija Vaaherkumpu did not as one question about the
Read on »Migrant Tales Media Monitoring: Yle continues to shamefully label racialized youths as dangers to society
The Finnish mainstream media has a poor reputation in the eyes of racialized Finns for spreading and labeling them. Yle did it again on its 8:30 pm news, where it led with a picture of a white youth giving the finger, followed by no sources except for “the police believes” that street gang criminal activity
Read on »Kanta-Häme court that dropped charges in hijab case against the police will be appealed, according to prosecutor
A Kanta-Häme district court that dropped charges against seven police officials and security guards for forcibly removing in 2017 two Muslim women’s hijabs will not be treated by the court in what remains of the year but in 2023, according to prosecutor Heidi Savurinne. The case is significant from the view of religious freedom and
Read on »Migrant Tales Media Monitoring: An example of Yle zzz journalism
Journalism is a tough job that forces one to stay on its toes. On Thursday on A-Talk we heard the opinions of four MPs of the Left Alliance, Social Democrats, National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), and the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* if Finland was heading towards a debt crisis and spending cutbacks. There was nothing new from PS
Read on »Migrant Tales Media Monitoring: An Helsingin Sanomat editorial that boosts xenophobia
There is a lot of talk and unfortunate examples of how the media helps to spread populist parties’ hateful messages about migrants and minorities. An editorial published by Helsingin Sanomat Thursday is a good example of how the media does this. The good showing of the Sweden Democrats in September’s parliamentary election is due to
Read on »The PS’ and Kokoomus’ “concern” about Finland’s minority youth gangs is dishonest and a political stunt
Watching weekly Thursday’s question-and-answer session between the opposition and government can cause nausea. With parliamentary elections six months in April, expect opposition parties like the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) to increase their attacks against ALL migrants. The truth about the PS and Kokoomus, the biggest and second-biggest opposition party, respectively, is
Read on »Finland is a country swept once again off its feet by xenophobia
Watching the parliamentary question-and-answer session between the opposition and government revealed two matters: the opposition’s xenophobic politicking and the government’s sometimes infirm responses. The debate between the opposition and the government occasionally appears like a shouting match, where the government caves into the opposition. In a historic government decision on the same day, Finland closed its
Read on »NO HATE FINLAND STATEMENT: The parliamentary election has begun for the Finns Party”
The Finns Party (PS) is actively campaigning for the upcoming parliamentary election in April. The party published Monday its so-called “Finnishness program,” Suomalaisuuden ohjelma 2022. The program attacks two groups: migrants and Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority. The hostility and simplistic arguments against these two groups resemble an angry and spiteful person willing to lie and cheat to get
Read on »European far-right parties are part of a conspiracy to replace our democracies
A paradox: “Liberal” Nordic countries like Finland have large far-right parties that feed off racism. If I were to use the racist rhetoric of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party to solve social problems, I’d be lost. Solutions, like tougher laws, more restrictions, enforcing marginalization, and strengthening institutional racism, would leave me in a bind. Fearmongering and
Read on »How Finland plays down hate crime and miscarriages of justice
If there is something to reinforce from the Southern Ostrobothnia district court ruling of the Fares Al-Abaidi case, it is the following: In some cases, the police and the courts play down racist crime. The sentence was a miscarriage of justice. Al-Abaidi has appealed the ruling. Why is the ruling a travesty? Because racism is
Read on »European Islamophobia Report 2021: Finland
The recent parliamentary election in Sweden is only one of the worrying signs that Islamophobia is not receding in the EU but gaining strength. Muslims, like other minorities, must work together to challenge Europe’s ever-growing anti-Muslim racism. We must do this not only for ourselves but for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The editors of the
Read on »Sweden’s election spells trouble for Muslims, migrants, and minorities
The election in Sweden was of special interest to me since I live next door to the country in Finland. Will the good showing of the far-right Sweden Democrats boost our far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party in the April parliamentary election? While it is fair to predict that the election result in Sweden should not hurt
Read on »The Nordic region’s slippery Islamophobic slope
The Nordic saw a predictable political earthquake on September 11, when the right-wing bloc led by the far-right Sweden Democrats nudged the right-wing bloc to victory. The election brought Sweden in line with its other Nordic neighbors: all four now have or had large far-right anti-immigration parties. Of the four countries, the entrenchment of the
Read on »Tariq: Is there justice in Finland? (Part 2)
This is Part 2 of Tariq’s* ordeal in Finland. Go here to read Part 1. “This is my case: I have been living in Finland for eleven years. I moved here to be with my wife, and upon arriving, I started to work and study at the same time. After three years in the country,
Read on »Tariq: Is there justice in Finland? (Part 1)
Tariq* has lived in Finland for over eleven years. If there is a person who has run into complications with the police, Migri (Finnish Immigration Service), and due process, he is one of them. According to Tariq, his citizenship process has been arbitrarily delayed due to a police fine that was canceled. “In March last
Read on »Sweden’s nasty surprise comes home to roost
THE STORY WAS UPDATED Incumbent Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson conceded defeat in Sweden’s nail-biter election to the rightwing parties led by the far-right Sweden Democrats, reports The Guardian. The rightwing parties received 49.6% of the votes, with the left bloc securing 48.9%. If anything, it was a long overdue nasty surprise that permitted
Read on »The election result Sunday will expose nasty things about Sweden and the Nordic region
Sweden will elect 349 MPs of the Riksdag (parliament) today, and the big question is how well the far-right Sweden Democrats will fare. According to various opinion polls, the Sweden Democrats are seen coming second after the Social Democrats. The biggest upset would be the Sweden Democrats doing better than the conservative Moderate party. Just like
Read on »The Musta Barbari and Fares Al-Abaidi cases deal a further blow to police credibility in Finland
Two rulings in two important cases involving ethnic profiling and suspected hate crime are a further stain on the credibility of the Finnish police. One of these took over six years to get a just ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court, and another one just slapped the hand of the suspect lightly. Ethnic profiling, which
Read on »Two stories that reveal a lot about racism in Finland
Two stories that expose injustice and denial in Finland became public this week: First, the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland ruled Thursday that the police ethnically profiled singer Musta Barbari’s mother and sister in July 2016. The other news is about an Iraqi youth who white Finns violently attacked in July 2020. Both cases are not only
Read on »PS MP Juha Mäenpää warned that asylum seekers could spark a civil war in Finland
US President Joe Biden warned in a recent speech that his country’s democracy is in peril. He pointed the finger at former President Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again or Make Attorneys Get Attorneys) followers. We asked in a recent posting if Biden labeled MAGA Republicans “semi-fascists,” why couldn’t we call the far-right Perussuonalaiset
Read on »Should we be surprised that the Finnish police forced Muslim women to remove their hijabs? Not.
The incident of Finnish police brutality, where they physically forced Muslim asylum seekers to remove their hijabs, is not surprising in the least, taking into account the year (2017) and the Häme region of Finland. Seven months after the incident with the Muslim women, Migrant Tales published a story about how the police gave tacit
Read on »Racism makes my blood boil – why doesn’t yours?
I have often wondered why racism some people in Finland are not moved by racism. Racism is a traumatic experience that remains inside of you. Some don’t react or care because they have never been a victim of such a social ill. When racism jabs or throws a violent punch and your colleague or friend
Read on »European Network Against Racism: Denmark is the “happiest” country in the world
The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) is Europe’s biggest anti-racism NGO. It writes: “Denmark is said to be the ‘happiest’ country in the world. It depends on who you ask. With the elections approaching, religious freedom for minorities seems once again to be at the heart of political debates as Denmark considers whether to ban headscarves
Read on »Denmark takes another shot of steroids for its xenophobia
Denmark, the Nordic region’s most Islamophobic country, plans to tighten (again) its immigration laws by deporting all foreigners who are handed prison sentences, according to DR of Denmark. DR writes that the government wants to introduce changes in the law so that any foreigner slapped with an unconditional prison sentence will be deported. “Today, a
Read on »MT Media Monitoring: HS interview with Riikka Purra and the PS’ pet topic, migration
Helsingin Sanomat published (paywall) Sunday an interview with Riikka Purra, the chairperson of the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. Helsingin Sanomat‘s veteran reporter, Marko Junkkari, did the interview. In general, Junkkari did a good job in handling Purra’s comments with facts and in no place in the interview did the PS chairperson dominate the interview with
Read on »MT Media Monitoring: A government partnership between Kokoomus and the PS would be a hammer blow to us
Politicians and parties expel a lot of blah blah. Ask this question: Will matters improve for Finland’s racialized communities if the PS and Kokoomus partner in a government? There’s your answer with no blah blah. A recent story by MTV, a private television channel with a streak of Fox News, published a story about what
Read on »Helsingin Sanomat editorial and the real reason why the Perussuomalaiset do well in parliamentary elections
A short editorial by Helsingin Sanomat Thursday warns that the 1.3 percentage point rise in the recent opinion poll of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party may force other parties to latch on to Islamophobic rhetoric. The PS’ pet themes today are high electricity and gas prices at the pumps and others, which it did not specify. Even if
Read on »How coded language is used in Finland to get around labelling groups and racist words
In Finland, some parties are openly racist, and others are more subtle about it. Both are dangerous to our community. The more we know about them, the better prepared we are to challenge such a menace. Large opposition parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) have one matter in common: they loathe
Read on »Twitter (@persut): No Afghan migrants to Finland
The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party hates migrants from Muslim countries. It hates these people so much that it rarely utters the word “Muslim” and “African.” PS tweet below states: Do we want to help – or do we want more migrants? The best way to help them is in neighboring [countries]. One Afghan to Finland costs
Read on »MT MEDIA MONITORING: How politicians perpetuate urban tales about migrants (Uusi Suomi)
An interview by Uusi Suomi of National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Atte Kaleva, who is part of Finland’s Islamophobic network, demonstrates a common flaw by the Finnish media that perpetuates urban tales and misconceptions spread by politicians about migrants. Kaleva claims that implementing a quota system for “foreign” students at schools in Finland would help
Read on »I fear nationalism and racism as much as Russia
Apart from tightening laws and plans to build a fence on parts of the Finnish-Russian border, politicians in Finland are debating shutting tourism from Russia to Finland. As I have mentioned previously, one of the biggest fears of the war in Ukraine is awakening Finland’s deep distrust and hatred of Russia. The hatred will not
Read on »The Norwegian who went on a murderous rampage against a whole nation and region on 22/7
I mention only two infamous days on Migrant Tales annually: the coup in Argentina on March 24, 1976, and the man who went on a murderous rampage against 77 people on 22/7. Let’s offer a moment of silence to the victims, killed, and those who survived this atrocity. Source: Migrant Tales Further reading: ANALYSIS – Commemorating
Read on »When countries become nationalism addicts and junkies
Xenophobia tends to pile up. Like blacks in the United States, Finland’s “black” problem is Russia, and from the 1990s, Muslims. In the 1980s, when I lived permanently in Finland, and about 12,000 foreign nationals were living in the country, the racist undercurrent that flowed like a mighty river was ever-present. It reminded you whenever
Read on »War in Ukraine forces Finland to lurch to a dark place where human rights must eventually take a backseat
The polarized debate in parliament Monday on renewing the Border Guard Act and Emergency Powers Act is just another example of how Finland has lurched into a dark place where human rights are a nuisance and should not take presedence The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS), with the helping hand of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), and
Read on »Denmark shooter is allegedly white and has ties with the far-right
It was about 11 years ago on 22/7 when Norwegian Anders Breivik shocked us by murdering 77 victims. His motive? Anti-Muslim racism. Yesterday, there was a hint of déjà-vu when a 22-year-old “ethnic Dane,” a term used to mean white Dane, went on the rampage in the Fields shopping center of Copenhagen killing at least
Read on »Sexual harassment scandal takes a political toll on Kokoomus MP Wille Rydman
The scandal that embroiled National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman, has forced him to resign “indefinitely” from the Kokoomus parliamentary and Helsinki city council groups. A Helsingin Sanomat investigative story exposed MP Rydman’s sexual harassment of underage girls to whom he sometimes offered alcohol. The police, who investigated the case, did not bring any
Read on »Kokoomus’ “Jussi Halla-aho” is suspected of harassing underaged girls
National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman, whose xenophobic views have earned him the dubious label of being Kokoomus’ Jussi Halla-aho, is suspected by the police of harassing underaged girls. He is the same MP pushing hardline policies against asylum seekers because he is worried about sexual harassment. Former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-aho was
Read on »The PS’ crystal ball racism based on selective scenarios
With the parliamentary election about 10 months away in April 2023 and a disastrous county election showing and equally depressing opinion poll results, it’s clear that the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party is desperately trying to connect with voters. One example of these underhanded tactics is a proposal by the PS to close the border with
Read on »Ilta-Sanomat’s message hasn’t changed in the past 30 years: Islam and refugees are a threat to Finland
Ever wondered why tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat continue to publish racist stories? When the first Somalis came to Finland in the early 1990s, the tabloid had a field day (see billboards below). Imagine headlines like “Somalis will remain in Finland,” “Somalis tricked (authorities) to get asylum,” and twenty years later, “10,000 illegal refugees will come this
Read on »Why do the Perussuomalaiset speak in code when referring to Muslims?
Throughout the years, far-right parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* have in recent years mainly used code words to refer to Muslims. Some of the most common ones are sexual offenders, overrepresented in crime statistics, asylum seekers, and, now the latest, vieraskieli, or “people who don’t speak Finnish as their mother tongue.” One article published last
Read on »Peddling theories about ethnic replacement in Finland for political profit and blood
I received a call from an old Migrant Tales reader who was distraught about a letter to the editor written by the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Youth of Lappeenranta. The headline? “The nation-state is our best protection.” Is it? The reader continued: “How can Helsingin Sanomat publish something that openly excludes non-white Finns and other minorities in Finland? I’m
Read on »Will Nato membership for Finland be good for migrants and minority rights?
If truth Is the first casualty in war, then the second casualty is the loss of your civil rights. Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin are due to announce Thursday that Finland should join Nato “without delay,” according to The Guardian. While Finland’s security concerns are valid enough for its giant eastern neighbor
Read on »“On the path of Sweden” and other deceptive claims by the Perussuomalaiset and Finnish media
Ever wonder why the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party gets so excited about so-called failed immigration and riots in Sweden? Is it because there isn’t enough news in Finland to spike and spread their Islamophobic message and perpetuate their deceptive claims? The PS is a case in point to study how fake news about migrants is
Read on »Exposing white privilege in Finland #85: We need solutions, not racist provocations
The riots in Sweden sparked by the burning of the Koran by the Danish far-right Stram Kurs (Hard Line) party led by Rasmus Palaudan remind us how urgently we need solutions, not provocations, to heal the wounds gashed by racism and double standards. Provocations do nothing more than expose our hypocrisy and privilege. They never
Read on »Helsingin Sanomat treats Rikka Purra with kid gloves – by and large, stenography journalism
If former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* head Jussi Halla-aho were a women, her name would be Riikka Purra. Helsingin Sanomat published Saturday an interview with PS Chairperson Riikka Purra, where she puts Ukrainian refugees on a pedestal and dehumanizes Muslim and African refugees. Instead of just publishing Purra’s comments like a stenographer, why not fact-check? Here are
Read on »Populist European parties and politicians, like rats, will abandon a sinking ship in 2022
This year has been disastrous for the populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)* for several reasons. The first hiccup came in last year’s municipal election, when the party, guided by promising opinion polls, expected to win but came in fourth place. Then came an even worse wreck: the county election in January, when its support dove to 11%. Despite these
Read on »Our willingness to help “women and children” Ukrainian refugees is code for anti-Muslim racism
Think about it. Finland’s far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party has had a total change of heart about refugees, which it has attacked and fed its popularity. Not only the PS, but other parties like the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), Center Party, and a “taxi party” Liike Nyt, according to Yle. A taxi party is one where
Read on »Suomineidot is another example of how much Yle is in the dark about racism and the far right
Here is the plot of a new TV series Suomineidot (Finnish Maidens): Meri is a far-right ethnonationalist who hangs out with neo-Nazis. Jasmin is an avid follower of Pentti Linkola, who promoted population decline. Liisa is a member of the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. Apart from the radical political views of the three participants, YLE launched
Read on »Hitting refugees below the belt
I talked to a group of students from different national backgrounds today. Two things unite them: they are mostly Muslims and present or past asylum seekers in Finland. While Europe is opening its arms to 2.809 million refugees from Ukraine since Sunday, according to the UNHCR, the two sets of rules for refugees reveal how
Read on »A racist explanation by the chair of parliament’s foreign affairs committee of Finland why Ukrainian refugees are better than other ones
Despite all the objections to racism and Islamophobia in Finland, the silence and sub-rosa nods why such social ills continue to take root in the country. The chair of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Jussi Halla-aho of the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, explained why Europe should open its arms to Ukrainians and shut the door on refugees
Read on »Millions of Ukrainians are coming. How long will it take before our goodwill turns into open hostility?
Remember 2015, when some 1.3 million million asylum seekers came to Europe from countries like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia? Europe says welcome! Tervetuloa (welcome)! Meillä on tilaa (there is room for you)! After the initial outpouring of support and understanding for these people fleeing wars that we had started, attitudes took an abrupt turn for
Read on »Other casualties of Ukraine are European far-right parties like the Perussuomalaiset of Finland
Since the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin’s Russia, we are seeing the restructuring of Europe’s security structure and political landscape. The new landscape is bad news for Europe’s far-right and populist parties like Finland’s Perussuomalaiset (PS)*. The new situation may explain why PS chairperson, Riikka Purra, offered a new image with new glasses that
Read on »Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin’s invasion “genius and savvy.” Why are the Perussuomalaiset hiding their faces in shame?
While the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are scrambling to prop up their dismal poll numbers, they are also changing their tune on Vladimir Putin and Russia. One of the best ways to understand the PS’ admiration of Putin and the tragedy in Ukraine is through former President Donald Trump. We can cite Jussi Halla-aho’s praise of
Read on »Ykkösaamu interview highlighted Halla-aho’s contempt for Human Rights
Yle’s Ykkösamu talk show exposed to a tee what the parliament’s new foreign affairs committee chairperson thinks of Human Rights. The first question by the host forced Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Jussi Halla-aho, who was convicted in 2012 for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion, to reinforce his contempt of Human Rights. The interview was
Read on »Keep it up, Riikka Purra, don’t stop now. Kick out all the migrants and “let God sort ’em out.”
There are a lot of baffled faces at the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. “Did you see our regional election result?!” one asks while the other states: “A Yle poll saw us nosedive by 3.3 percentage points to 15%. and now Helsingin Sanomat reinforces the latter.” In our opinion, the PS is a far-right party that
Read on »Convicted PS MP of ethnic agitation voted to chair parliament’s foreign affairs committee
THE STORY WAS UPDATED The new chairperson of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Jussi Halla-aho, did not get such a warm reception. In a highly unprecedented move by the committee members, 11 voted in a secret ballot in favor of Halla-aho while six abstained. Halla-aho took over the committee’s chair Mika Niikko, its former chairperson,
Read on »If Finland believes in its laws, it must give residence permits to undocumented migrants
The ministry of interior published on Thursday its recommendations on what to do with some 3,000 undocumented migrants who came to Finland in 2015-2016. Of this group, about 300 are children living in legal limbo thanks to a 2016 law that abolished granting residence permits on humanitarian grounds. The number of undocumented migrants rose from
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Sweden is a great country thanks to immigrants
“It always amazes me to hear Finland’s most xenophobic politicians from the Perussuomalaiset* and National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) pointing the accusing finger at Sweden about how the country has failed because of immigration. Sweden has a more dynamic and competitive economy than Finland’s because of migrants. If there are problems in Sweden, the state is
Read on »Jussi Halla-aho, who wanted the Greek army to crush protestors ten years ago, is expected to replace Mika Niikko
According to Helsingin Sanomat, former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-ago is expected to replace Mika Nikko, the chairperson of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, according to Helsingin Sanomat. Niikko resigned Tuesday evening after he suggested in a tweet that the West should assure Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine will not join Nato. While Niikko is
Read on »Seinäjoki police wrapping up their suspected hate crime investigation. Charges are expected this month.
The Seinäjoki police, which had taken over a year and eight months to investigate a crime when Fares Al-Obaidi was attacked by over ten people from the Western Finnish town of Teuva, plans to bring charges this month, according to the victim. The incident happened on June 6, 2020 when over ten suspected townspeople from
Read on »The far-right Perussuomalaiset head south in the opinion polls
THE STORY WAS UPDATED There’s good news and bad news. Depending on your perspective, bad news can be good news and vice-versa. In the latest opinion poll published by Yle, the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party saw its support nosedive by three percentage points to 15%. While it would be simplistic only to blame the regional
Read on »Do we want an openly Islamophobic prime minister that aims to exclude foreigners? I hope not!
