It was only a heartbeat from the New Year when I met Suva at his Kallio apartment in Helsinki. His room is cozy and full of his instruments and artwork. After moving to Finland in 2007, he reached an important phase: Migri (Finnish Immigration Service), which makes or breaks migrants, granted him a long-awaited permanent
Read on »Posts Tagged: Migri
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 »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 »Migrant Tales Literary: Yaseen Ghaleb – Stigma
Yaseen Ghaleb, joka on tuttu Migrant Talesin blogissa, on julkaisut ensimmäisen runokokellma Euroopassa. Onnittelut ja paljon mennestysta meidän kaikkien puolesta! Jos kiinnostaa, voit ostaa Ghalebin runokirja tästä.
Read on »Amir’s tragic life as an asylum seeker in Finland
I got to know Amir* in 2016 when he was living in the Kolari asylum refugee center. Thanks to his help and those of others, the asylum seekers of the reception center organized a demonstration that ended with the deputy manager, Jari Sillantie, getting sacked. Amir