After the disastrous showing of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* in Sunday’s regional election, the far-right party aims to win next year’s parliamentary election and have its chairperson, Riikka Purra, as prime minister. Good luck with that, especially after the big election setback. Even if the regional election will turn out to be a watershed for the
Read on »Mayday! Mayday! The Perussuomalaiset are sinking
The recent poll on the regional elections shows eveals and exposes the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, who suffered a 3.3 percentage point fall, as a one-issue party. The regional elections, which will be held on Sunday, will transfer power from municipalities to regional councils, which will manage health care and emergency services. Sunday’s election appears to
Read on »Remember Jari Sillantie of the Kolari asylum reception center and coming out of the Islamophobic closet
I do, and very vividly. Jari Sillantie was the deputy manager of the northern Finland Kolari asylum reception center that sacked him after some 140 asylum seekers protested his management style. Even if his management style and Facebook “likes” did not reveal his attraction to the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, they did speak volumes about
Read on »The party with the most criminal charges: Perussuomalaiset candidates, who else?
THE STORY WAS UPDATED Guess which party has the highest number of candidates charged with a crime? Correct, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*. According to Helsingin Sanomat, 6.3% (8.2% in the 2021 municipal elections) of PS candidates in January’s regional election have been charged for crimes during 2017-2021. That was followed by the Left Alliance (3.0%/4.1%), Christian Democrats (2.2%/2.4%),
Read on »A victory for free speech against the far-right and “racist clowns”
Due process takes a long time in Finland as the landmark Johanna Vehkoo against far-right agitator Junnes Lokka, whom she called in a Facebook “a Nazi clown” and “a racist.” Surprisingly, a Rovaniemi appeal court upheld a prior Oulu district court ruling that Vehkoo had defamed Lokka. Today’s ruling by the supreme court dismissed the
Read on »Twitter (Veikko Vallin): A racist lesson on types of migrants
Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Veikko Vallin gives us a lesson in racism by definIslamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Veikko Vallin teaches us racism by defining “harmful” and beneficial migration. Vallin, who likes being called the Tampere’s Trump and boasts about how he places his money in Estonia from the Finnish tax person, bases his political program
Read on »The first anniversary of 1/6: A hammer blow to democracy, our democracy as well
As we return to that horrible day of January 6, when former President Donald Trump supporters invaded the Capitol and whacked the foundations of US democracy, we should ask how much of a blow that infamous day was for our democracy in the EU and Finland. The bad news is that matters in the US
Read on »The PS and its enablers are the wrecking balls of Finland’s social welfare democracy
I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do. James Baldwin If some scholars sound the alarm bells that democracy in the United States could turn into a right-wing dictatorship that has the potential of sparking a civil war. How should Finland prepare for such an eventuality? Writes Thomas Homer-Dixon, a Canadian
Read on »European Islamophobia Report: Finland
The European Islamophobia Report 2020 was published on December 29. Below is the Finland chapter of the report. The editors for the report are Dr. Enes Bayrakli and Dr. Farid Hafez. While the government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin has tried to roll back some of the draconian immigration law measures of the previous government,
Read on »The European Islamophobia Report 2020 will be published on 29 December
Europe’s most comprehensive report on Islamophobia will be published on 29 December. “Considering the scant political, economic, and social power that Muslims enjoy, it’s clear that Islamophobia will not recede for the time being but will grow in Finland.“ European Islamophobia Report 2020
Read on »A question to the Kankaanpää police: Was a proper investigation carried out on the burning of an asylum reception center in 2015?
In 2015, when a record number of asylum seekers came to Finland, a number of attacks were carried out against asylum reception centers. One of these was in Niinisalo, located a stone’s throw from Kankaanpää, where over two weeks ago a group of white Finnish terrorist suspects was detained by the police. While a lot
Read on »The sources of Finland’s far-right problem: downplaying and denial
“The main agents of ideological violence are not isolated ‘lone wolves’ but are usually interconnected with communities, non-violent agents and legal entities, at times even including connections to law enforcement personnel.” Mihai Varga Over two weeks have elapsed since the police announced the detention of five white-Finn terrorist suspects in the Western Finnish city of Kankaanpää.
Read on »Bye-bye Inger Støjberg, something is not always rotten in Denmark
Former Danish immigration and integration minister, Inger Støjberg, was convicted to 60 days in prison for illegally separating asylum-seeking couples if the partner was under 18, reports Euronews. An uncompromising Islamophobic hardliner who served as minister during 2005-2019 was also responsible for passing a law that required asylum seekers to hand over valuables like jewelry
Read on »Downplaying and whitewashing the far-right threat in Finland
It is disappointing to note that it took Finland’s largest daily, Helsingin Sanomat, five days to write an editorial on the threat posed by the far-right after the detention of five white Finns on Friday. Considering the media attention and general outrage in general that Abderrahman Mechkah knife attack caused in Turku in 2017, a
Read on »The PS was, is, and will be a party with close ties to neo-Nazi and fascist groups
From the days when Timo Soini headed the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party to the present, there’s one denial coming from the party that is an outright lie: The PS is not a far-right party with links to neo-Nazi, fascist and far-right groups. I could list several examples, but let’s look at Kansallismielisten liittouma, a perfect example of the
Read on »A trail of xenophobic and far-right violence in Finland and yet no suspects
The detention of five far-right terrorist suspects in the western Finnish city of Kankaanpää Friday raises many questions. One of these is the collaboration of this group and others in the burning down of an asylum reception center in December 2015. The asylum reception center in Kankaanpää wasn’t the only one that suffered arson attacks.
Read on »Five white Finns arrested on suspected terrorism charges
Five white Finns born between 1995 and 1998 were arrested Tuesday by the police on suspected terrorism charges, according to Pori-based daily Satakunnan Kansa. The five suspects are from the Western Finnish region of Kankaanpää. The police did not call the suspects white Finns but stated that they had “ethnic Finnish names.” The police and
Read on »A Finnish Islamophobic party’s recipe for inclusion and ethnic understanding
Since the 2011 parliamentary elections, which saw the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party win 39 starts from 5 seats previously, it has systematically tarred and feathered migrants, especially Muslims, people of color, and specific minorities. Should you be surprised that all PS MPs elected in 2019 based their campaign on an anti-immigration message. The PS demands
Read on »Racists at the Mikkeli bus stop
I hadn’t heard the statement, “I’m a racist,” for a long time. Even so, two middle-aged women were chatting in Mikkeli loudly about how bad migrants were. I intervened because silence is a total cop-out. “Are you a racist,” I asked one of the women. “Yes, I’m a racist,” she snapped. “You should be ashamed
Read on »The more proof that labor discrimination is king in Finland, the less is done to tackle the problem
Racism is such a big issue in Finland that even white people are discriminated. Another news story. Another example. You will lose out in the Finnish labor market if you don’t have a Finnish name. If there is overwhelming proof that this type of discrimination takes place, why does it continue? Why aren’t there any
Read on »Finland’s pyramid of hate: Let’s do away with the Human Rights of asylum seekers
Even if opposition politicians from parties like the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), it’s sobering that the government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin is holding the line against their onslaughts. It is surprising that how naive the PS and Kokoomus are. No border, no law, will bring a sense of security unless you
Read on »At times like this, I am ashamed of Finland and the EU
The so-called migrant crisis with Belarus offers Lukashenko and Putin an opportunity and EU politicians tools to fearmonger and score brownie points with voters. Isn’t it odd how one-sided the news is about the refugee crisis at the Belarus border? Most of the opposition politicians, especially from the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), believe that harsh
Read on »A depressing documentary on Denmark’s Islamophobia
The scariest matter that Thursday’s documentary revealed about one of Europe’s most Islamophobic countrie was how far racist discourse promoted by politicians could lead a country. In a standard pyramid of hate (see below), where genocide is the final outcome, the apex of Denmark’s pyramid of hate is deportation, and physical elimination of whole groups
Read on »Twitter: Disingenuous Veikko Vallin
How to describe Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Veikko Vallin’s tweet below? Vallin, who likes to be called the Trump of Tampere, likes posing with MAGA caps and often makes racist remarks about asylum seekers, who are mostly Muslims. He even brags on social media about how he was able to escape taxes in Finland by moving
Read on »Finland’s dark side begins to wake up
This week we learned about how widespread women in the rescue department are victims of sexual harassment and discrimination, according to Yle. We also learned about the ministry of justice’s plans to tackle discrimination and hate-speech awareness with a 52-point program with the help of training increased support for organizations racism and hate crime. Writes Yle News: “In the future
Read on »What did PS’ Veikko Vallin say at the Tampere city council meeting?
Do we need to know the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP’s track record and what he has said about asylum seekers, Muslims, people of color, and other minorities in the past? His tirade against asylum seekers was so racist that the Left Alliance bloc threatened to leave the meeting if Vallin didn’t stop talking. Vallin, an avid
Read on »Why do some politicians, who know better, spread and feed us racism?
There is an old saying that goes something like this: I was a liberal in youth so I would not be a fascist in old age. What motivates a politician to twist and exaggerate facts to stigmatize migrants? National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Heikki Vestman’s speech in parliament Wednesday is a prime example of how
Read on »The cracks are beginning to show
Islamophobia and other forms of racism are for some politicians their gateway to power and infamy. Watching part of the firey debate Wednesday in parliament that led to a vote of confidence for the government, one wonders what some politicians, especially with the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, have in their heads. The saddest matter was the
Read on »PS MP Sebastian Tynkkynen gets a third ethnic agitation conviction
THE STORY WAS UPDATED Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party MP Sebastian Tynkkynen was convicted for a third time of ethnic agitation, according to Yle News. The two previous convictions were handed down in 2016 and 2017. The Oulu District Court handed Tynkkynen, who is the PS’ third vice president, 70 day fines amounting to 4,400 euros. The PS
Read on »Exposing white Finnish privilege #81: Racializing crime, perpetuating stereotypes and racism
Treat with tweezers whenever percentage figures are used to depict sexual assault cases by migrants. A government-commissioned study published Thursday concluded that migrants are over-represented in suspected sexual assault crimes, perpetuating a toxic narrative. Such generalizations give ammunition to Islamophobes like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party to maintain and reinforce racist stereotypes. To look at how the Finnish
Read on »Exposing white Finnish privilege #80: Violence against you counts but mine doesn’t
Radical-right Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party MP, Sebastian Tynkkynen, who has two ethnic agitation convictions and a third pending, is trying to get the most political mileage from an incident at an #elokapina demonstration. Some unknown persons at the demonstration allegedly attempted to attack Tynkkynen and shoved him. The police asked if the MP wanted to
Read on »Finnish lawmaker has three ethnic agitation convictions to his name
The Oulu district court found Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Sebastian Tynkkynen guilty of ethnic agitation for his Facebook postings in 2017, according to Yle. While no Finnish media mentioned it, the third conviction for ethnic agitation is a record for a Finnish lawmaker. Hiding behind Islamophobic arguments and that the sentence violated his free speech rights, Tynkkynen said
Read on »Dismantle institutional racism and myths if you want people to adapt to Finland
The ongoing discussion in Finland about our ever-growing cultural and ethnic diversity is grounded on two misleading assertions that hide the core problem: language is the magic bullet to become a part of society, and white Finnish society is innocent – if you don’t adapt it’s because of you. Heikki Turkka of Children of the
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Finland’s hardline and bureaucratic immigration policy is deadly for democracy
“Finland’s hardline and bureaucratic immigration policy based in great part on suspicion and fear of outsiders is partly to blame for the rise of a populist and hostile anti-immigration party in the last decade and even for high migrant unemployment. A systematic policy of exclusion suggests that our plans to bring foreign labor will fail. A
Read on »The Finnish media’s reporting about migrants and minorities is a disappointment
It is surprising, even worrying, that outsiders are the ones that help burst the media’s many bubbles. One such OP-ED published Wednesday in Helsingin Sanomat by Antti Kivijärvi, and Martta Myllyä sheds light on the blind spot created by exceptionalism and ethnocentrism. Should it be a surprise that this state of affairs happens whenever migrants
Read on »Riikka Purra and her PS cronies want to make discrimination and racism legal
We all know about Perussuomalaiset (PS)* new chairperson Riikka Purra’s radical views on cultural diversity and migration in general. Yes, she’s the one warning about how Muslims are taking over Europe and how brown and black Finns will replace white Finns. Her latest Tweet below suggests that white Finns should be the only beneficiaries of
Read on »Insulting migrants is called “discussion” and a privilege of white Finns
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED Remember when Center Party parliamentary group leader Juha Pylväs slammed asylum seekers as “parasites” that wanted to live off social welfare? Pretty sickening and lowly on his part. I hope that Pylväs get charged with ethnic agitation. But what is worse? The silence and support for what he said and the
Read on »Center Party MP Juha Pylväs just pulled the oldest racist trick by politicians
Center Party parliamentary group leader Juha Pylväs got his brief moment in the media by insulting migrants and minorities. Today, however, he showed us one of the oldest political tricks in the books: say something outrageous, usually racists, and then apologize. He regretted calling some asylum seekers “welfare surfers” or shoppers. He said his statement
Read on »Center Party’s Pylväs cannot resist and swallows the “sweet” pill of racism
Center Party parliamentary group leader Juha Pylväs went on the rampage Wednesday: “We certainly need in Finland skilled foreigners who can live off their work,” he was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat. “We don’t need surfers and parasites that seek a better standard of living.” While we could consider Pylväs’ statement in foul taste, Center
Read on »Riikka Purra’s call to struggle against her ilk
Silence and complacency are some of the reasons why xenophobia and the rise of an anti-immigration party have been possible in Finland. While there are many common citizens and activists in Finland who have been fighting against parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, chairperson Riikka Purra’s interview on Yle’s Ykkösaamu is a definite reminder that we
Read on »PS’ Mika Niikko: Muslims should be prohibited from having a family
Perussuomalaiset MP and chair of the foreign affairs committee, Mika Niikko, said in Helsingin Sanomat that he’d only want to give asylum to Afghan women and girls. Niikko’s and the PS’ xenophobic views of asylum seekers are exposed. “I am not heartless to not help women and children who seek to come and seek shelter from a
Read on »Riikka Purra is the new leader of xenophobic copycats and plagiarizers
The newly elected chairperson of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, Riikka Purra, did not waste any time attacking migrants. Apart from tightening naturalization laws and family reunification, she stated that the PS will not become a member of a new government that doesn’t “significantly” tighten immigration laws. The timing of her hostile and anti-social statements could not have been worse.
Read on »Migrant Tales Literary: Riikka Purra, where is your heart?
THIS POEM WAS UPDATED Where is your heart, Riikka Purra? Did you throw it away in a trash can? Or did you hungrily devour it after you saw your first refugee The bricks that line your political path will turn red hot and melt your shoe soles; even if you can only be tall for
Read on »Riikka Purra and the PS: Grow up! Stop bullying migrants and minorities!
Statements about tightening immigration policy by the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* elected chairperson, Riikka Purra, exposes her cowardice and the complacency of the Finnish media. The cowardice comes from bullying people who are powerless to challenge her hostility. The complacency of the Finnish media comes from seeing no wrong in Purra’s and the PS’ hatred of migrants
Read on »Exposing white Finnish privilege #79: Spreading lies at our economic peril
What if most of the anti-immigration talking points spread by politicians like Jussi Halla-aho, Riikka Purra, and most of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party are just outright lies and urban legends? What if those false arguments put Finland in economic and social peril because they are untrue? An interesting paper titled, The 14 Most Common Arguments against
Read on »A Finnish real estate agent wants a picture of the client’s family and information on his religious background
What would you do if a real estate agent asked you the following questions and demand: How old are you? What kind of family and relatives do you have? Send me a picture of your family! What is your religious background? What year did you come to Finland? That real estate agent, who was a
Read on »Sucking up to the Perussuomalaiset and exposing your hypocrisy
The latest unconstitutional proposal by National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Pia Kauma and her party is an example of how right-wing parties in Finland bully vulnerable migrants. What makes the whole proposal a publicity stunt and a further sucking up to the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* by Kokoomus, is MP Kauma. While the political reasons are clear
Read on »The blood that the PS forced to boil has turned into acid eating away its support
I am certain that I am not the only one whose blood boils every time a Perussuomalaiset (PS)* politician makes a racist statement about migration, cultural diversity, minorities, and the EU. In light of the June municipal election, the PS’ result was a disappointment for the party even if they improved their result by 5.6
Read on »Kokoomus gives nod to Perussuomalaiset’s plan to tighten immigration policy
The National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Pia Kauma wants to tighten immigration law. It is strange that when most Finns are on holiday in the middle of the summer, Kauma intends to propose such changes. Her party’s proposal should be seen as a green light to the Perussuomalaiset’s plan to tighten immigration policy if they
Read on »10 years after the 22/7 mass killings in Norway and what it reveals about us
Ten years have passed since 22/7, and some Norwegians are still asking, “why?” I remember that day as if it were yesterday. First, a bomb exploded in downtown Oslo, and what followed then were the cold-blooded murders of young people on Utøya island. A total of 77 people lost their lives on that day. Countless
Read on »Education without empathy and moral compass can turn you into a monster
The process to turn Finland’s far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party wants to become “a normal mainstream” party continues. You see, they claim, we’re “normal” because we have physicists and party members, like Riikka Purra, working on their PhDs. Sakari Puisto, who is also vying to be elected chairperson of the PS and Purra, has a Ph.D.
Read on »Tens of far-right vigilantes are marching in Pori – I hope my fascination doesn’t show too much
Wow! Looky here! Tens of far-right vigilantes called the Soldiers of Odin are marching in the western Finnish city of Pori! Quick! Take a picture and publish a story because tens of Soldiers of Odin vigilantes are marching in Pori. The media has a lot of power, but it does not go the extra mile
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: The PS is the party of the nativist racists sprinkled with anti-EU soundbites
“No matter what the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party does, no matter who it elects as its next chairperson, the shadow of racism will follow it. Even if people like Timo Soini said that the party’s anti-immigration wing was only a minor factor in the 2011 parliamentary election, nothing could be further from the truth. Like
Read on »(Migrant Tales, July 9, 2021): A quote for Riikka Purra – “If you can only be tall because someone is on their knees, then you have a serious problem”
Who is Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party heir-apparent Riikka Purra’s mentor? Is it far-right leader Marine Le Pen of France’s National Rally or UK home secretary hardliner Priti Patel? Purra got her anti-immigration inspiration from Jussi Halla-aho’s racist blog postings. “If it’s up to me, the Perussuomalaiset will never form part of a government that won’t tighten significantly Finnish
Read on »Riikka Purra is a poor copy of Jussi Halla-aho
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Jussi Halla-aho’s heir-apparent appears to be the party’s first vice-president, Riikka Purra. While Halla-aho has swung the party to the far-right and encouraging xenophobia, Purra has parroted the PS leader’s racist soundbites but with questionable results. Like Halla-aho, Purra loathes Muslims and people of color. So much so, in fact, that she warned
Read on »Jussi Halla-aho announces he will step down as PS chair in August
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Chairperson Jussi Halla-aho announced Monday that he will not seek reelection as the party’s head at the annual meeting in August, according to Yle News. While some party members expressed sadness about the news, Halla-aho will not be missed by many. No reason was given for his departure. There is, however, some speculation
Read on »The PS exposed its far-right credentials. After they get rid of the Muslims, are unions the next in line?
Jussi Halla-aho, the chairperson of the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, exposed another spoonful of its ever-visible far-right credentials on Saturday by demanding a 3,000-euro a month salary minimum for migrants to get a residence permit and weakening workers’ rights. The PS leader, who was convicted in 2012 for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion,
Read on »Al-Hol reveals Finland’s cowardice and paranoia
By Dana Finland is a cowardly and paranoic country that does not believe in humanity. But I respect humanity because GOD is the great Creator of man, and all of God’s creatures are important and valuable to me. Man is a creature of God. I am a disciple of truth, and the truth is my
Read on »The Perussuomalaiset are dismantling our Nordic welfare state for iliberal democracy
What would you say about a party that openly supports former US President Donald Trump, “loves” Poland and Hungary, supports far-right French politician Marine Le Pen among other iliberal and populist malarkey? What about if I told you that that party has one aim: destroy Finland’s Nordic welfare state and democracy? The filibustering we are
Read on »The suspects of one of Finland’s worst hate crimes in 2020 may face charges in early June
Remember the young Muslim who was violently attacked by a gang of white Finns in June in the Western Finnish town of Teuva? According to Fares Al-Obaidi, the police plan to conclude their investigations into the crime in early June. What happened to Al-Obaidi last year changed his life. He moved away to Espoo to
Read on »The hypocrisy of the Perussuomalaiset revealed in Eastern Finland: racism, white nationalism, ties to the far-right
In my hometown of Mikkeli, the local Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chapter acted against a municipal election candidate that was too offensive even for their taste. It was the usual hateful nonsense against Muslims, visible migrants, and women. The PS sacked the candidate, Jorma T. Hartikainen, for being too racist only after the local daily, Länsi-Savo, exposed
Read on »The police should stop being a gatekeeper of Finnish identity by stigmatizing whole ethnic groups
A stabbing that took place on Monday in Helsinki, causing the death of a 24-year-old victim, revealed the police’s power in labeling whole ethnic groups (usually in a negative light) and its gatekeeping role. Even if the stabbing suspect was arrested, the police statement mentioned that “about ten [suspects] mainly people of foreign background” took
Read on »Turtianen is a threat to the PS and an example of everything that’s wrong with the far-right Islamophobic party
THE POST WAS UPDATED Former Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Ano Turtiainen has become a real thorn in the side of the far-right Islamophobic party. Apart from his racist postings of George Floyd, encouraging violence against asylum reception centers, assaulting a fourteen-year-old, wishing that asylum seekers would drown at sea, inciting civil war, anti-vaxxer buffoonery, and other
Read on »Jussi Halla-aho is a racist, and so is the far-right party he leads
Uusi Suomi, an online publication that played a key role before the 2011 parliamentary elections in giving the racist rhetoric of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party a platform, published today an interview with a cultural researcher, Tuija Saresma, who concluded that Jussi Halla-aho and the PS are racist. While these types of statements are a foregone
Read on »Exposing white Finnish privilege #78: the spread and acceptance of white nationalism
THE STORY WAS UPDATED Events after the storming of the Capitol building in Washington on January 6 exposed white nationalist terrorism as the biggest threat facing the United States. Since the events that took place at the Capitol did not happen spontaneously, are we going to see something similar in Finland’s ever-hostile far-right groups like
Read on »Intimidating Farid Hafez and state Islamophobia in Austria
Islamophobia in all of its forms is cancer that is spreading at this moment throughout Europe. People who attempt to stand up to this social ill are intimidated and attacked. Farid Hafez, whom I know personally and edits the European Islamophobia Report, the most comprehensive report published annually on the topic, is charged for alleged
Read on »The Finnish police’s racism problem and ties with far-right groups like Kansallismielisten liittouma
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED Yle revealed in a story today that the far-right Kansallismielisten liittouma has distributed Green League Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo’s and Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen’s home address for harassment purposes. Moreover, Kansallismielisten liittouma chairperson, Tero Ala-Tuuhonen, has been in touch with “a Helsinki police sergeant” who has advised the far-right
Read on »A Migrant Tales style guide to writing about migration: avoid words that hide our racism and denial
After over twenty years in journalism and writing for some of the world’s most prestigious publications and having worked as a foreign correspondent in countries like Finland, Italy, Colombia, and others, I have learned a thing or two about journalistic style and correctness. On top of my journalistic experience, I am a sociologist who has
Read on »What threatens Finland’s Nordic welfare state? Follow the racism, stupid.
There is a sense of déjà vu as the municipal elections in Finland near on April 18. Once again, the media is not questioning or challenging the toxic message of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, but showing its usual tacit approval. The most notable examples of this type of approval demonstrated by the media are silence
Read on »Former PS MP Ano Turtiainen gets sacked from the party
It took a while, but, in the end, it came: MP Ano Turtiainen got sacked Friday from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party after being expelled in June from the PS parliamentary group. The interesting question that the PS board’s decision offers is what it means for the party and Turtiainen’s political future. An incident between PS
Read on »The far right and their rabid show dog in Finland that knows no master
If there is one matter that will bring down the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, it is their racist and nationalistic ideology. We already saw this on 22/7 with Anders Breivik and now with political violence against Pekka Kataja of the same party. On July 17, Kataja was paid a visit by three men who attacked
Read on »Don’t give racist charlatans a megaphone
Which Finnish politicians are the country’s biggest charlatans? We all know them by name. Finland’s media has learned to pushback more than before and not give a megaphone to political con artists. It is called media responsibility. Who are these charlatans? They are the ones who always pick on the disadvantaged threatening them with a
Read on »The PS will not succeed at turning Finland into a Hungary or Trumpland
TOPLINE The greatest deterrent in foiling the attempts of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party’s political aims is our fervent opposition to such plans. SOLUTIONS What does the latter imply? It means: voting, getting active in politics, writing, talking, debating, reciting poetry, demonstrating, going on hunger strike, getting constantly informed, busting fake news – living as if
Read on »PS MP Riikka Purra is an opportunist full of white supremacist ideology
MP Riikka Purra is an ethnonationalist with a strong white supremacist ideology of the Perussuoalaiset (PS) party. She is also first vice president of the PS. One of Purra’s biggest message is how Finland is becoming culturally and ethnically diverse. According to her, this is a threat to the power and privileges that white Finns
Read on »Denmark’s PM Mette Frederiksen on zero asylum seekers and other wishes like our head up our…
When I read the news story that Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated that she wants the country to accept zero asylum seekers, I sarcastically thought that one of the EU’s most Islamophobic countries had found a solution to end global inequality and strife. The Perussuomalaiset (PS), Finland’s close ideological ally of the Danish People’s
Read on »Why radical-right populism will fail in Finland
TOPLINE After the historic election of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party in 2011, when it won 39 seats in parliament from 5 previously, two international events have kept in check the PS’ rise: the bloody 22/7 events that left seventy-seven dead in Norway, and Wednesday’s storming of the Capitol building in Washington. After the historical rise
Read on »A warning to Finland from Washington
TOPLINE One of the big questions to arise from the Capitol storming on Wednesday by hordes of President Donald Trump followers is if the same could happen in Finland and other European capitals. The dust from the Capitol building’s storming by Trump hordes is still settling on a political landscape that appears threatening. Whatever your
Read on »Migrant Tales (24.12.2020): Ask the Perussuomalaiset if they still “love” US President Donald Trump
THE STORY WAS UPDATED TOPLINE Considering the Trump-fueled terrorism in Washington Wednesday, I ask once again the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party the following question: Do you still “love” President Donald Trump? KEY BACKGROUND With the Trump presidency making its rambunctious exit after four years of chaos and moral decay, our attention should shift to Finland. Do
Read on »PS’ Jyrki Åland wishes Corona to kill migrants in Varisuo, Turku
TOPLINE Jyrki Åland, the chairperson of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chapter of Turku, was quoted as saying that it would be a positive matter if Covid-19 deaths would “would do a lot of good” to Varisuo, a neighborhood of Turku where 48% of its inhabitants don’t speak Finnish or Swedish as their mother tongue. The statement
Read on »Piia Kattelus-Kilpeläinen: Put another fascist feather in my PS cap
Piia Kattelus-Kilpeläinen is the latest example of the bedfellows of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. The councilperson from Seinäjoki, where she works as a police officer, offers an odd New Year’s greeting, all with a fascist Lapua Movement, Lapua like, (1928-1932) pullover, an ax, and a chain. A publicity stunt of a media-hungry person craving for
Read on »Hall of Shame: Finland’s 2020 Islamophobic and Afrophobic network
Choosing the key figures in the Islamophobic and Afrophobic Hall of Shame wasn’t difficult even during a year ravaged by Covid-19. The task was to choose the most obvious culprits and other ones in the media that fuel and maintain such a toxic environment. In putting together this year’s Hall of Shame, I was quickly
Read on »Finland’s Hall of Shame of its Islamophobic and Afrophobic network will be published on December 30
Migrant Tales will publish on Wednesday, December 30, people, politicians, the media, and political parties that spread Islamophobia and Afrophobia during 2020. If you would like to participate in the making of this list, please send your suggestions to [email protected] We believe that social ills like Islamophobia, Afrophobia, and all forms of racism should be
Read on »The PS appears desperate as their source for alternative news dims with the end of US President Trump’s administration
The Perussuoalaiset (PS)* party’s tactics are in a desperate mode as the days in office of their US political mentor, President Donald Trump, ends on January 20. PS MEP Laura Huhtasaari, a staunch Trump supporter who nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, is one of Finland’s most representative white supremacist politicians. Her aide, Olli
Read on »Mayday, Mayday! Two women and six children entering Finland
Following on and off news about the repatriation of Finnish citizens from the al-Hol refugee camp raises a lot of questions about our society. The opposition, namely the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and National Coalition Party (NCP), are working overtime to score brownie points with the voters and fearmongering. The commotion is now stirred by the repatriation
Read on »Another reason that reinforces Denmark as one of the most Islamophobic countries in the EU
Who could forget the former minister of immigration and integration, Inger Stojberg? Apart from her Islamophobic rhetoric, she is also remembered with a cake celebrating in 2017 the 50th tightening of Danish immigration laws. There seems to be no shortages of Islamophobic politicians in Denmark. The former minister is in a lot of hot water
Read on »The PS and its obsession with migrants
If you had the opportunity to listen inside the brain of a Perussuomalaiset (PS)* politician, you’d probably hear the following word: migrants, maahanmuuttajat, migrants, maahanmuuttajat… The head of the PS parliamentary group, Ville Tavio, regurgetates that obsessive word in countless tweets and statements. Tavio tweets: “Finnish human rights are threatened as a result of massive
Read on »Two PS Youth members convicted of ethnic agitation
Former Perussuomalaiset (PA)* Youth deputy chairperson Toni Jalonen and Johannes Sipola, the former chairperson Johannes Sipola were sentenced by a Pirkanmaa District Court fines for ethnic agitation, according to YLE News. Jalonen, who announced in February that he is “an ethnonationalist, traditionalist, and a fascist,” was slapped with a 50-day fine (300 euros) for ethnic
Read on »Sensational stories about youth crime by brown Finns: Tom Packalén in 2014, Helsingin Sanomat in 2020
What does Lari Malmgerg’s column on youth crime remind us of? In 2014, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Tom Packalén wrote a similar story about how brown Finns were terrorizing white Finns in East Helsinki. At the end of the day, Packalén could not prove his claims, and the whole issue was forgotten even if he succeeded at
Read on »Helsingin Sanomat: Brown people are dangerous and a threat to white society
THE STORY WAS UPDATED Katja Kuokkanen, the reporter who wrote a provocative story about youth crime committed by non-white youths with the following headline: “Over one hundred possibly dangerous youths with migrant backgrounds roam about downtown Helsinki – according to experts, this is a new migrant phenomenon.” The headline in Finland’s biggest daily could not
Read on »Jussi Halla-aho and the PS are the wolves in sheep’s clothing
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED One interesting matter about how Perussuomalaiset (PS)* politicians spread racism is how they try to hide it in sheep’s clothing. The trick, from the PS perspective, is to spread in code as much as possible your racist views. An interview on Saturday in Yle’s Ykkösaamu with PS chairperson Jussi Halla-aho showed
Read on »Kotoutuminen #11: The teacher asks the student why Muslims kill people
A sixteen-year-old Muslim teenager was approached by her teacher and asked her why do Muslims kill people as we saw in France? I am certain that the question must have surprised and shocked the teenager. Why did the teacher ask her such a question about such an outlandish incident? Certainly, irrespective of his or her
Read on »Jussi Halla-aho’s anti-Semitism has come to haunt him, more blow to credibility
Attacking Finland’s Muslim community is not hard for the likes of Jussi Halla-aho and the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party. It is, however, a different story when anti-Semitic rhetoric comes to play. Halla-aho’s racism and, in particular, his anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and Afrophobia are well known. Of these three, anti-Semitism is the biggest threat to his political future.
Read on »The tragic deaths in France expose the disenfranchisement of Muslims
I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain. James Baldwin (1924-87) Ir, there is one matter that the killings in France have reinforced, it is the disenfranchisement of the Muslim community of France. How
Read on »Kokoomus’ Antti Häkkänen vilifies Islam, claims to uphold human rights
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED In a bid to gain voters, the National Coalition Party’s (Kokoomus) MP Antti Häkkänen and possibly the next chairperson of the conservative party spreads his anti-Islamic rhetoric, again. For those who don’t know Häkkänen, he comes from a small town called Mäntyharju in Eastern Finland and has expressed before his extreme
Read on »Jussi Halla-aho is a fake and his party’s disingenuous and misleading claims
Anyone who has followed Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-aho’s political career will easily conclude that it was done on the fuel of racism and bigotry, and generous chunks of it. Racism had become such a normal matter for the PS that on the same day when Halla-aho claimed on Marja Sannikka’s talk show that he
Read on »No more PS BS and politicking by French President Emmanuel Macron
“Another underlying message also becomes clear in the meantime: ‘Muslims pose a threat to our society and have to be tamed,’ which is reminiscent of the ‘civilizing’ mission of the French colonial conquerors.“ Farid Hafez* THIS STORY WAS UPDATED Any sensible Muslim or person will condemn what happened in France concerning the beheading of a
Read on »Helsinki Times: A rebuttal to Perussuomalaiset* MPs Veikko Vallin and Veijo Meri
Read the original posting here.
Read on »The media has power but it prefers driving a moped when confronting racism and the Perussuomalaiset
If there is somebody to blame for Finland’s Perussuomalaiset (PS)* problem, a big part of the blame falls on the media. In that group, you will find politicians and about 17% of Finns who vote for an openly hostile party to Muslims, people of color, and minorities. A good example of the media’s power was
Read on »Suspected hate crimes in Finland near flat in 2019 versus 2018. Only the tip of the iceberg.
Suspected hate crimes reported in 2019 totaled 899 cases, which is 1.21% less from 910 cases in the previous year, according to the Police University College of Finland. As in previous years, the lion’s share (72.3%) of suspected hate crimes was due to ethnic or national background, which rose by 2.52% fro 650 from 634
Read on »Why is due justice taking so long in the suspected Teuva hate crime case of Finland?
One case in particular that took place in Teuva on June 6 is still under investigation, and there is no indication when those guilty will face charges. The case involves a Muslim insulted and chased by some townspeople forcing his car off the road into a ditch and assaulted. If you speak to the victim,
Read on »Bedfellows Perussuomalaiset and the far-right: I’m surprised that you are still surprised
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED Playing dumb or dead to the threat of far-right groups is a political statement or reveals you are either lazy, naive, or white.. While it is a positive matter that the Finnish media is shedding light on two long-time bedfellows: the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and far-right groups, even so, the question we
Read on »PS MP Petri Huru and his ties with a far-right attempted murder suspect
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Petri Huru states in his Twitter account that his goal is to keep Finns safe. He is a chief fireman and a practical nurse. Noble professions but can trust Huru’s judgement? A question: What are you, MP Huru, doing smiling in a picture below with far-right activist Tero Ala-Tuuhonden? Isn’t he the
Read on »Finland is too white to solve its issues with racism. There must be change.
After the bombshell news that one of the suspects arrested Friday who brutally attacked Pekka Kataja of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) in July, the new chairperson of the Center Party, Annika Saarikko, said on Ykkösaamu Saturday that she could form a government with the PS. In light of the PS’ links with far-right groups, Saarikko’s response
Read on »Case Pekka Kataja of the PS: I’m surprised that you are surprised
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED It is revealing to read comments from the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party about Friday’s bombshell news: the police detained a former PS politician and a far-right Nazi-spirited activist on suspected attempted murder charges against Pakka Kataja. Starting from PS chairperson Jussi Halla-aho, who was convicted in 2012 for ethnic agitation and
Read on »MP Veikko Vallin and the Islamophobic PS pull another “fast one” on the media
Perussuomalaiset MP Veikko Vallin tweeted an apology for the “mistake” of publishing pictures of children and workers at a nursery school. Even if he is sorry, he stated that his “critical opinion” of women using a chador at nursery schools has not changed. Vallin’s action of taking pictures of children and workers at a nursing
Read on »Was the stabbing of an eighteen-year-old Somali Finn a hate crime?
Migrant Tales asked in April after the tragic death of an eighteen-year-old Somali Finn in Helsinki on April 26 is treated by the police as a hate crime. What is equally surprising is the total news blackout on social media by the police as if communities affected by what happened don’t have the right to
Read on »The toothless response of the police and society to human trafficking is similar to other social ills like racism
A column by Helsingin Sanomat gave a realistic view of human trafficking and why there it continues unhinged. One problem that the column cites, and which is a problem concerning other racist crimes committed against migrants and minorities, is fear of the police. The column, which exposed some of the shortcomings of protecting victims of
Read on »A synonym for fake news is the Perussuomalaiset and other racist groups
Finland has been praised for its school program to teach children about fake news. Media literacy is important if we do not want to be led by the noses towards an autocratic state. Commonly, when reading the comments by Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MPs and other politicians, fact-checking is an exception and not the rule. Some of
Read on »Turtiainen suffers another blow to his business as the International Powerlifting Federation terminates cooperation
Ano, or Año Turtiainen, the former Perussuomalaiset MP who mocked George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis policeman, boasts that he is “the best known Finnish powerlifter in the world.” CORRECTION: He is also known for being the most racist Finnish powerlifter in the world. After Elitefts and the Canadian Powerlifting Union terminated
Read on »Perussuomalaiset: The shameful a**hole party of Finland
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED “What are you without racism? Are you any good? Are you still strong? Still smart? Do you still like yourself?” Toni Morrison (1931-2019) Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Mauri Peltokangas, a far-right politician and member of the Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu association, labeled government ministers “a**holes” for not expressing concern about the attack against
Read on »The Norwegian mass murderer, 22/7, and Jussi Halla-aho
Hateful and racist words can turn into bullets. THE STORY WAS UPDATED Two days and nine years had gone by when Norway and Europe witnessed the horrific events of 22/7 that left 77 people dead and many others with physical and psychological injuries for the rest of their lives. One of the matters that we
Read on »Two ways of weighing crime: one is a white Finn and another a Pakistani migrant
We read about the brutal assault against a Perussuomalaiset (PS)* campaign manager Pekka Kataja. There was great interest in what happened when he mentioned that the suspect(s) were probably “Arab-looking.” Silence befell the PS after Kataja changed his story by claiming that the attackers were probably from the far-right. One question that arises here is
Read on »Condemn the attack, but don’t blame “Arab-looking” people
THE STORY WAS UPDATED Pekka Kataja, a Perussuomalaiset (PS)* campaign manager from Jämsänkoski, was brutally attacked Friday at his home by what he called two “Arabian-looking” men. He claims that the attack was political because, as an ardent Islamophobe, he was in favor of shutting down the Jämsä asylum reception center. While all forms of
Read on »Is PS’ Tynkkynen aiming to be the top MP with the most ethnic agitation convictions?
What are we to make of Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Sebastian Tynkkynen’s hate speech convictions? An Oulu appeals court upheld the PS MP’s second conviction for ethnic agitation. The first one was handed in 2017. Two convictions are a pretty dark stain in an ordinary party, but for the PS, it may be a feather in
Read on »The self-destruction of Trump and the future of global populism and racism
As the gap between Joe Biden and US President Donald Trump widens in the opinion polls, populist-far right parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are feeling the pressure. Much of the hate fuel that PS and other like-minded politicians feed on from Trump is starting to run out if the US president loses on November 3.
Read on »Ano Turtiainen: the PS doesn’t love me, I love the PS – watch me now eat my words
Expelled from the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* parliamentary group for mocking George Floyd’s death in a tweet, he now said that he would want to return to his former parliamentary group. A day after he was expelled from the parliamentary group earlier this month, Turtiainen was adamant: “I am not going to request joining [the parliamentary group]
Read on »European Islamophobia Report 2019 (Finland)
Read the full European Islamophobia Report 2019 here.
Read on »STATEMENT: European Islamophobia Report 2019
You can follow the panel and publishing of the European Islamophobia Report 2019 here. European Islamophobia Report 2019 – Press Release SETA will publish 2019 European Islamophobia Report on 20th June Saturday after the opening panel of the Report. Edited by Enes Bayraklı and Farid Hafez European Islamophobia Report (EIR) published annually since 2015. The EIR
Read on »The most “notable” members of Finland’s Islamophobic network in 2019
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED Who are the most “notable” figures of Finland’s Islamophobic network in 2019? In the list below, 13 are members of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, 3 are National Coalition Party (NCP) members, 2 are Christian Democrats (KD), and three others are political “freelancers:” Marco de Wit, Junnes Lokka, and Tiina Wiik. The
Read on »Finnish police do not rule out hate crime in Teuva against a Muslim
Detective Chief Inspector Jari-Matti Marttala confirmed to Migrant Tales today that investigations are still ongoing concerning the assault by residents of Teuva of a Muslim and his four passengers. “We are still interviewing people, and we have not ruled out the possibility of a hate crime,” said Marttala. “Everything is still at hand…let’s say that
Read on »The PS jump from one scandal to the next
As the dust settles over this tumultuous week for the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party, the question to ask if business will be back to “normal” in the PS? The first scandal was MP Ano Turtiainen’s tweet that mocked George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police. Apart from ending Turtianen’s short-lived career as
Read on »Racist harassment of a mother and daughter in Helsinki’s Malminkartano
I spoke to a distraught Iraqi mother who told me how she was harassed, even shoved and pushed by six people who threatened to kill her in the Helsinki neighborhood of Malminkartano. Why? Because she and her daughters are Muslims. “I was traveling with my nine-year-old daughter on the train from Vantaa and got off
Read on »The Coronavirus Revolution is unfolding
“We are nonviolent with people who are nonviolent with us.”— Malcolm X “I can’t breathe.” — George Floyd What is the Coronavirus Revolution? Covid-19 + mass unemployment + balooning social inequality + racist self-serving US president = CORONAVIRUS REVOLUTION. Social movements, like the one we are seeing in the United States today, are sparked by
Read on »How does the Perussuomalaiset party resemble the coronavirus or vice versa?
Here are some symptoms of the coronavirus: fever, dry cough, sore throat, tiredness, headaches, loss of taste, and smell. Here are some symptoms of the PS virus: racism, Islamophobia, bigotry, climate denial, conspiracy theories, mediocracy, pro-Putin, and incompetence. Like Covid-19, which fools and infects healthy cells, the PS virus also enters and infects institutions like
Read on »Luottavatko vähemmistöt Suomen lehdistöön?
Tässä mielipidekirjoitus, joka julkaistiin maaliskuussa Karjalaisissa. Tarjoisin kirjoitusta ensiksi Helsingin Sanomiin, mutta tuli seuraava vastaus: “Kiitos kirjoituksesta. Runsaan tarjonnan takia meillä ei ole mahdollisuutta julkaista sitä.” Karjalaisissa poistettiin muutamia kohtia kirjoituksesta. Tässä alkuperäinen kirjoitus. Yksi lehdistön tärkein tehtävä on olla yhteiskunnan vahtikoira ja valvoa kaikkien oikeuksia. Kuinka hyvin Suomen lehdistö valvoo vähemmistöjen, kuten muslimien, oikeuksia?
Read on »A post-coronavirus world bonded by mistrust, suspicion, racial hatred and the four horsemen of the apocalypse
If we look at the raw economic numbers, world trade is expected to plunge in 2020 by between 13% and 32%, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO). While the WTO does not mention a word about the Great Depression (1929-1939) or how global economies contracted during that period, a 32% contraction would be on par
Read on »Shame on the Finnish media for stereotyping Muslim women. It’s called biased and racist journalism.
Why are Muslims, especially women, usually pictured covering their faces? Do these types of images in the media reinforce our stereotypes about Muslim women? Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s leading daily, is one representative of the media that reinforces stereotypes about Muslim women. While the article is important because it talks about forced marriages, why can’t it
Read on »#coronavirus: What kind of “soap” do we need to stop the spread of racism and fascism in the EU?
While the coronavirus has taught us to take precautions like washing our hands to avoid infection, what steps should we take to stop the spread of racism and fascism in Europe? The knee-jerk reaction of countries like Denmark to shut down their borders for a month to most tourists should not surprise us. As many
Read on »Living in the PS Outokumpu bubble – beware of Muslims even if there are hardly any foreigners
There is one matter that bonds all the Perussuomalaiset (PS) MPs in parliament: They use migrants, especially Muslims and asylum seekers, to get votes. Their ads and rhetoric reflect well their racist disposition. Take, for instance, the ad below that promises that she will make “Finnish well being and security” priorities. Some of her pet
Read on »Kokoomus’ perilous path, caving into far-right populism and xenophobia
Conservative parties like the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) are on a dangerous path putting in peril human rights and the rule of law. The latest suggestion by Kokoomus parliamentary group leader, Kai Mykkänen, to pass legislation so Finland could suspend asylum applications like Greece is worrying. The Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party clutched political power in
Read on »Our incapacity to feel for others, our indifference to their suffering is what is causing our moral downfall in the EU
Some studies claim that vote share for Eurosceptic parties has more than doubled in two decades, according to the Guardian. This problem has many answers. One of these is that Europeans have not done enough to root out all forms of racism. Our colonial legacy still hangs as an onerous shadow that encourages us to
Read on »Abdisalam Mohamed Abdulah: Returning to Finland’s Black February 2012
Migrant Tales insight: The story below was one that was published in February 2012 about “Black February,” when three Muslims died and a Finn committed suicide after killing one Muslim and wounding another. As with the Pakistani who was viciously attacked in February 2018, there were a lot of question marks about how the police
Read on »Disingenuous Jussi Halla-aho, disingenuous fascist-spirited Perussuomalaiset
It is justified to consider the Nürnberg trials a farce. Guilt was decided in advance, and the justifications for the sentences were absurd.[1] Perussuomalaiset* (PS) chairperson Jussi Halla-aho (2010) Isn’t it incredible how PS Youth second vice president Toni Jalonen put himself in the eye of a political storm when he admitted over the weekend
Read on »PS Youth vice president: “I am an ethnonationalist, traditionalist, and a fascist”
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED Toni Jalonen, who is the second vice president of the Perussuomalaiset* (PS) Youth and member of the Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu, states openly in a speech below that “I am an ethnonationalist, traditionalist, and a fascist [clapping].” Yes, you heard, right. Politically matters appear spinning rapidly out of control in the PS
Read on »MP Ano Turtiainen: A shovelful of PS violence and rage
I doubt that anyone of us wants to see a [civil] war in our country. PS MP Ano Turtiainen The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP with a curious first name, “Ano,” [1] Turtiainen is another dangerous example of how the Islamophobic party fuels the hostile environment against migrants and minorities like Muslims. Recently we saw a deadly
Read on »MP Mauri Peltokangas is an example of the PS’ far-right rage and hateful narrative
Mauri Peltokangas is an MP for the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party and a member of the Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu association. In the hostile video below, the PS MP with close ties to neo-Nazi groups, uses the following terms to cry us a river about bringing to Finland 175 children from the Lesvos refugee camp. If
Read on »Helsingin Sanomat plays down the far-right, claims it is “an essential part of democracy”
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED After almost a year after the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* almost pulled off the parliamentary elections of April, Finland’s largest daily, Helsingin Sanomat, treats the Islamophobic far-right party. A story by Tommi Nieminen correctly points out that the violence called by some PS MPs is unacceptable but then blows his speak-out-against-the-far-right-with-one-hand-and-support-it-with-another with this
Read on »MEP Henna Virkkunen: Kokoomus, EU and Finnish refugee policy in crisis
Some Finnish politicians condemn racist acts with one hand but with another encourage them. National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MEP Henna Virkkunen stated in a tweet lofty European values after an MP of the same party said Saturday that it would be easier for Kokoomus to work with the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party than with the
Read on »(Migrant Tales 14.12.2015): How long will reception centers and asylum seekers be under attack in Finland?
Migrant Tales insight: Remember 2015? It was the year when over 30,000 asylum seekers, mainly from Iraq and Afghanistan, came to Finland. Do you remember the reaction of some Finns who attacked fourteen asylum reception centers? Why weren’t these acts of violence classified as domestic terrorism? This disgraceful story is dedicated to Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Ano
Read on »Petteri Orpo’s double hate-crime standards expose political hypocrisy
National Coalition Party chairperson Petteri Orpo tweets that “I condemn the vandalism against the Turku Synagog and I’m satisfied that the Turku city council signed a motion [condemning] what happened.” Orpo’s support is important, but the question that arises from what happened is if there are different scales of importance when it comes to vandalism
Read on »Norway’s anti-immigration party exits government
After the populist anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* was left out in the cold from the government in 2017, the election blow suffered by the Danish People’s Party in 2019, and now the exit of the Progress Party (FrP) from the Norwegian government, the Nordic region is momentarily free of Islamophobic populist parties in government. After six
Read on »Does the Finnish police really care about online hate speech?
A total of 31 ethnic agitation cases were placed on the desk of the public prosecutor in 2019, which is a 59.2% drop from 76 cases in the previous year, according to Yle. The number of ethnic agitation cases looks even more somber if we compare them with the cases that ended up in court.
Read on »Twitter: Spreading open racism and bigotry
Mehdi Hasan on Trump: Abdirahim Husu Hussein on the Perussuomalaiset.* Enrique Tessieri on the Perussuomalaiset:
Read on »The arguments used by the PS are deceptively aimed to hide their hostile agenda against migrants and minorities
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* First Vice-President, MP and ethnonationalist alarmist Riikka Purra is at it again. In her latest tirade, she blames the government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin for looking the other way concerning the exploitation of migrants in the labor market. If we want to understand why Purra and other PS politicians want to raise
Read on »The framing of Muslims and minorities by the Finnish media and other toothless stories
If I had to choose the worst journalism in Finland this year, that would be the media coverage to the sexual assault cases of minors that took place from November 2018 to before the parliamentary elections of April 14. If you speak with some Muslims in Oulu, they will tell you that the hysteria died
Read on »Finance Minister Katri Kulmuni’s grotesque Internet poll is a symptom of a wider social problem in Finland
The Center Party of Finland is a liability to the future of Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s government. We already saw how they forced former Prime Minister Antti Rinne to resign. And then, we witnessed Finance Minister Katri Kulmuni’s Instagram poll. Kulmuni’s post not only exposed her total disregard for human lives and the country’s international
Read on »What is better: Scoring high on the World Press Freedom Index or uncritical reporting?
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED Finland will wake up too late when incompetent populist parties, their politicians and policies lead us to the doorsteps of hell just like what happened in Germany after 1933. Even if Finland ranks second in the World Press Freedom Index after Norway, how high does it score when it writes about
Read on »MP Riikka Purra’s and her Perussuomalaiset party’s trolls and helpers in the postal strike
The postal strike is over but not the foul Perussuomaaiset (PS)* stench that lingers from the usual scapegoating and lies about migrants. When the postal strike started, MP Riikka Purra and the PS had nothing better to do but to blame migrants for the labor dispute. Migrant Tales wrote about Purra’s and her party’s victimization
Read on »The “migrant problem” shouted in Finland by the PS is a panacea to all of our problems
Every voice raised against racism chips away at its power. Reino Eddo-Lodge Watching last Thursday’s parliamentary question time was a repulsive experience. If the opposition Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party is to be believed, all of Finland’s problems hinge on migrants. An article in Verkkouutiset claims that since Prime Minister Antti Rinne’s government began its mandate on
Read on »Study: If you have a “foreign”-sounding name, you will need more than luck to get work
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED A new study published by Akhlaq Ahmad about labor market discrimination in Finland and the results, while not pretty, reinforce what we’ve known all along: ethnic discrimination is commonplace in Finland’s labor markets. On Saturday, Migrant Tales published a news story that showed that the number of work permits granted to
Read on »Dedicated to the “let them drown” MEP candidates of Finland
Islamophobes and other racists believe that those they victimize have short memories. Wrong. We remember and will do everything for our children and grandchildren to remember their viciousness. Migrant Tales published a shameful list of Finnish MEP candidates who answered an Alma Media election compass question: “Is it the obligation of the EU to save
Read on »The MV-lehti case should be made into an important watershed against hate speech
Former Islamophobic and pro-Putin MV-lehti editor Ilja Janitskin, who was sentenced in October to 22 months in prison on 16 criminal convictions, is hoping to reserve charges against him, according to Yle News. Janitskin, who was MV-lehti editor between 2014-2018, denies responsibility for the numerous defamation and ethnic agitation cases brought against him. Writes Yle
Read on »PS MP Ville Tavio is a good example of how hazardous Islamophobia is to one’s perception
I once had the opportunity to write a rebuttal in the Helsinki Times to Perussuomalaiset (PS)* parliamentary group leader Ville Tavio. In his usual far-right fiery language, he suggested outright that Finland must treat migrants as second-class members of society. He suggested in an op-ed piece in Uusi Suomi that the Finnish Constitution should be amended
Read on »“Dynamic” duo Tavio and Purra bullying Muslim women for career and profit
I would rather be a little nobody than to be an evil somebody. Anonymous Perussuomalaiset MPs Ville Tavio and Riikka Purra are a bunch of bullies because they pick on some of the most vulnerable people of our society, in this case, Muslim women who want to wear burkinis. Migrant Tales is not a vulnerable
Read on »Hate speech study and story by Yle: Interviewing the wolf guarding the sheep
Ovem lupo commitere. The saying in Latin, To set a wolf to guard sheep, raises the right question about a YLE news story on a hate speech study and how it intimidates politicians from expressing their opinions. The study reveals that 75% of the messages come from anti-immigration groups, with the rest coming from left-liberal
Read on »Kuopio tragedy: The Muslim “terrorist” and the “mentally troubled” lone wolf white guy
The tragedy that took place Tuesday in Kuopio, which claimed the life of a person and left ten injured, including the suspect, raises a lot of questions. One of these is if we should treat what happened as a terrorist act or just some mentally troubled lone wolf? The National Board of Investigation (Keskusrikospoliisi) Detective
Read on »Finland should wake up to its hate speech, hate crime and racism problem
Green League MP Iris Suomela raised an essential question in parliament on Wednesday about rape. She said that there are “hundreds of thousands” rape cases in Finland of which 50,000 are reported annually to Victim Support Finland (RIKU). “The end result of all this is that the police record about 1,200 [rape] cases [annually] of
Read on »How racists shoot themselves
An Afghan student’s view of a symbolic weapon used by racists. The history of this drawing: A student drew it from the top of his head and wrote “racists” on the upper right-hand corner.
Read on »The real MP Jani Mäkelä and how the PS also waters the poisonous fruit of anti-Semitism in Finland
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED A tweet, which alleges Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jani Mäkelä, stating that “without SS troops, Finlan would have lost the Continuation War (1941-44), is from a fake account. If this is true, we apologize for the mix-up. I wrote a comment to PS MP Mäkelä below after he asked me to “Stop
Read on »Who needs a commissioner for protecting European values? What are “our” European values anyway?
Why does the European Commission need a commissioner for the protection of “our” European values? Protection of what “European” values need protecting? Are social exclusion and racism European values? What about the over 34,361 migrants who have died to May 2018 while crossing the Mediterranean Sea? What about Islamophobia? Fascism? Our unrepentant colonial past, among
Read on »EU President-elect von der Leyen caves into the threat of fascism and Islamophobia
EU President-elect Ursula von der Leyen presented Tuesday her team and the new structure of the next European Commission. Apart from having no minorities on the commission, von der Leyen, raised a lot of eyebrows by nominating Margaritis Schinas of Greece as the new Commissioner for Protecting Our European Way of Life. In a story
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY (Riikka Purra): “Finnish culture is better than many others”
A racist is an individual, always an individual, who does not like people based on race – must be conscious – and who intentionally seems to be mean to them. Robin DiAngelo, sociologist THIS STORY WAS UPDATED In English, we have a lot of words for bullshit: baloney, hogwash, crap, wise tales, poppycock, malarkey, snow job,
Read on »Finland and the police should wake up to the menace of hate speech and hate crime
Helsinki city councilperson Abdirahim Husu Hussein received a letter Wednesday with a death threat and a piece of rope tied as a noose. While it is clear why this happens, we should ask why it continues to happen and with such impunity. Having lived in Finland for many years, one matter I learned at an
Read on »PS MP Peltokangas wants Finnish-Swedish border shut. Fears crime from Sweden.
Mauri Pelokangas is a hothead Peurussuomalaiset (PS)* MP who has gained notoriety for his Islamophobic statements. He demanded the police to release the identities of two men at large believed by him and the PS to be foreign terrorists. Those two “foreign terrorists” turned out to be Swedish nationals who speak Finnish. Since Peltokangas’ conspiracy
Read on »“Young white man” opens fire inside mosque near Oslo in Norway
THE STORY WAS UPDATED A “young white man” was arrested in Norway after shooting inside a mosque today, according to the BBC. The man injured one person after he opened fire on the Al-Noor Islamic Center near Oslo. According to a tweet by Tommi Kotonen, “Norwegian newspaper [VG] reports that police is investigating a forum
Read on »The PS and its Riikka Purras: Spreading hatred of minorities and migrants is ok
THE STORY WAS UPDATED One far-right politician who has eagerly spread white Finnish supremacist ideology is Perussuomalaiset (PS)* vice-chairperson and MP Riikka Purra. In her latest Facebook post, she attempts to defend her views with a chart that is misleading and racist. One of the problems with Purra’s argument is that she speaks of white
Read on »Two sides of the same coin: El Paso white supremacist terrorist and Perussuomalaiset MP Olli Immonen and others of Finland
The white supremacist terrorist that murdered 20 innocent people and wounded two dozen on Saturday in El Paso, Texas, published a manifesto declaring war on Hispanics. He wrote: “Hispanics will take control of the local and state government of my beloved Texas, changing policy to better suit their needs. They will turn Texas into an
Read on »No surprise – Hanna Mäntylä gets sacked from the European Council
Former Blue Reform MP and Perussuomalaiset* social and health minister, Hanna Mäntylä, was fired in June as special advisor to the European Council on challenging youth radicalization and marginalization, according to Demokraatti which cites HBL. We mentioned back in 2017 when Mäntylä was named as a special advisor that she was unqualified to do the
Read on »What have we learned after 22/7? That we have a great ability to deny and forget?
Today marks the day when a white Norwegian terrorist called Anders Breivik murdered in cold blood 77 people. Mentally deranged? This is how some want to interpret such a vile act of terrorism. One of the matters that the monstrous attack by Breivik has proven eight years after it happened is that we have a
Read on »A Perussuomalaiset nightmare and the shadow of the Danish People’s Party
Migrant Tales wrote Monday a piece about the catastrophic election result of the Danish People’s Party (DPP) this month and why the result sent shivers up the Perussuomalaiset’s (PS)* spine. In early June, the DPP saw its popularity nosedive by 12.4 percentage points to 8.7% (16 MPs) from 21.1%(37 MPs) previously. The PS and DPP
Read on »The Danish election result sent shivers up the Perussuomalaiset’s spine
After the good showing of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* in April’s parliamentary election, it is surprising how little media attention the national media gave to the dismal showing of the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party (DPP) in this month’s election in Denmark. The DPP, which is a close ideological ally of the PS, lost 21 of its
Read on »The media does Jussi Halla-aho’s campaigning for free. The alternative media can stop it.
Ever wonder why there is an obsessive interest by the Finnish media of Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-aho? Most of his views are centered on anti-immigration rhetoric and white supremacy (fear of becoming a minority) as well as conservative views on topics like economic policy and the environment. The media’s interest in Halla-aho is one
Read on »Ministry cuts funding for Perussuomalaiset Youth in 2019 over racist tweet(s)
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED The ministry of education and culture decided to cut 115,000 of funding for the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Youth for violating the Youth Act 2017, according to Yle News. The news was hailed by some anti-racist activists as a step in the right direction on how Finland should challenge institutional racism. One of
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY Jane Elliott: On white supremacy
In the same way, as in the United States and other predominantly white countries like Finland that are witnessing a growing culturally and ethnically diverse society, Jane Elliott, an anti-racist activist, and educator offers some sound advice below. In Finland, some of us are so afraid of losing power to ethnic minorities that we saw
Read on »The Perussuomalaiset is a far-right party. Finland will sleep safer if we call them out.
The Perussuomalaiset* joins the newly formed Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the EU led by far-right politicians like Matteo Salvini, and Marine Le Pen. This is one of many examples of the PS’ far-right colors. One of Finland’s most significant acts of denial is not fully acknowledging that the Perussuomalaiset (PS) is a far-right
Read on »A short note from a reader: “Kontula eilen (neighborhood of Kontula yesterday).”
This was sent to us today. It reads in Finnish: “Kontula eilen,” the Helsinki neighborhood of Kontula yesterday.
Read on »Migrants, minorities, and Others must stand up to Finland’s hostile environment
A poll by Yle shows that the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party enjoys the most support with 19.5%, according to Yle News. Since 2011, when the PS won its historic election victory, we have seen the party come and go in the polls. Of all the Finnish parties in parliament, the PS is the most hostile
Read on »The use of ankle tags is another example of Finland’s hostile environment against migrants, especially Muslims
Seeking asylum and/or a better life is not a crime. What is one to think of plans by the new government to use electronic ankle tags to monitor the movements of asylum seekers whose asylum application is rejected. Is it ok? How would you like to wear an electronic ankle tag? Would it enhance your
Read on »Case PS Youth: Another racist ad, another provocation, another attempt to get attention
The racism that originates from the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and their youth chapter is no surprise. The latest posting by the PS Youth is just another example of how they get attention.
Read on »Twitter David Schneider: Theresa May guide to crying
Another firework is thrown at the Al-Ikhlas mosque on Thursday
Another firework was thrown late Thursday evening at the Al-Ikhlas mosque of Espo, Finland, reports Supapress News from Finland in Arabic.
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Only regret but no apology from PS Youth’s racist tweet
After publishing a tweet on Saturday that people should vote for the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* to keep Finland and Europe white, the far-right party’s youth wing vice chairperson Toni Jalonen offered after six days the following statement but without an apology:
Read on »Case Perussuomalaiset Youth: Crocodile tears from the PS and holding one’s breath
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* leader Jussi Halla-aho is shedding crocodile tears concerning the scandal with the PS Youth’s racist tweet over the weekend.
Read on »Case Perussuomalaiset Youth: The worst enemy of the far right is the far right
The scandal that blew up in FPÖ leader’s Heinz-Christian Strache’s face and which brought down a government in Austria, Perussuomalaiset (PS)*Vice President Laura Huhtasaari’s participation in a meeting organized by Salvini in Milano with far-right leader Matteo Salvini, and the racist tweet below by the PS Youth are just one of many political setbacks.
Read on »Don’t vote for “let them drown” EU candidates, give them the thumbs down
A total of 234 Euro election candidates answered Alma Media’s election compass, a total of 85 (36.3%) stated that they either “strongly disagree,” “disagree” or are “neutral” (have no opinion) about the following claim:
Read on »Migrant Tales dedicates the following video to Finnish “let them drown” Euro election candidates
Here is a video Migrant Tales would like to dedicate to the “let them drown” Euro election candidates. Did you know that 36.3% of Finnish MEP candidates who answered (85/234) Alma Media’s election compass stated that they either “strongly disagree,” “disagree” or are “neutral” (have no opinion) about the following claim: “Is it the obligation
Read on »Austria’s far-right scandal and Laura Huhtasaari selfies with Matteo Salvini
What a Saturday! Austria’s far-right FPÖ vice chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache resigns after a video published by two German newspapers offered damaging evidence of him allegedly offering government contracts in return for political support from Moscow, reports The Guardian.
Read on »ERR News: Le Pen caught “unaware” of the meaning of the white power sign
The leader of the far-right Front National Marine Le Pen was caught “unaware” of the meaning of a white power sign in a selfie taken with Estonian far-right EKRE member Ruuben Kaalep, according to ERR News of Estonia.
Read on »What message does the prank against the Al-Ikhlas mosque in Espoo send?
What are we to think about the event late-Friday when two unidentified Finns threw a firecracker, according to the police, outside a mosque where people were celebrating the holy month of Ramadan?
Read on »Länsi Uusimaa Police: Artefact that exploded near a mosque was “a firework”
The Länsi Uusimaa Police tweeted two and a half days later after the Al-Ikhlas mosque was targeted by a firecracker that thrown late Friday night next to the Al-Ikhlas mosque in the Espoo neighborhood of Leppävaara.
Read on »Facebook Bashy Quraishy: A sure way to win elections in Denmark
Migrant Tales insight: The man smiling and waving to the public and flanked by the police is Rasmus Paludan. He incites hatred by burning the Quran and by insulting Muslims.
Read on »Suapress News from Finland in Arabic: Two sound grenades hurled inside a mosque in Espoo
During Friday prayers during Ramadan, two Finns drove next to the Ikhals mosque in the Espoo neighborhood of Leppävaara and threw at 23.20 two sound grenades, according to Finnish-based online publication Suapress News from Finland in Arabic.
Read on »A question to the Finnish “let them drown” MEP candidates: Is this ok?
Migrant Tales published this week a list of Finnish MEP candidates who apparently did not care whether migrants drown at sea or not, based on an Alma Meter election compass question that asks the following question:
Read on »I am a migrant and I am proud of who I am
With all the demonizing of migrants by xenophobic and Islamophobic parties, one is required to yell louder and more determinedly: I am proud of my roots, I am proud of my migrant background.
Read on »A Perussuomalaiset lawmaker who shows no regrets in breaking the law
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* newly elected MP Ano Turtiainen [1] was quoted as saying in Mikkeli-based Länsi-Savo that he has no regrets about publishing in December 2015 a post where he asks people to commit vandalism against the Red Cross and its asylum reception centers.
Read on »Migrant Tales’ shameful “let them drown” list of Finnish MEP candidates
The Alma Median EU election compass shows that (85/234) MEP candidates of the Perussuomalaiset* and National Coalition Party as the most eager to allow migrants drown in the Mediterranean. Even a neutral, or no opinion answer, is problematic. Does it mean that you are quiet and look the other way when people drown?
Read on »The Social Democrats should not form government with far-right parties like the PS
Sweden Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said in Yle said that just because a far-right party like the Sweden Democrats get 17.5% of the votes in an election, it does not mean an automatic ticket to government.
Read on »Is Oulu, Finland, a safe place for Muslims?
Maters have calmed down in the face of sexual harassment cases in Oulu after the April 14 parliamentary elections. Even so, many visible minorities and migrants don’t feel safe in public.
Read on »The Finnish media should refer to the Perussuomalaiset as a far-right party
Helsingin Sanomat goes to some length in a story about the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* being referred to by the chairperson of the Social Democratic Pary (PSOE), Pedro Sánchez, as a “far-right” party. We could not agree more to Pedro Sánchez’ description of the PS as a far-right party.
Read on »Finnish President Sauli Niinistö’s disinformation bubble about racism and Others
Is it surprising that whenever President Sauli Niinistö comments on asylum seekers, Muslims, and the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, he sticks his foot in his mouth?
Read on »Actions of the Finnish police and Yle reveal multicultural incompetence in coverage of Oulu sexual assault cases
It is odd how little Yle takes the blame for being the facilitator of anti-immigration and anti-Muslim sentiment in regards to the sexual assault cases of Oulu. Migrant Tales documented 77 stories published between November 27 and February 13. On January 14, Yle published in one day 13 stories about the topic!
Read on »The Finnish media’s ongoing fascination with Islamophobes and racists like Jussi Halla-aho
What has surprised me about Finland is how the media and others appear fascinated by Islamophobes making racist statements. It gets media attention and is the fuel to parliament. Is it because these types of people speak directly to their hearts?
Read on »The Perussuomalaiset of Finland’s hubris and arrogance are their political soft spot
The good showing of the Islamophobic and xenophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, reveals a party blinded by hubris and hatred of migrants, especially Muslims. They are now out for blood but the blood they seek may be their own.
Read on »The election result in Finland was what it was. Stop acting surprised.
Sunday’s election results should not come to any surprise. Far-right parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and white supremacist groups like Suomen Sisu have worked tirelessly to promote Finland’s hostile environment against migrants and minorities.
Read on »STATEMENT ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN FINLAND: Muslims work tirelessly to make Oulu a better city
ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF NORTHERN FINLAND POHJOIS SUOMEN ISLAMILAINEN YHDYSKUNTA Linnankatu 23-25, 90100. Puh: 0500582371 STATEMENT The Muslim community of Oulu has done a lot and will continue to work tirelessly to make our city a better place to live for everyone. A report came from Secret police on 22nd March, 2019 about the security
Read on »Junes Lokka’s “racist” and “Nazi clown” case: Court sends clear message who has racist immunity in Finland
When white people decide what is racism and what the boundaries are, they mess up and make matters worse for migrants, minorities and Others. What are we supposed to make out of this? A well-known anti-immigration activist with ties to neo-Nazi and Islamophobic groups is called in a closed Facebook group by a journalist “a
Read on »Yle poll: The PS becomes the second-biggest party. Thank mainstream parties like Kokoomus, the Center Party and the media.
Some were surprised to see in a poll published by Yle Thursday that the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* became the second-most popular part in Sunday’s parliamentary elections after the Social Democrats. If we are honest with ourselves, the poll result should not have come as a surprise. The party that the PS knocked to third place
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: The police’s and media’s double standards and racial baises
“We read about two cases involving 10-year-old girls who were attacked and were not white and Muslims. In the case of Oulu, where the police were especially active together with Yle and other media in racializing the sexual assault cases, should we be surprised that this way of looking at things is a one-way street?
Read on »10-year-old girl beaten by adolescents in Vantaa, Finland, for not being white
A new case of a 10-year-old girl being beaten allegedly because of her Muslim background reported today by the police and television station MTV. The last case, which also involved a 10-year-old Muslim girl, happened just before Christmas in the suburb of Espoo.
Read on »S-worldview: The Islamophobic snake vampire of Finland
The Islamophobic snake vampire. Can you spot the Islamophobes? Timo Soini, Jussi Halla-aho, Sampo Terho, Teuvo Hakkarainen, Junes Lokka, Tiina Wiik, Laura Huhtasaari, Wille Rydman, Atte Kaleva, Ville Tavio, Simon Elo, Juho Eerola, and Olli Immonen. Should we be surprised that most of them represent the Perussuomalaiset* and Blue Reform parties? * The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party
Read on »The sooner we admit that the Perussuomalaiset is a far-right extremist party the better for our democracy
Why is it so difficult for the national media in Finland to acknowledge that the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party is a far-right political fringe group? This was further confirmed on Monday when Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini announced a political alliance to challenge the EU.
Read on »MTV Finland: Framing women with niqabs with Islamophobia and dislike
A court of appeal slapped the manager of the Euro Spuer store with a 1,995-euro fine on Tuesday for discrimination after he asked a woman to remove her niqab so her face would be exposed. The incident took place in spring 2016, according to MTV.
Read on »Finland has been regressing into a false hole of provincialism and xenophobia
Should we be surprised by the results of a recent opinion poll, which showed the rise of an Islamophobic populist party to third place after the Social Democrats and National Coalition Party? As Léo Custódio put it: “Racist party 3rd in polls in world’s happiest country.”
Read on »Facebook Léo Custódio: Racist party in Finland and the world’s happiest country
Migrant Tales insight: Remember when Finland was named the happiest country in the world by the UN? I am certain that factors like income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity may contribute to people’s well-being. Even so, Léo Custódio, a researcher, asks an important question in light of the latest opinion polls: A party that openly victimizes and which socially excludes migrants from being equal members of society is today the third-biggest in the “world’s happiest country.”
Read on »Jussi Halla-aho reinforced in today’s Yle interview why the Perussuomalaiset is a xenophobic populist far right party
Thursday evening Yle interviewed Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Hallo-aho, a candidate for MP in next month’s elections and who built his political career on racism and Islamophobia. His performance was poor but it proved once again why the PS is a far-right party.
Read on »Finland should put aside its racism, prejudices, hypocrisy and challenge seriously social ills like pedophilia and sexaual abuse
The lifesaver that was supposed to propel the Perussuomalaiset* (PS) to new heights in the polls, suffered another setback Wednesday when the National Bureau of Investigations arrested five white Finnish suspects implicated in violent child sexual abuse. The other blows that stole their Islamophobic thunder were the senior care and the Christchurch atrocity.
Read on »Atte Kaleva is a populist who spreads and dwells in Islamophobic soundbites
National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP candidate Atte Kaleva, who has overtaken Wille Rydman as the Halla-aho of his party, held a talk on March 15 in East Helsinki on “why multiculturalism doesn’t work.”
Read on »Facebook Sarkawt Khalil: A pizzeria owner’s car gets vandalized in Espoo
This Facebook post was published with permission. See original posting here.
Read on »A racist harassing a young Muslim woman at the bus terminal of Mikkeli, Finland
On taking the 8:30 pm bus today to Helsinki from Mikkeli, a white-middle-aged redneck (WhiMAR) started to get too close to a young young woman, possibly from Afghanistan, with an older lady and a young man. It wasn’t clear what the man said to the young woman, but he told his fat WhiMAR friend that, “She’s a good- looking woman even if she wears a rag [hijab].”
Read on »Kemi is a good example of Finland’s hostile environment against asylum seekers and migrants
The small 50-70 strong Iraqi community of the northern Finnish city of Kemi (pop. 21,256 in 2017) is feeling the brunt of the Islamophobic reaction of the highly publicized sexual assault cases of Oulu, located just 106 km from the city.
Read on »One step forward for Islamophobes and two steps back for the Finnish media
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Teuvo Hakkarainen, convicted for ethnic agitation and sexual harassment, is on the roll with the media again. This time, the PS MP has taped on his car anti-immigration slogans like “stop refugee terrorism – out of this country every [asylum seeker] man.”
Read on »Statement Islamic Society of Northern Finland: Leadership is needed
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم POHJOIS – SUOMEN ISLAMILAINEN YHDYSKUNTA ISLAMIC SOCEITY OF NORTHERN FINLAND الرابطة الإسلامية لشمال فنلندا We on behalf of Islamic Society of Northern Finland would like to state the following with reference to the atrocities and masacar happened in New Zealand. Atrocities such as what happened in New Zealand Friday
Read on »The Perussuomalaiset of Finland try to play down New Zealand atrocities but fail
In Finland, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is an extremist far-right party that fear-mongers about Muslims and migrants. For many PS politicians, the Oulu sexual abuse cases came as an election lifesaver until Friday, when an Australian white supremacist murdered in cold blood 49 Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Read on »Once again politicians and the media show no leadership about the terrorist attack in New Zealand
The atrocity we witnessed through the media of the cold-blooded and calculated killings that left so far 49 dead and many wounded in New Zealand were not mentioned once by some ministers on Facebook. These ministers are the ones who have fueled and nurtured Finland’s hostile environment against Muslims and migrants. Moreover, how many editorials were written in the Finnish media about what happened and how it is a warning to us too?
Read on »Shed an alligator tear for me: Foreign Minister Timo Soini condemns terrorist attack in New Zealand
After creating a hostile environment against Muslims and migrants in Finland, Blue Reform* Foreign Minister Timo Soini has the audacity to condemn what happened in New Zealand as “cowardly,” according to Yle News. We condemn him and the actions of the Finnish government of cowardice in the face of defending and making every Muslim and migrant feel secure in Finland.
Read on »The wrong question by Helsingin Sanomat that feeds anti-immigration sentiment and undermines human rights
Helsingin Sanomat’s election or vote compass questions say a lot about how the Finnish media approaches and writes about asylum and migration issues. Martin Scheinin, international law and human rights professor at the European Institute University, raises an important point about how the newspaper approaches asylum policy.
Read on »NCP’s Petteri Orpo and his infamous xenophobic and anti-immigration statements
Economy Minister Petteri Orpo, who is also the chairperson of the National Coalition Party (NCP), was and is instrumental for having tightened Finland’s immigration policy when he was the interior minister (2015-2016). As a minister in Prime Minister Juha Sipilä, he was instrumental in undermining the rights of asylum seekers and migrant community.
Read on »City of Oulu’s “ban” on asylum seekers visiting day-care centers and schools may be unconstitutional. “Ban” to be lifted on April 14.
The City of Oulu plans to lift a ban on asylum seekers visiting day care centers and schools on April 14, according to Mika Penttilä, the city’s director of education and culture. “This is not a ban,” said Penttilä, “but a recommendation that asylum seekers are not allowed to visit day-care centers and schools.”
Read on »Timo Soini to retire from politics
Foreign Minister Timo Soini, 56, who inspired Islamophobes, racists and conservative nationalists to have a political voice and platform to lash out at migrants and minorities, announced that he will not seek a new term in parliament, according to Helsingin Sanomat. Soini, who calls himself a devout Catholic, will be remembered as a conservative populist politician who led the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* to national prominence by capitalizing on populist anti-immigration sentiment.
Read on »Finland’s integration program discriminates and offers fairy tale views of our society
If there is one matter that the sexual assault cases of Oulu have exposed in the raw is a false expectation about migrants. If we listen to the media, police and politicians, migrants cannot commit crimes because Finns rarely do if ever break the law. White Finns are model humans, asylum seekers are not.
Read on »Finnish government and City of Oulu officials: Where is the concern and outrage?
Almost two days have elapsed since the Oulu mosque was the target of vandalism. Did you read from any government minister expressed concern about what happened? What about the City of Oulu, which has labelled all asylum seekers as potential sex offenders by banning such people from visiting child care centers and schools?
Read on »Oulu mosque vandalized for the ninth time
The Oulu mosque was vandalized Tuesday for the ninth time since September 2017, according to Dr Abul Mannan, who heads the Islamic Society of Northern Finland. The police said in a statement the attack took place at 5:10 am when a suspect smashed a window with a bike rack and threw a smoke grenade inside the premises. The fire department was called as well.
Read on »Oulu’s knee-jerk reaction to the sexual assault crimes will do a lot of harm to the city’s image. Blame the media, police, politicians.
The question Migrant Tales asked a while back if the City of Oulu’s decision to ban visits by asylum seekers to child care centers and schools is legal. Can you ban a single group, in this case, asylum seekers, from visiting such places? As far as how the law works in Finland, the ban should
Read on »Sampo Terho says clean up the mess his party created thanks to tighter asylum laws
What is the difference between the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and Blue Reform party? With respect to racism, the PS is definitely with gusto while Blue Reform is gusto with a tie. Both are racist parties that aim to undermine migrants, minorities and Others from having a greater voice in Finland.
Read on »WARNING: RACIST CONTENT – Halla-aho announces that anti-immigration will be the PS’ main campaign theme
With parliamentary elections a heartbeat away on April 14, the populist far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party announced that anti-immigration will be their main campaign theme. Are we surprised? Not in the bit. PS Chairperson Jussi Halla-aho was quoted as saying in Yle that at the present rate, Finland’s immigration policy will destroy present levels of social welfare, undermine
Read on »Ku Klux Klan in the US, Perussuomalaiset in Finland
The editorial below by the Alabama-based Democrat-Reporter, calling on the Ku Klux Klan “to ride again” and lynch Democrats, was not published in the last century but in 2019. This editorial is a good example that the United States is a racist country and has done too little to eradicate this social ill.
Read on »PS’ Jussi Halla-aho on TV offerng simplistic views on migration and Finnish identity
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-aho was a guest on Yle’s Ykkösaamu. Convicted for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion in 2012, the PS chairperson gave his usual simplistic views on immigration and Finnish identity.
Read on »Yle’s coverage of the Oulu sexual assault cases is an example of overkill and Islamophobia
How would you describe Yle’s coverage of the Oulu sexual assault cases? From November 27 to February 13, the state-owned broadcaster published a whopping 77 stories on the topic. This is not counting all the other stories that the tabloids and other print media published during that period.
Read on »Ministers Petteri Orpo and Kai Mykkänen are geniuses in migrant integration. Not.
As a sociologist and anti-racism activist, I was not surprised by the banality of Finance Minister Petteri Orpo’s and Interior Minister Kai Mykkänen’s model to better integrate migrants and do away with migrant crime. The answer? A test!
Read on »Facebook Soldiers of Odin: Now you see it but not all of it because something is missing
After Facebook temporarily shut the far-right Soldiers of Odin site, it is back up but the violent video the vigilante group posted is no longer there.
Read on »Facebook Soldiers of Odin: Before you saw it, now you don’t
It worked! I don’t know if it was because of me, and I am certain that many complained to Facebook about a far-right Soldiers of Odin posting. The video threatened acts of violence about how the pedophile hunting season started.
Read on »Facebook Soldiers of Odin: Asylum seeker and migrant hunting season have kicked off…
Far-right vigilante group Soldiers of Odin want to take the law in their hands by hunting pedophiles. After a bla-bla-bla Finnish macho rant, one of the vigilante members takes a club and starts threatening suspected “paedophiles,” which is a word used to mean asylum seekers. The masked vigilante warns in the video: “Pedophiles and raunchy
Read on »The PS is a far-right, populist party that hopes to strike election gold with the sexual assault cases of Oulu by migrants
Imagine a political party that jumps for joy when migrants are suspected of sexual assault like in the case of Oulu. Imagine a party that taps into voters’ Islamophobia, xenophobia and hatred to get votes. Imagine a party that aims at relegating migrants and minorities to second-class members of society with the help of lies and fake news.
Read on »Exposing Finnish white privilege #60: Oulu, OULU! Awaken and sniff the racist coffee.
Apart from the minors who were the victims of Oulu, other casualties are Finland’s migrant community and especially Muslim asylum seekers and refugees. Anti-Hate Crime Organisation Finland If the structure does not permit dialogue the structure must be changed. Paulo Freire THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED The hysteria generated by the sexual assault cases of
Read on »WARNING RACIST CONTENT: Helsingin Sanomat survey exposes the DNA of Finland’s racism
Helsingin Sanomat’s survey published on Monday after another questionable story on “model immigrants” was widely criticized on social media as outright racist. Even so, I would like to thank Finland’s largest daily for exposing the DNA of Finland’s racism and the continued low caliber of its journalism on topics related to asylum seekers and migrants.
Read on »Warning: Islamophobic content – schools and daycare centers in Oulu to temporarily ban visiting rights by asylum seekers, refugees
Here is a story you would never expect to read in a country like Finland, which bases its values on social equality, human rights and mutual respect. The decision to ban asylum seekers and refugees from visiting schools and daycare centers in Oulu due to the suspected sexual abuse cases raises a lot of questions.
Read on »Islamophobia and xenophobia on steroids: Jussi Halla-aho’s latest column in MTV
The Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson, Jussi Halla-aho, who was convicted of ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion in 2012, is a columnist for television station MTV. Two matters emerge when skimming through his latest column: The media is part of Finland’s racism problem; and the PS is the first modern Finnish party to capitalize exclusively on immigration, especially Islamophobia.
Read on »Esperi Care reveals a wider problem: Lack of effective regulation and political will
What does scandal surrounding Esperi Care tell us about problems plaguing private elderly homes in Finland and how regulators don’t their jobs? This, I believe, is not a problem that just faces the nursing home sector, but the whole of Finnish society.
Read on »Prime Minister Juha Sipilä: Asylum seekers should take exam on Finnish values
Ratcheting up suspicion and polarization in Finland against asylum seekers and migrants, Prime Minister Juha Sipilä said over the weekend that he favors giving refugees should take an entrance exam on Finnish values like bodily integrity before getting residence permits, according to Yle.
Read on »Finnish white privilege #59: In this country, you are guilty until proven innocent
Interior Minister Kai Mykkänen and the government are using the same tactics as the Nazis in World War 2 but in a different context. The government is not rounding up people and killing them in cold blood but punishing them severely for the crimes others did. Imagine the migrant community of Finland, especially Muslims and
Read on »The media of Finland is part of the country’s Islamophobia and racism problem
Journalists and newspapers in Finland, especially tabloids like Iltalehti, Ilta-Sanomat and state broadcaster YLE, are prime examples of not only white Finnish privilege but of white Finnish overkill and rage.
Read on »What political capital will the Finnish far-right Perussuomalaiset party gain from Oulu?
The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is the first modern Finnish party to capitalize politically on Finland’s Islamophobic and anti-immigration sentiment. With parliamentary elections around the corner on April 14, the question is if the PS will get a boost from the sexual assault cases of Oulu?
Read on »The wise tales of Uncle Toms and the unbalanced reporting by the Finnish media
Tabloid Ilta-Sanomat, which was complicit in the early 1990s of spreading racism wholesale in Finland, hasn’t yet apologized for its reporting about groups like the Somalis. In an interview with a Kurdish Islamophobe, Sheida Sohrabi, Ilta-Sanomat signals that it will never apologize for its shoddy and one-sided reporting.
Read on »Twitter Oula Silvennoinen: A justified question to the Finnish government
Amid the hysteria caused by nine sexual abuse cases in Oulu, and the eagerness of the government to punish all Muslims and Finland’s migrant community, Oula Silvennoinen* makes an outstanding point by retweeting @JanneKuusi’s comment. He tweets: “In the face of the ministerial delegations and the millions of subsidies, how were the other 1,400 pedophile
Read on »Oulu has turned Finland into a more hostile place for migrants, especially Muslims
A journalist asked me what I thought about the reaction of the politicians to the sexual assault cases in Oulu. Certainly, any sensible person would condemn such acts. But what could we say about the politicians and the media? My answer: The reaction of the politicians and the media is a clear sign of Finland’s ever-worsening
Read on »Migrant Tales’ first-ever “WARNING: ISLAMOPHOBIC AND XENOPHOBIC CONTENT ON STEROIDS (Katie Hopkins, Tiina Wiik and Junnes Lokka)
Katie Hopkins, the former columnist who got the boot from the Daily Mail and who has had to pay exorbitant sums for defamation, visited Oulu this week and was the special guests of Tiina Wiik and Junnes Lokka, both who have made a name in the same way as Hopkins – by spreading bigotry and Islmophobia.
Read on »WARNING: ISLAMOPHOBIC CONTENT – Laura Huhtasaari (Suomen Uutiset)
Why is this Islamophobic? Perussuomalaiset* Vice President Laura Huhtasaari usually makes Islamophobic comments on steroids and other times without them. In the news story below, Huhtasaari, who is an avid follower of US President Donald Trump’s and Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán’s anti-immigration policies, says that her party has the right solutions to migration and wants
Read on »Migrant Tales to launch new column to warn readers of toxic and racist content on the Internet and print media
As the parliamentary elections near in April and the EU elections in May, the Finnish print media and social media littered by politicians who are spreading Islamophobic, anti-semitic, racist, Afrophobic, anti-Roma and xenophobic content. Each story we pick from the net will get a classification and a short explanation why. The first one to make it on the
Read on »Finnish white privilege #58: How the police, media and politicians fuel Finland’s hostile environment against Muslims and migrants
As the sexual abuse cases in Oulu gather more steam and public outrage, one of the lessons we are overlooking is our reaction and racism. What role do the police, media and politicians play in fostering hostility towards migrants in general and Muslims in particular?
Read on »When will we know the truth about what happened to the 10-year-old Muslim girl who was violently attacked?
A letter to the editor in Friday’s Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest daily, puts into question statements by the police and the principal of the Juvankoski school, where a 10-year-old girl wearing a hijab was attacked last month by four of her classmates.
Read on »Finnish white privilege #57: Finland’s “hostile environment” against migrants
UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s policy nurtured a climate of suspicion called today the “hostile climate” in which people are deemed guilty unless they can prove themselves innocent. Does Finland have a hostile climate against migrants like in the UK? One could answer in the affirmative after listening to a long list of politicians who don’t have anything
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: The end of white Finland’s hegemony over narrative and “truth”
“There are signs that white Finland’s hegemony over culture and society is being seriously challenged. Green League MP Ozan Yanar rightfully questioned President Sauli Niinistö’s problematic speech about migrants. We have information as well that the police and school principal may have played down what happened to a 10-year-old Muslim girl at school in Espoo in
Read on »What about if what happened to a 10-year-old Muslim girl last month is true?
Remember the picture of a 10-year-old Muslim girl that went viral on the Internet on December 19? We still have not heard from the parents of the girl covered with blood in the picture below. What about if the story is true and that racism was the cause that sparked the incident?
Read on »MP Ozan Yanar is right: President Sauli Niinistö’s New Year’s speech is problematic
Whenever President Sauli Niinistö comments about asylum seekers, migrants and minorities there is usually a problem (see links below). Those of us who are anti-racist activists, will never forget his two-extremes argument, which puts people who fight to defend human rights as one extreme with the other extreme consisting of Neo-Nazis and other far-right groups
Read on »Facebook Suomen Muslimiverkosto: Vandalism during Christmas
Migrant Tales insight: The mosque, which is run by the Islamic Society of Northern Finland, is once again the target of vandalism. Since September 2017, the mosque in Oulu was vandalized eight times. It is shameful that a country like Finland, which claims to promote social equality, allows such acts to happen. Which politicians will
Read on »10-year-old Muslim girl of Espoo: The police say one thing while others say another
In earlier statements and interviews to the media, the Finnish police have claimed the presence of “wild” rumors about a ten-year-old girl, who was assaulted. The picture with the girl on social media had text that claimed that her hijab, or veil, was torn off and that she was left unconscious after being hit by four roughly same-aged classmates.
Read on »Why aren’t we hearing the opinion of the parents concerning the beating of a 10-year-old Muslim girl in Finland?
The tragic picture of a 10-year-old girl below covered in blood kicked unconscious by her white Finnish classmates, raises a lot of interesting questions: One of these is why we’re not hearing what the victim’s parents have to say?
Read on »Two Police statements, two different views on the racialization of crime
What happens when a crime happens? Which groups get singled out and what is the age limit for labelling them?
Read on »UPDATED: Muslim girl beaten unconsious by fellow children in the Finnish city of Espoo
A ten-year-old Muslim girl was beaten unconscious in Espoo, according to MTV. The picture of the victim was posted on Instagram, according to sources that contacted Migrant Tales.
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: The victim of rape and racism
“What similarities are there between the victim of rape and racism? Deniers of rape blame the woman for causing the man to rape her. Deniers of racism blame the victim for causing the man or woman to insult him or her. Racism feels like being raped. Racism and rape are chronic social ills. Arguments used
Read on »Statement Anti-Hate Crime Organisation Finland: Two reports that should worry us
This week Finland got cold water thrown at it from two reports that reveal hate crime and Afrophobia are serious problems. One may rightfully ask how a country like Finland, which claims to have one of the best education systems in the world, can do so little to stop such hatred.
Read on »European Agency of Fundamental Rights: Finland has the most racial harassment cases against PAD of 12 EU countries surveyed
A new study by the European Agency of Fundamental Rights (FRA) reveals that a third of people of African descent (PAD) surveyed have experienced racial harassment in the last five years. That’s not all: Perceived racist harassment was highest in Finland (63%) and least prevalent in Malta 20% (see chart below).
Read on »Far-right vigilante group Soldiers of Odin provokes migrants in East Helsinki
Without anything better to do than to provoke visible migrants, some 30 members of the far-right Soldiers of Odin were seen at East Helsinki’s Puhos shopping mall on Monday, according to a video by Finnish Somalimedia Warsan.
Read on »Finland knows that it is in demographic hot water but leaves its future woes to chance
A new forecast by Statistics Finland tells us what we’ve known for a long time: We are in demographic hot water and our population will start to shrink and get older, according to YLE News. Net immigration will maintain present population levels at 5.6 million until 2035, but will decline to 5.5 million in the 2050s.
Read on »The PS and Blue Reform of Finland are an aberration and should be voted out in 2019
I have never believed or trusted the Perussuomalaiset (PS),* even if some were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt after their historic win in the 2011 parliamentary elections. Some claimed that it would only be a matter of time when they imploded. The implosion of the party happened in June 2017, or six
Read on »Laura Huhtasaari: The Perussuomalaiset MP with the sinister kindergarten-teacher smile
With parliamentary elections in April, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Vice President Laura Huhtasaari is busily fear-mongering us about how Finland is losing its identity and how Islam is on track of taking over Europe.
Read on »Racism, Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia: Words can turn into bullets and corpses
Recently we have seen the consequences of hatred towards minorities in the United States: The cold-blooded shooting of an alt-right suspect that attacked a synagogue killing 11 people in Pittsburgh, the killing of two African Americans in Louisville, and mail bombs sent to Democrats and liberals who oppose President Donald Trump.
Read on »Xenophobic and pro-Russia online publication MV-lehti founder Ilja Janitskin slapped with 22-month prison sentence
Migrant Tales applauds the sentencing by the Helsinki District Court on Thursday of Ilja Janitski, the founder of the xenophobic website MV-lehti and Uber Uutiset, on 16 criminal charges. Janitski was handed a twenty-two-month prison sentence and with two others found guilty, was ordered to pay the biggest share of damages amounting to 136,000 euros.
Read on »Laura Huhtasaari and Ville Tavio: How some sectors of the Finnish Lutheran Church promote racist discourse
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* vice-president and MP, Laura Huhtasaari, is keen on building her political career on Islamophobia and polarizing our country in two distinct camps: “us” and “them.”
Read on »How the Finnish police fuel mistrust and erode credibility with migrants and ethnic minorities
The Finnish police servicer held a seminar on Wednesday on migrant surveillance. NGOs like Stop Deportations and Refugees Welcome expressed outrage and published some PowerPoint slides shown at the seminar by the Helsinki Police department responsible for immigration matters.
Read on »Far-right politician Huhtasaari and the PS pull one of the oldest tricks on the media
Anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* vice president, Laura Huhtasaari, hit the jackpot when she attacked a Finnish school project in Tampere for “encouraging hatred.” The poster made by teenage students pitted herself and the PS’ chairperson, Jussi Halla-aho, against President Sauli Niinistö and Green Alliance MP Pekka Haavisto with the following question: towards Finland, or towards death.
Read on »Blue Reform’s Sampo Terho of Finland and his politically ambidextrous misbeliefs
Blue Reform* minister for European affairs, culture and sports, Sampo Terho is politically ambidextrous: He can say one thing and state a totally different thing. It is like coming out of the closet and going back in. The opportunism in such ambidextrous behavior is believing that others don’t notice. And we do. In the statement
Read on »How would we classify Finland’s immigration and asylum policy? Thumbs up, or down?
Just like President Donald Trump has destroyed the US’ standing in the world, what wreckage has Finland’s immigration and asylum policy brought on our society and our country’s name?
Read on »The bad and good news after Sweden’s 2018 parliamentary elections
There is good and bad news after Sunday’s parliamentary elections. The bad news is that the far-right Sweden Democrat saw its support rise by 4.7 percentage points to 17.6% compared with the elections in 2014, according to Svenska Dagbladet. The good news – if it can be considered as such – is that the result was well below expectations.
Read on »Finland’s ministry of the interior will (alas) launch an independent inquiry of Migri
Conservative National Coalition Party Minister of the Interior Kai Mykkänen announced Friday that an independent inquiry of the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) will be launched, according to YLE. The minister said, however, that the independent inquiry should not be seen as a lack of trust in Migri’s work, which has had to process some 45,000
Read on »The Trumpization of Finnish politics
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* vice president Laura Huhtasaari, a vocal Islamophobic anti-immigration politician, has been since January under scrutiny due to the plagiarism found in her Master’s thesis. If you read the reaction of the Finnish media about the latest ruling by the University of Jyväskylä, one common theme is that the plagiarism scandal will not affect
Read on »Blue Reform MP Simon Elo: Let’s make discrimination official in Finland
Even if the Blue Reform*, which is an offshoot of the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS), wants to change the constitution so that non-Finnish citizens would get paid less social welfare than Finnish citizens, the suggestion by MP Simon Elo exposes to the tee the racism of his party and hatred of migrants. Blue Reform, like the
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: How anti-diversity and Islamophobic is Finland?
“One of the big denials that one still hears a lot in Finland is its denial of the rise of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, an Islamophobic party that won 39 seats in the parliamentary elections of 2011 from just 5 MPs in previously. There was an ongoing debate after 2011 within the PS on what caused its historic election victory. Then party leader Timo Soini claimed it was anti-EU sentiment while its present leader, Jussi Halla-aho, claimed it was the PS’ Islamophobic stance.
Read on »Where is the outcry for the Danish government’s assimilation plans of migrant children?
Denmark’s xenophobic and especially Islamophobic government plans to regulate by law the life in 25 low-income Muslim neighborhoods. The message is clear and should cause outrage but we have not heard a humble finger lifted by the European Union about the government’s forced assimilation plan.
Read on »Thailand versus the Mediterranean: Your human value hinges on ethnic and cultural background
We have all been reading about the rescue operation in northern Thailand raises a question: Why so much media interest in the fate of twelve children trapped for sixteen days when between 23,000 and 28,500 of people have perished in the Mediterranean during 1993-2018 while trying to travel to Europe.
Read on »Viktor Orbán is one of the many scary faces of Europe’s violent and racist legacy
After the FIDEZ-KDNP alliance gave Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán 133 our of 199 seats in the April parliamentary elections, where anti-immigrant and anti-EU liberal ideology was contested in a hostile campaign, the prime minister said that the vote was a decisive victory to defend the country.
Read on »PS MP Teuvo Hakkarainen gets convicted for sexual harassment after ethnic agitation. Why is he still a lawmaker?
Disgraced Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Teuvo Hakkarainen was convicted by a Helsinki District Court for sexual harassment after he attempted to kiss MP Veera Ruoho by force, according to YLE News. Hakkarainen was convicted last year for ethnic agitation. The Helsinki District Court ordered Hakkaranen to pay fines amounting to 3,060 euros to the state and 1,400
Read on »The children of separated families in the US are telling us to change our greedy ways
In Europe, the driver of millions of asylum seekers is us. We invaded with the United States and gave support to the invasion of Iraq. In Latin America, the driver of refugees to the United States is Washington’s big-stick policy and economic exploitation of the region’s wealth and opportunities.
Read on »The more politicians and racists vilify migrants the stronger we get
No matter how much politicians vilify migrants and continue to attack us, the more desperate their situation becomes.
Read on »Finnish identity: You define who you are, nobody else can or should do that for you
The Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is a shrinking single-issue political party that wants, but cannot succeed, at turning Finland into a Denmark-style country where political parties try to outdo each other in their racism and bigotry.
Read on »Exposing white Finnish privilege #52: Having no privilege is dangerous
A report commissioned by the Finnish ministry of the interior revealed that migrants are 2.5 times more likely than white Finns to be assaulted, reports YLE News. Another study published in 2014 by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), showed that first-generation immigrants at school are more likely to experience bullying, physical threats and sexual
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Denmark proves that Nordic “equality” is selective and does not apply to minorities like Muslim women
While we should not be surprised that Denmark, the Nordic region’s and one of Europe’s most Islamophobic country, voted to ban the niqab and burka,* according to Politico. While I have seen only twice in my lifetime in Finland a woman wearing a niqab, I have never seen one using a burka. How many women will be affected by this ban? Apart from making it clear who has the right to gender equality in Denmark, the measure is another example of Europe’s hypocrisy. The women Denmark targets are the ones that it now attacks with more gusto thanks to the ban.
Read on »Why the Finnish media and police do not have credibility with minorities and migrants
When I was making a living as a journalist many years ago, I learned that the best way to get scoops was by having good sources. Even if this is clear, the question is how do you get those good sources so that you bump into news and scoops?
Read on »Minister of Justice Antti Häkkänen states there “is no room in Finland for Sharia law”
Finnish Minister of Justice Antti Häkkänen surprised participants at an Advisory Board for Ethnic Relations (ETNO) meeting on Tuesday by stating that “there is no room in Finland for Sharia law or other efforts towards a parallel society,” according to YLE News.
Read on »New investigation finds Laura Huhtasaari’s plagiarism of master’s thesis more extensive than originally believed
A new investigation of the plagiarism of far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party vice president and MP Laura Huhtasaari’s master’s thesis showed that “major parts” were copied and were more extensive than Jyväskylä’s University’s conclusions, according to YLE News.
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Tightening of immigration laws in Finland and the exploitation of migrants
The near-constant negative labelling of visible migrants like Muslims and minorities by too many Finnish politicians and society has not only weakened their civil rights as Amnesty International pointed out, but led to their exploitation by dishonest and greedy employers that promise them a job and a ticket to a residence permit.
Read on »Finland’s hostile environment for migrants, asylum seekers, and all types of minorities
At Migrant Tales, we are hearing more and more stories about the suffering and plight of undocumented migrants and how greedy companies are taking advantage of asylum seekers. Some of these that we have heard are asylum seekers working full time in black for 500 euros a month and a promise that they will be hired as staffers, which would help them to get a residence permit.
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: The Finnish media’s hidden racism
“The fascination of the Finnish media for racist statements by politicians like Laura Huhtasaari is the real culprit behind the spread and normalization of racism in this country. If I had to give a grade to the Finnish media on how it handles stories about diversity and racism, I would give it a fail.”
Read on »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 »Another case of an Iraqi asylum seeker married to a Finn with a five-month child who may face deportation
Just like Abdul, the Iraqi asylum seeker who is married to a Finnish woman expecting their child in September, Ibrahim* is the latest case of another asylum seeker denied a Finnish residence permit by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri). The Iraqi asylum and his Finnish wife Inna have a five-month-old child.
Read on »Pressiklubi gives simplistic, apologetic view on how the Finnish media is “more balanced” today when writing about non-white Finns
It is surprising to hear how some politicians and journalists continue to have simplistic and apologetic views of racism and bigotry in this country. If YLE’s Päivi Happonen and Atte Kaleva’s words are to be believed on Pressiklubi, the Finnish media has finally woken up and writes more balanced stories about migrants and minorities that live in Finland.
Read on »Four questions about the Finnish chapter of The State of Islamophobia in Europe report
The State of Islamophobia in Europe report was published on Monday. Linda Hyökki, is the researcher who did the report on Finland. Migrant Tales asked her four questions about the report. Linda Hyökki* Migrant Tales (MT): What surprised you the most about doing the last report on Finland? Leena Hyökki: “There were no drastically surprising changes when
Read on »Finland must stop locking up asylum seekers and their children
The picture of one of the seven minors who was detained at the Joutseno immigration removal center in April 2017 should shock us all. That picture, the asylum policies of the Finnish Immigration Service, and the government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä are destroying the very values of our Nordic welfare state.
Read on »Instead of just being against racism why not take on the real culprit: structural racism in the Finnish police
Thank you for the video but where is the black police officer, the Muslim police wearing hijab like in the UK? Does the Finnish police service reflect the cultural and ethnic mix of the communities they serve? The Finnish police service is big on gender equality but lags far behind in cultural diversity.
Read on »After the Perussuomalaiset-Blue Reform, the National Coalition Party is the most anti-immigration party in the Finnish parliament
If you ask anyone in Finland which party thrives on anti-immigration sentiment and bigotry, the answer is simple: Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and Blue Reform. The difference between these two is that the former is a racist party that came out of the closet and the latter one which went back to the closet. Here’s the question:
Read on »Does data harvesting occur in Finland? Is there a connection beween the PS’ 2011 and Donald Trump’s election of 2016?
In the face of the growing scandal about harvesting our personal data by groups like Cambridge Analytica and others, there is a question that needs investigating and answering: Did the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, particularly Matias Turkkila and his Hommaforum gang, use the same tactics to give the PS its historic victory in 2011?
Read on »The violent attack against a Pakistani migrant in Vantaa should be treated as a hate crime
The Pakistani, who was attacked in a brutal manner in Vantaa on February 23 by three white Finnish youths carrying a knife, ax, and a pointed object, sees what happened to him was a hate crime.*
Read on »Asylum seeker Ibrahim has applied to hundreds of jobs in Finland without luck
Most of our perceptions of visible migrants and minorities are erroneous and an outright lie. Remember when Perussuomalaiset* party secretary, Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo, labelled all refugees in 2015, including countries like Syria, as economic migrants and welfare shoppers?
Read on »Pakistanis, Muslims, feel insecure in Finland after dreadful attack against a migrant
The brutal attack against a Pakistani on Friday night (February 23) is one of the worst-ever against a migrant. It took four hours last week to remove his stitches. As a result of what happened, the Pakistani and Muslim communities of Finland don’t feel safe.
Read on »QUOTE OF THE WEEK: How the Finnish government ostracizes migrants and asylum seekers
Migrant Tales insight: How the Finnish government labels and ostracizes in general migrants/asylum seekers in Finland and undocumented migrants in particular. Do you need more proof why Finland is a hostile place for migrants and minorities? Finnish posting by Jukka Eräkare: Read the original text here. English translation: “In this context, illegal migrants are defined as
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Populism is like pissing in your pants
“Populism is like pissing in your pants in freezing temperatures. It may feel good for a moment but you soon understand it was a dumb idea. You now have two problems instead of one: freezing temperature and your freezing-cold urine.”
Read on »Exposing white Finnish privilege #49: When white privilege backfires
Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s hardline asylum and immigration policy reminded me of the 1980s when former Aliens Office director Eila Kännö’s tough line turned against her. I see the same thing happening today with the government’s asylum and immigration policy.
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Silence is “approval” of racism
“Silence is the first thing after hate that is dangerous…silence is not the answer, hate is not the answer.” Holocaust survivor If what the Holocaust survivor says is true, and there is no reason to believe that it isn’t true, there is widespread approval of racism in our society. I live in Finland, so the
Read on »Laura Huhtsaari’s “new normal” is a synonym and carte blanche for open violence and hostility against migrants and minorities
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* presidential contender and MP, Laura Huhtasaari, claimed in her speech Sunday that populism isn’t a passing phase but will become to “new normal.” In Huhtasaari’s and the PS’ violent world that targets migrants and minorities, the MP deceives the crowd by stating this “new normal” is a good matter.
Read on »Laura Huhtasaari show us the way up the pyramid of hate
Staying on the topic of Perussuomalaiset* presidential candidate Laura Huhtasaari, I took the liberty to ask her a question on Messenger. To no-one’s surprise, she didn’t care to answer my question.
Read on »The police should investigate MV for labeling people “terrorists” and publishing their pictures
MV-lehti is a racist trash publication that doesn’t care to put people in harm’s way by labeling them as “terrorists” as did happen in Murha.info. Migrant Tales believes that one of the many defamation cases and crimes investigated by the police involving MV should involve an Iraqi asylum seeker called Jihad Baghdadi. Baghdadi’s picture was published in MV-lehti
Read on »Finland’s Perussuomalaiset party and its disdain for #metoo and our institutions
What do you do if an Islamophobic MP called Teuvo Hakkarainen gets so drunk in parliament that he picks a fight with other MPs from the rival Blue Reform party by throwing bottles at their meeting? What about if that same MP, convicted for hate speech, grabs a fellow woman MP and forces her to kiss him?
Read on »For some asylum seekers Kemi, Finland, is a dangerous place after 8 pm on Saturdays
Some asylum seekers in the northern Finnish city of Kemi claim that they do not leave their homes after eight pm on Saturdays because it’s too dangerous. One asylum seeker, who got a residence permit, said that this was advice that he received from the Red Cross.
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Finland’s lost decade
I asked a Finnish MP in the mid-1980s why she didn’t speak out against racism if she knew it was an issue. Just like the hatred of the Soviet Union and Russians made us go to bed with Nazi Germany in World Wr 2 (1941-44), the same hatred permits us to be racists and bigots
Read on »Exposing white Finnish privilege #41: An Islamophobic politician and gender equality
A campaign for gender equality by Naisjäjestöt NJKL is an excellent example of white privilege and denial. In the tweet below, we know that Elisabeth Rehn and former Helsiniki Bishop Irja Askola have spoken out against racism and hate speech. However, on the top right hand of the picture we find Blue Reform* (New Perussuomalaiset) MP Maria Lohela, who made her political career by spreading Islamophobia and hatred towards migrants.
Read on »Saturday was a day of marching neo-Nazis and coded populist anti-immigration rhetoric
Blue Reform (formerly Perussuomalaiset*) MP Sampo Terho was interviewed on Saturday by YLE’s Ykköaamu talk show. Later in the day in Tampere, neo-Nazis and other fascists held demonstrations.
Read on »YLE News: What Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen forgets to tell us about growing hate speech in Finland
There’s a lot of evidence of how Finland denies an issue like racism and near-constantly plays down its impact on migrants, minorities, and society in general. Prosecutor General Raija Toivainen claims in a YLE News story that racist statement lead to bitterness, radicalization, and terrorism.
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Unspeakable politicians and their own gain
White Finns rarely consult migrants and minorities on anything important. They may ask them their opinion on x and y but the final decision on policy is made by them because you don’t really count. And then there are people like Jussi Halla-aho, Laura Huhtasaari, Timo Soini, Wille Rydman, and many others who pour gasoline
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Lack of empathy
The lack of empathy by politicians and the government for the suffering of vulnerable groups like asylum seekers came to light again when two refugees stabbed themselves in protest of Finland’s asylum policy. Lack of empathy is the first step or reminder that our society is dysfunctional and in trouble. War now seems a possibility. “Old”
Read on »MTV: Normalizing racism and bigotry in Finland with Jussi Halla-aho’s help
After attending a European Network Against Racism in Brussels that ended Saturday, I discovered on my arrival to Finland that Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Chairman Jussi Halla-aho, who was convicted for ethnic agitation in 2012 and who built his political career on Islamophobia, is now a columnist in MTV, Finland’s largest privately owned television station.
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Finland’s ever-racist and ever-injust society
Where Finland thought it could find strength in nationalism is today its greatest stumbling block. Finland is such a white society today that it has a serious blind spot for detecting fascism, racism, and bigotry. Our impaired view and lack of leadership are creating an ever-racist and ever-injust society. The signs about our society’s issues with racism
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: Why do racists hate and target Muslims?
“Finland and Europe are suspicious of Muslims because their racism and hatred have ensured that their ‘integration’ polices have failed despite the fact that the majorty of Muslims are well-adapted. Instead of blaming their own prejudices for their failures, they scapegoat a religious and ethnic group.”
Read on »In Finland the enemy is within and in the structures, not outside threatening us
If I had to choose who discriminates and defends structural racism in Finland, I’d come to the following conclusion: Many of those who claim to be for social equality are the worst enemies of our culturally and ethnically diverse community. Their silence is one matter that exposes them but also their defensive stands whenever they feel threatened.
Read on »Migrants and minorities fear that Turku will fuel more hostility and racism in Finland
After the deadly terrorist attack in Barcelona Thursday, some expected the worse in Finland when the following day a young man stabbed indiscriminately ten people that killed two, according to YLE News. The police confirmed on Saturday that what happened was a terrorist attack.
Read on »Finland’s culturally diverse community must point out and scorn our Uncle Toms
What does it say about our society when second-generation children of migrants join far-right groups that spew racism? We have a few of them in Finland like Gleb Simanov and the even more notorious types like Junes Lokka, Marco de Wit, and Miki Sileoni.
Of
Read on »The fired bus driver who seeks fame with his racist videos will end up forsaken, jobless
Racism is a sickness, and as a disorder, it has consequences for the victim and the perpetrator. We learned about a bus driver and Peurssuomalaiset (PS)* politician called Gleb Simonov, who thought up the “bright” idea to videotape and insult only Somalis in three videos that he posted.
Read on »Defining white Finnish privilege #36: Hate speech and censorship
Let’s be honest and expose one of the biggest lies concerning hate speech and censorship that always pops up at interviews like the one Thursday MTV with (the old) Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party secretary Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo and the editor of the party’s magazine, Matias Turkkila.
Read on »The old and new Perussuomalaiset: Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right…
After the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party imploded on June 13 into two factions, there’s been a lot of finger-pointing from members of the old and new PS. This is nothing new coming from a party that has a long track record in scapegoating migrants and minorities.
Read on »A feature about a PS white supremacist and how the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) normalizes racism and bigotry
Northern Finnish Kemi city councilperson Harri Tauriainen is a white supremacist that is head over heels about US President Donald Trump. In a sloppy human-interest story about Tauriainen, the state-run Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) makes no mention of councilperson’s racist and bigoted political views except him denying that he’s a racist and neo-Nazi sympathizer.
Read on »Is Hanna Mäntylä qualified to advise the European Council on youth radicalization?
Are you ready for the following news? New Reform MP and former Perussuomalaiset* social and health minister, Hanna Mäntylä, is going to be named as a special advisor to the European Council. Her expertise will be used to challenge youth radicalization and marginalization.
Read on »The Finnish media gives a lot of space to Halla-aho and the PS but none to us
It’s clear that the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is a different party after this weekend, when Jussi Halla-aho, Laura Huhtasaari, Teuvo Hakkarainen and Juho Eerola were elected to lead the anti-immigrant and anti-EU party. Halla-aho spoke of in his policy speech of “nationalistic forces,” which is code for anti-immigration, anti-cultural diversity and anti-EU policies.
Read on »The PS steers further right exposing its shameless Islamophobia, racism, bigotry and ultranationalism
Like rubbing salt on Finland’s wound, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* newly elected chairman Jussi Halla-aho’s far-right anti-immigration policy got reinforcement after three Islamophobes were elected to lead the PS: Laura Huuhtasaari, Teuvo Hakkarainen and Juho Eerola were elected first, second and third vice-president, respectively.
Read on »Finnish municipal elections analysis: Anti-immigration and us-vs-them politics aren’t sustainable
One of the most important lessons of Sunday’s municipal elections is that the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, and especially its conservative anti-immigration message and wing, are the biggest losers.
Read on »Finnish ministry of interior survey about our “polarized debate” on asylum seekers reveals the government’s prejudices and failures
A new study published Tuesday by the interior ministry and carried out by Vaasa University raises some disturbing questions. What does the survey address and what does it reveal?
Read on »Behind Timo Soini of the populist Perussuomalaiset party is a hefty and mini #socialmediafrankenstein called Jussi Halla-aho and Sampo Terho
One of the biggest questions some observers have asked in Finland is what house of horrors will appear after the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* return to the minor political leagues. We got the answer today when PS MEP Jussi Halla-aho announced that he too is vying to chair the xenophobic party.
Read on »Day 25 of the Helsinki demonstration by asylum seekers: We are happy that you are a thorn in the government’s and Migri’s side
Twenty-five cold days have elapsed since a group of asylum seekers decided to exercise their democratic rights and protest deportation and the government’s strict asylum policy. The longer these demonstrators protest the deeper the thorn will penetrate the government’s and Finnish Immigration Service’s (Migri) side.
Read on »The creation and death of the Perussuomalaiset and its #socialmediafrankensteins in Finland
We once wrote about #socialmediafrankensteins and how Timo Soini and the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party had created such demons to victimize, attack and label migrants and minorities in Finland. Soini, a “good-cop” PS party chairman, is in reality no different from people like Jussi Halla-aho and his band of bigoted followers.
Read on »Migrants are “scum” and should be erased from the map say Geert Wilders, Marine Le Pen and other far-right politicians
Some are asking with manifest unease if this will be the year of the far-right populists like Dutch Geert Wilders, Marine Le Pen of France and Frauke Petry of the German Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). The first test will be in Holland on March 15 followed by another nail-biter in France on April 23 and May 7.
Read on »Donald Trump and the post-election European horror story
We don’t mean to scare you with this tweet below. But it’s interesting to note how the Donald Trump’s rise to the US presidency is bringing out the absolute worst in Europe.
Read on »Who’s responsible for the spike in hate crimes in Finland?
National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen states that there is an upsurge in hate crimes in Finland, according to YLE News. He states that those hate crimes that are reported to the police service are only the tip of the iceberg. Is Kolehmainen being disingenuous? Why doesn’t mention he state clearly that politicians and political parties are polarizing society and emboldening racists?
Read on »Will Halla-aho be the PS’ savior or the party’s political grave?
A while back I asked a friend what would happen if the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* implode as we’ve seen in the polls. What will emerge from the ruin of that xenophobic party will be another one that is more sinister and more dangerous. With PS MEP Jussi Halla-aho’s decision to challenge Timo Soini and run for chairman of the party is the birth of a radical anti-immigration party in the same league as the Islamophobic Danish People’s Party.
Read on »Is Christmas a time of joy and hatred towards Muslims?
An asylum seeker in Finland sent Migrnat Tales this picture at a bus stop in Mikkeli, located about 230km north of Helsinki. Finland is gearing up for the Christmas spirit as some racists post these hateful posters.
Read on »Perussuomalaiset speaker of parliament Maria Lohela is a disingenuous Islamophobe
I couldn’t believe what Perussuomalaiset (PS)* speaker of parliament, Maria Lohela, quoted today at a flag-raising ceremony in Helsinki commemorating independence day. Apart from being an MP, Lohela is an Islamophobe, she has a track record against gay and immigrant rights.
Read on »Will Donald Trump breathe new life into a doomed party called the Perussuomalaiset?
Donald Trump’s election victory has emboldened our own group of populists, racists, and bigots in Finland who pray what happened in the United States will breathe new life into a political disaster called the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*. There are many reasons why copying and pasting populist rhetoric in the United States won’t work in Finland.
Read on »Do ethnic agitation charges against Teuvo Hakkarainen give us a whiff of the rot spreading in government and our society?
MP Teuvo Hakkarainen, who is facing ethnic agitation charges, and the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party are deplorable examples of how low our society has stooped in the dubious racism and bigotry league.
Read on »Finnish PS MP Hakkarainen is charged (alas) for ethnic agitation
Perussuomlaiset (PS)* MP Teuvo Hakkarainen, who has made numerous racist and bigoted statements against Muslims, Somalis and gays finally got charged for ethnic agitation by the state deputy prosecutor. Hakkarainen isn’t the only politician being charged for ethnic agitation. On that shameful list are Mertsu Merivireta, Terhi Kieumunki and Olli Sademies.
Read on »Being FUCKING INSANE in today’s Europe
Following the high court decision in France that ruled to suspend the anti-burkini decree in southern France, it looks like the row will not die down, according to The Guardian. Imagine how “offended” people like former president Nicolas Sarkozy and others are and who now want a nationwide prohibition of the burkini in France.
Read on »If we are against racism, bigotry and homophobia why do we continue to be Facebook friends?
Some may rightly ask why it took over a year to charge former PS substitute councilman Olli Sademies for stating that African men should be sterilized, Here’s another question: Why are there so few light-slap-on-the-hand sentences for hate speech in Finland? In 2009-14 there were only 27 people who were sentenced for ethnic agitation, according to MTV, which cites Statistics Finland.
Read on »The Finnish media’s “fascination” of racists is a problem
Here’s a simple question: Why on earth does a newspaper like Etelä-Suomen Sanomat of Lahti even bother to publish a story about a handful of racists who demand that Finland shuts its borders to asylum seekers?
Read on »Juha Sipilä and Petteri Orpo: The sad Finnish tale of spineless politicians
In the United States, a lot of Republican politicians who should know better still haven’t withdrawn their support for Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump despite his ultranationalistic, racist and misogynistic comments. The latest row involves Trump insulting the parents of Captain Humayun Khan, a Muslim who was killed in Iraq.
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 »Soldiers of Odin: Finland now “exports” hate and white supremacist ideology to the world
Alongside our world-famous education system, Finland now becomes known for things that some would consider shameful but was never challenged enough like the Soldiers of Odin, a white (Finnish) supremacists hate group that has caught the attention of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a USAmerican anti-Semitism and anti-bigotry group founded in 1913.
Read on »What former Kolari asylum reception center deputy manager “likes” on Facebook (and it’s not pretty)
Finland was hard pressed to set up reception centers last year to house some 32,500 asylum seekers. In that quest, it’s understandable that some mistakes were made when hiring staff. What is commendable is that the Finnish Immigration Service succeeded at finding a reception center place for each of the asylum seekers.
Read on »Migrant Tales January 20, 2013 and case Terhi Kiemunki: The PS cannot rid itself of its racists because it would commit political hara-kiri
Migrant Tales insight: Are you still wondering why Terhi Kiemunki got off with a light slap on the hand by the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party for writing on Facebook that it was unfortunate that she didn’t have any condoms to give Muslim children trick-or-treating? Even if Kiemunki is an Islamophobe that Anders Breivik emailed her before murdering 77 people on July
Read on »The Perussuomalaiset and hate speech, hypocrisy and red herrings
Why wasn’t a member of a high-ranking government party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* sacked after she said on Facebook that she didn’t have condoms to give Muslim children tricker-or-treating?
Read on »Does the Trump phenomenon in Europe reflect that white Europe is being challenged?
If Donald Trump stands a good chance at being nominated as the Republican party’s presidential candidate this year, surely it says a lot about the moral state of USAmerica. Noam Chomsky, the renowned scholar, was quoted as saying in the Huffington Post that the Trump phenomenon revealed that white USAmerica is dying.
Read on »The face of fascism in Finland: Before and after
There is a fascinating book published by Olli Silvennoinen, Marko Tikka and Aapo Romelius titled Suomalaiset fasistit (Finnish fascists). One of the authors, Silvennoinen, states in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat that the same arguments used in the 1920s to feed fascism are used today.
Read on »Scaremongering by the PS of Finland is always at full swing
Finland’s Perussuomalaiset (PS)* defense minister, Jussi Niinistö, believes that up to one million “illegal” immigrants could come to Finland, according to YLE News. Niinistö, a historian who has played down the role of fascist associations like the Lapua Movement (1929-32), fear-mongers to shore up support for his ailing party.
Read on »Finland’s xenophobic Denmark slippery slope
Considering that the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party is in government and that the two other ruling partners, the Center Party and National Coalition Party (NCP), need the support of the PS to downsize the welfare state, it’s clear why Finland is tightening its immigration policy.
Read on »The “Denmarkization” of Finnish immigration policy
The Perussuomalaiset (PS) are eager to pass legislation that will not only hurt asylum seekers but all migrants and minorities that live in Finland. After breaking almost all of their campaign promises and after their poll rating have plummeted to single-digit percentages, the PS only have one trump card left in their political bag of tricks: anti-immigration rhetoric and policy.
Read on »Olli Sademies finally gets sacked from the PS of Finland for being too racist
Olavi Sademies, a former member of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) * party and sustitute councilman for Helsinki, is a disgrace to the police service, Finns and Finland. His Facebook comments are openly racist and reveal what is wrong with this country and why the PS can never aspire to be a “normal” party.
Read on »Let’s have a frank talk about rape and xenophobia in Finland
I don’t usually begin an opinion piece with a quote by an Islamophobe like Hirvisaari in November 11 that was sentenced for ethnic agitation. This will be an exception because I’d like to answer the claim that the former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP made in parliament: Islamophobes like you usually dress up hate speech and racism with so-called criticism of immigration policy.
Read on »Terrorism ironically exposes the lies of Islamophobic politicians and parties
The closer terrorist acts hit us like the tragedy that befell Paris on Friday, the fewer the arguments nationalist-populist groups have to defend their xenophobia. Most of these types of politicians in Finland prefer to hang low after the terror attacks.
Read on »France’s and Isis’ spiral of one-way terror and destruction
The Paris attacks of Friday 13 came as a windfall to hardliners who still believe that the solution in the Middle East is military. We are now seeing the impact of such a mistaken policy in the way of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers coming to Europe and the terror attacks of Friday 13.
Read on »Migrant Tales Literary: Would you buy a used car from PS’ Timo Soini?
Timo Soini is chairman of the nationalist populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. After the most recent opinion polls showed that the political future of the PS is bleak to say the least, what will Soini do after his party returns to the minor political leagues? Will he start to sell used cars?
Read on »UPDATE (October 6): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism
Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link. October 6 A2 Pakolais-ilta (YLE) What was wrong with this television debate? Even if one of the hosts on the program was Wali Hashi, it was
Read on »Tuomas Enbuske says he doesn’t like the term Islamophobia because he considers himself to be one
Did anyone watch Friday’s Pressiklubi with writer Jari Tervo, Left Alliance MP Silvia Modig and Tuomas Enbuske? Tervo shun with his comments against racism while Enbuske was a flop. The host, Ruben Stiller, asked all three guests if the’ve ever felt fear or uncomfortable around foreigners. See full program (in Finnish) here. Enbuske has hosted twice extremist
Read on »Finland is slowly waking up to the humanitarian refugee crisis in Europe
You know that President Sauli Niinistö said something wrong about the humanitarian refugee crisis in Europe if Perussuomalaiset (PS)* spokesperson Matti Putkonen quotes the head of state to reinforce his party’s xenophobic and anti-cultural diversity message.
Read on »Finland Bridge: What threatens us?
Everything that puts Europe in harm’s way today is in some cases more challenging to Finland: geopolitical uncertainty in Russia ranks high on the list as does populism, anti-immigration sentiment, near-flat economic growth, high unemployment, rising poverty and nationalism.
Read on »“Scheduled to be evaluated psychologically” man sets fire to Islamic center in Copenhagen
A man sets fire to an Islamic center in Copenhagen, Denmark, when it was full of people but the police don’t consider what happened a terrorist act, according to the Copenhagen Post. Fortunately there were no victims. Muslim leaders in Denmark like Bashy Quraishy are extremely concerned about what happened. They are also asking why the attack
Read on »Finnish PS MP Olli Immonen takes swipe at asylum seekers, migrants and minorities
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Olli Immonen is at it again after his xenophobic Facebook posting about “the nightmare of multiculturalism.” This time he is taking a swipe at asylum seekers. He uses terms like “uncontrolled” and “avalanche” to promote his brand of xenophobic and far right hostility not only against asylum seekers, but against Finland’s ever-growing culturally and ethnically diverse community.
Read on »Finland’s Rosa Parks moment and crossing the line
For those of us who have been anti-racism activists for many years, Tuesday, July 28, offered us something we hadn’t seen before in Finland: A spontaneous 15,000-20.000-strong demonstration against racism and fascism in Helsinki. Was that very important demonstration a Rosa Parks moment and an important watershed to make Finland a more inclusive country?
Read on »PS MP Immonen “flees” country in the face of his declaration of war against multiculturalism
The headline in Iltalehti, a tabloid that has for years been responsible for spreading racism in Finland, writes on the front page that Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Olli Immonen has fled the country in the face of the hostile comments he made against cultural diversity. Running away and hiding because of what he wrote shows once again that
Read on »Migrant Tales (June 23, 2012): What is the fine line that separates Anders Breivik and PS MP Olli Immonen?
This week we heard Anders Breivik’s closing statements in his defense for killing 77 innocent victims. In his final tirade of how multiculturalism is responsible for fuelling the Islamization of Europe, the mass killer showed no remorse. “The attacks on July 22 were preventive attacks to defend the indigenous Norwegian people,” he said. “I therefore
Read on »Let´s (not) forget 22/7 and Anders Breivik
As we distance ourselves from the horror of July 22, 2011, when a Anders Breivik killed 77 innocent lives, the more our collective memory begins to fail us. Islamophobia, xenophobia and anti-cultural diversity sentiment have strengthened their grip in the Nordic region after 22/7.
Read on »UPDATE (July 20): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism
Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link. July 20 HOK-Elanto bouncer under discrimination investigation (YLE) What else could have been said? While this story is pretty clear and to the point about a discrimination
Read on »There is no market for an anti-Muslim repellent in Finland
Helsinki substitute councilman, Olli Sademies, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Helsinki substitute councilman who wrote that African men should be sterilized in Finland after having three children, now states that his so-called Muslim spray repellent is for rapists.
Read on »The PS, like the Confederate flag, is a symbol of racism and hatred for most migrants in Finland
In states like South Carolina, where Dylann Roof mass murdered nine people on June 18 at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, there is an ongoing debate about taking down the Confederate flag from senate house grounds. Instead of starting a race war which Roof wanted to ignite, his killings awoke us to the oppression and suffering that the Confederate flag continues to represent.
Read on »PS Substitute Councilman Olli Sademies to be investigated for hate speech
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Helsinki substitute councilman, Olli Sademies, will be investigated by the police for hate speech, reports the Swedish-language service of YLE.
Read on »UPDATE (July 4): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism
Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link. July 4 Bloggaja väittää: Huhtasaari liittyi rasistiseen Facebook-ryhmään itse (Satakunnan Kansa) What’s wrong with this story? This story by Pori-based daily Satakunnan Kansa is a good example of
Read on »PS MP Huhtasaari gets fingers burned after Helsingin Sanomat uncovers her membership in a racist Facebook site
Laura Huhtasaari of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party finds herself in hot water after Finland’s largest daily Helsingin Sanomat did some investigative journalism about the MP’s connection to an open racist Facebook site that has pictures of black children eating watermelon in a pail that reads another “bucket of shit.”
Read on »Finland’s deputy state prosecutor to investigate Sademies’ Facebook post on sterilizing Africans
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Helsinki substitute councilman Olli Sademies’ post on Facebook at the end of May, where he wrote that Africans should be sterilized after three children, is going to be investigated by the deputy state prosecutor, according to Tampere-based daily Aamulehti, citing Finnish News Agency (STT).
Read on »Danish People’s Party Pia Kjærsgaard: Inte min talman, or not my speaker of parliament [1]
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Speaker of Parliament Maria Lohela no longer is alone after Denmark’s new center-right government elected the founder of the xenophobic Danish People’s Party (DPP), Pia Kjærsgaard, as the new speaker of parliament, according to the Copenhagen Post. Like her counterpart in Finland, Kjærsgaard has built her political career on Islamophbobic fear-mongering.
Read on »Olli Sademies tweets: “I was taken down from Facebook due to an identity check”
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* substitute councilman for Helsinki, Olli Sademies, tweets that he was taken down from Facebook due to an identity check. If this is true, we should see Sademies back on Facebook with his racist comments about Muslims and Africans soon.
Read on »Marshall Niles’ example shows that racists can be taken down from Facebook
Marshall Niles, who is an associate editor of Migrant Tales, did what any sensible person would do when confronted with a heavy load of racism and Islamophobia: Find a way to challenge it. And that’s what he did. Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Helsinki substitute councilman for the city of Helsinki, Olli Sademies, got taken down from Facebook thanks to Niles’ leadership.
Read on »Is the Danish People’s Party advising the PS on how to become the biggest party in Finland?
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Helsinki substitute councilman, Olli Sademies, is creating Islamophobic waves again. Right, he’s the substitute councilman who suggested in the end of May that Africans should be sterilized after having three children. Now he wrote on his Facebook wall a “business idea” to create a pig’s blood spray that would be used against Muslims.
Read on »A letter from a Finn to a Swede
Dear friend, you probably read about the elections in Denmark and how xenophobia raised its head yet again in another Nordic country. The elections in Denmark didn’t surprise me. Two months earlier we had elections in Finland. Here too the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)* became the second-biggest party in parliament and are now in government.
Read on »Timo Soini overjoyed by Danish election result and good showing of the Islamophobic DPP
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Chairman and Foreign Minister Timo Soini wrote in his blog today that he was elated that the xenophobic Danish People’s Party emerged in the Danish elections as the second-biggest party after the Social Democrats.
Read on »Danish elections: Right-wing anti-immigration populism chalks up another victory in the Nordic region
The Danish elections are the latest example of what happens to mainstream parties when they parrot populist and xenophobic rhetoric. In the sad case of Denmark, all of the parties attempted to match the Danish People’s Party (DPP) anti-immigration message.
Read on »Does it pay to be a racist in Finland? You bet your sweet behind it does!
Some may ask why Islamophobia and racism have raised their ugly heads in Finland. Let’s take Persussuomalaiset MP and the recently elected speaker of parliament, Maria Lohela, as an example. By writing Islamophobic and racist opinion pieces Lohela not only ended up being elected twice to parliament but now has as the speaker of parliament at her disposal a 140,000-euro Audi with driver included.
Read on »Facebook: PS MP Huuhtasaari wants less immigrants to come to Finland
We’ve all read about Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Laura Huhtasaari, the conservative anti-immigration politician who believes that Muslims are a security risk in Finland. In a Facebook post below she’s at it again but this time she attacks all migrants.
Read on »Perussuomalaiset Maria Lohela: Inte min talman, or not my speaker of parliament
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Maria Lohela got elected Friday as speaker of parliament. Lohela is no ordinary MP but one who doesn’t believe in religious freedom, migrant and homosexual rights. As a politician she is the antithesis of Nordic values unless those values are supposed to socially exclude some and include others, like white Finns.
Read on »Xenophobia and Islamophobia get to first base in Finland: And now, what?
Living in Finland after the April 19 parliamentary elections is like witnessing a coup where xenophobia and Islamophobia have strengthened their stranglehold on our country with the blessings of the Center Party and National Coalition Party (NCP). With the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* in government and the election of PS MP Maria Lohela as the new speaker of parliament send a disturbing signal to many Finns and especially to our ever-growing culturally diverse community.
Read on »Emanuela Daniel tells about the historic protest they organized in front of parliament against the new speaker of parliament
Emanuela Daniel is an exemplary woman for organizing Friday a historic protest outside of parliament against Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Maria Lohela, who was elected as the new speaker of parliament. Susheela told Migrant Tales about that day and when she spoke to PS MP Teuvo Hakkarainen, who has also made many racist and Islmophobic statements against Finland’s ever-growing culturally diverse community.
Read on »Facebook: Thumbs down to Maria Lohela and hurray for our side!
When big mainstream parties play along with populist and anti-immigration parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, which base their campaign on one part hot air and two parts xenophobia and nationalism, you get the government we have today and a speaker of parliament called Maria Lohela. Christian Thibault has been a tireless activist for migrant and
Read on »New speaker of parliament Maria Lohela: Islamophobic skeletons in the closet
One of the surprise appointments that popped up was Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Maria Lohela, who was nominated Friday as the new speaker of parliament. Lohela is no common MP since she has taken a very strong stand against immigration in general and Muslims in particular.
Read on »UPDATED Helsingin Sanomat: PS Helsinki substitute councilman wants forced sterilization of new African refugees in Finland
Helsinki substitute councilman Olli Sademies of the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party stated on Facebook that Finland should carry out forced sterilization of new African refugees that move to the country, reports Helsingin Sanomat. Such a racist statement by a member of the PS is nothing new. A PS politician wrote in 2013 that groups like African
Read on »Facebook: Islamophobia and Danish Justice Minister Mette Frederiksen
Islamophobia is big in Denmark, very big and ugly. The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* have a special relationship with the Islamophobic Danish People’s Party (DPP). Don’t be surprised if Finland we’ll have one day ministers like Mette Frederiksen who spread Islamophobia as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Frederiksen isn’t a member of
Read on »ENAR: Racist crime continues to be a significant problem in all European countries
There were in the European Union in 2013 a total of 47,210 racist crimes, according to a first-ever report that doesn’t use official sources but those provided by NGOs, according to the European Network Against Racism (ENAR). The anti-racism Brussels-based NGO states that the amount of officially recorded racist crimes is only the tip of the
Read on »An apology from a former Islamophobe
Kathrin Oetrel of Pegida, which stands for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, formally apologized for her role as spokeswoman in the far-right Islamophobic movement. When will Islamophobic and xenophobic politicians in countries like Finland apologize in the same manner as Pegida’s former spokeswoman? Don’t hold your breaths, however. There will be no
Read on »Helsingin Sanomat, PS MP Laura Huhtasaari, populism and Islamophobia
There is one picture (see below) from an article on Helsingin Sanomat about Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Laura Huhtasaari that speaks volumes about not only her ethnocentric views when she visits a mosque for the first time in her life but that of Finland’s leading daily as well. Huhtasaari, who is convinced that she is on some anti-Islam crusade to
Read on »Laura Huhtasaari: The Islamophobic PS MP with the kindergarten teacher smile
Newly elected Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Laura Huhtasaari, who is trying to make a name for herself with an anti-immigration agenda, believes that migration from Islamic countries is a security risk for Finland, according to Pori-based daily Satakunnan Kansa, which cites Helsingin Sanomat.
Read on »Finland goes to the polls Sunday – don’t vote for these anti-immigration candidates
Finland will hold parliamentary elections on Sunday. One of the interesting question marks is who will come in second or third place. One poll predicts the Center Party winning (no surprise) with the National Coalition Party (NCP) and Perussuomalaiset (PS)* coming in second and third, respectively. The Social Democrats are in fourth place. During the last
Read on »UPDATE (Mar. 6): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism
Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link. Mar. 6 Olli Immonen rajoittaisi somaleiden maahanmuuttoa (Verkkouutiset) What’s wrong with this story? We all know what Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Olli Immonen’s xenophobic views are about migration and especially
Read on »UPDATE (Feb. 26): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism
Migrant Tales’2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link. Feb. 26 Koraaninluku radiossa nosti raivon – “Sotkee nuorten päät ja vihasoppa on valmis” (Helsingin Uutiset) What’s wrong with this story? Helsingin Uutiset is a community paper
Read on »European Network Against Racism: Muslims in Europe – Questions and Answers
European Network Against Racism (ENAR)* As anti-Muslim manifestations increase in Europe, particularly in the aftermath of the Paris and Copenhagen attacks, we clarify some misconceptions and answer some of the most frequent questions about Muslims in Europe. Visit original posting here. Q: Who are Muslim Europeans? Muslims have been present in Europe since the
Read on »Bashy Quraishy: Terrorism in Denmark – is it the result of war mongering policies?
Migrant Tales insight: My Muslim friend in Denmark, Bashy Quaraishy, courageously continues to write on Facebook about the attacks that took place in Denmark. He not only condemns the terrorist acts that left two dead and five wounded, but the Danish People’s Party (DPP), which has turned the country into an intolerable place for Muslims and migrants.
Read on »Racism Review: Islamophobia is a form of Racism
Jessie Daniels On Tuesday, three Muslim Americans were murdered by a white assailant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The victims, Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, were shot in the head by Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, a white man. Read original blog entry here. A “dispute over parking,” was what
Read on »Pegida tries to get a foothold in Finland
Pegida, a self-proclaimed “anti-Islamization” movement, which saw its leader Lutz Bachmann bow out after he posted a picture where he impersonated Htiler, is trying to get a foothold in Finland. The movement, which has established a Facebook page in Finland with 1,800 likes, has spread from Germany to other Nordic countries like Denmark, Norway and
Read on »YLE A-Studio: Let’s talk about stereotypes of Islam and jihadism
What was the message that Thursday’s YLE A-Studio program on jihadism attempted to convey with the help of background pictures in light of the Charlie Hebdo attack? Was it that Muslim women wear niqabs and that jihadists wear masks and are pissed off? Is that the underlying tone that YLE A-Studio want to convey to viewers about
Read on »Around 40% of Finns that have gone to fight for the Islamic State are “native white Finns”
As the media and politicians in Finland attempt to racialize the Islamic State debate (IS), Helsinki Police Chief Inspector Jari Taponen that about 20 ethnic white Finns have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight, reports YLE in English. Of around 50 that have joined IS from Finland, 6-8 have been killed in the fighting,
Read on »German Pegida movement leader quits after posing as Hitler
Lutz Bachmann, the head of Germany’s anti-Islam Pegida movement, quit after he posed on his Facebook as Hitler. The excuses and explanations after what Bachmann did are disingenuous. We’ve heard it so many times when these types of people get their fingers burned: Satire! Kathrin Oertel, a Pegida spokeswoman, said that while Bachmann’s comments about refugees
Read on »Fox News’ bigotry and opinionated reporting crossed a line
Fox News has done much to destroy the good name of Western journalism by turning the news business into bigoted entertainment. Since bigotry is a lie it has to change constantly to escape exposure. So-called “terrorism expert” Steven Emerson crossed a line on Fox News by claiming that there were “no-go zones” in Europe.
Read on »UPDATE (Jan. 19): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Fame of poor journalism
Migrant Tales’2015 Hall of Fame of poor journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link. Jan. 19 Koraaninpolttajapastori ei pelkää islamisteja (Ilkka) What was left out? Why would a newspaper in the Finnish western city of Seinäjoki be interested in the Islamphobic
Read on »UPDATE (Jan. 8): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Fame of poor journalism
Migrant Tales’2015 Hall of Fame of poor journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link. The story below was published 10 days ago. Apologies. But it is an important story that highlights why the media continues to paint Islam with a
Read on »Institute of Race Relations: Where monoculturalism leads
Migrant Tales insight: This perception or problem, monoculturalism, is affecting Finland as well. It explains why an anti-immigration party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* can raise the number of MPs in four years from 5 in 2007 to 39 in 2011. It explains why there is so little interest to tackle institutional racism and why so
Read on »PS youth league’s anti-Islam cartoon contest is all about Islamophobia in Finland
The Youth League of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* launched a competition to defend free speech in light of last week’s Charlie Hebdo attack, according to YLE in English. It is surprising that an anti-immigrant and especially anti-Islam party like the PS are the only ones who are organizing such a contest and so eager to defend
Read on »Racism Review: Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie: A Critical View
To be frank, the magazine Charlie Hebdo deserves criticism, not praise—despite the horrific events that have unfolded. While I am certainly not condoning the murder of its staff members, I do find them guilty of Islam-bashing and inconsiderately expressing religious intolerance, cultural ethnocentrism, and extremely poor human judgment, issues that should be important to antiracists
Read on »UPDATE (December 5): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism
How does the Finnish media give politicians that spread xenophobia and racism inflated respectability and importance? How can they spread their prejudices and lies about immigrants and minorities without the help of the media? Migrant Tales will begin to collect stories from January 7 written by careless journalists that have been taken for a ride by such
Read on »More red lights flashing in Sweden after three mosques set ablaze within a week
After one mosque was set ablaze on Christmas Day in Eskiltuna, two others have been targeted by suspected arsonists in the southern town of Esilöv on December 29 and in Uppsala on New Year’s Day, reports Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest daily. The attacks against three mosques took place within a week. The far right Sweden Democrats caused a
Read on »Islamophobia is rampant in the PS and they like it
Or should the headline read: Islamophobia is rampant in the PS and they LOVE it? Two members of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) Salo city board said in a statement that the Muslim religion is incompatible with our Nordic welfare state values. The statement by the PS of Salo, a city located 114km west of the capital
Read on »An effective way of putting racism in context in Finland
There are many ways to understand ethnic hatred and racism in Finland. One of these is by substituting the word ‘migrant’ for your ethnic group and/or ‘woman’ in a text that’s aimed at fueling ‘us’ and ‘them.’ Let’s take the recent claims of two politicians, MPs Tom Packalén and Pia Kauma, to see how passions are
Read on »Six-year fruitless search for a Muslim burial ground in Finland
The Finnish Islamic Council has been searching without success since 2008 for a burial ground in the southern Finnish region of Uusimaa, according to YLE in English. Up to know, Muslims are buried in the “Muslim section” of Lutheran Church cemeteries. Pia Jardi, deputy chair of the Finnish Islamic Council, told Migrant Tales that a questionnaire
Read on »Institute of Race Relations: The ‘Guantánamization’ of Belgium
By Frances Webber A new book on Belgium, Guantanamo chez nous?, is an important contribution to the analysis of racism and the war on terror in Europe. It would be hard to find anyone in the UK who has not heard of Abu Qatada. But how many people know that he was recently acquitted of terrorist
Read on »The PS of Pori, Finland, wanted to stop funding to Islamic cultural association
Two Perussuomalaiset (PS)* members of the City of Pori board failed to get enough support behind a motion to stop funding to an Islamic cultural association, reports YLE. The association gets 4,000 euros in funding from the city. Migrant Tales not only read this story with some concern. Apart from being Muslims, is there any other
Read on »MP Olli Immonen reinforces that the PS is a xenophobic and racist party
After the EU election victories of the National Front of France, UKIP and the Danish People’s Party, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Olli Immonen lashes out against Muslims on a blog entry, claiming that Europe is being overtaken by Muslims. This latest attack by Immonen against Muslims, migrants and non-white Finns, is a good example that the
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 »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 »Are politicians like Jussi Halla-aho and parties like the PS racist?
Jay Smooth offered in early March some good points on how to spot a racist by sticking to the that-sounded-racist conversation as opposed to they-are-racist conversation. The former conversation allows you to focus on what the person said and why what they said is unacceptable. The other one will take your focus away from the issue. Keeping
Read on »Geert Wilders crosses line, highlights European anti-immigration politicians’ master plan
We’ve seen a lot of xenophobia and anti-immigration rhetoric thrown at us in the past by politicians like Geert Wilders, who likes to test the waters of hate to see if he can take another step towards his grand plan, which is to make Holland white again. Wilders’ plan against cultural and ethnic diversity is
Read on »What can the PS mutate to if the political conditions are right?
In order to understand what a party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) are, look at how it rose to become Finland’s third-largest party in parliament in less than ten years. The growth of the anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam PS has been impressive to say the least, rising from 5 MPs in the 2007 parliamentary elections
Read on »Why are Europe’s Islamophobic politicians and parties so “pro-Israel?”
Are you sometimes surprised to read about how many far-right anti-immigration groups are so pro-Israel? Some, like anti-Islam Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Juho Eerola of Finland, may go as far as to draft a written question to parliament demanding that Muslims renounce publicly their hatred of gays and Jews. A posting by Migrant Tales reposted on
Read on »Another red herring about gays and Jews by Finnish PS MP Juho Eerola
I’m always amazed by these anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam Perussuomalaiset MPs like Juho Eerola, sent a written question to parliament demanding that Muslims in Finland renounce publicly their anti-gay and anti-Semitic stances, according to Kotka-based Kymen Sanomat. Here’s a very good opinion piece (in Finnish) by Sakari Timonen that exposes Eerola for what he is:
Read on »Two anti-immigration politicians “doing their hate thing” in Finland: One former, one present PS MP
Has anyone asked what the election in 2011 of 39 MPs of the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS) party has done to poison the political atmosphere for immigrants and visible minorities in Finland? To show how much in denial we still are in a country, take a closer look at some former and present PS MPs. Where’s
Read on »Reija Härkönen: Jussi Halla-aho’s actions in parliament
Reija Härkönen When Jussi Halla-aho was getting prepared for the parliamentary elections, on the last day before the election day on April 16, 2011, he once again urged the anti-immigrant voters to act, thanked his own people (meaning the anti-immigrant circle) for their good work and the True Finns (Perussuomalaiset) of Helsinki and the neighborhood
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 »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 »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 »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 »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 »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 »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 »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 »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 »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 »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 »Confessions of a recovering racist
Society has achieved at least one significant victory in the fight against racism – it has succeeded in making open racism a dirty concept. The power of stigma that worked so effectively to reinforce racism has been harnessed to turn the tide against open discrimination – at least in polite society. Today, in most public
Read on »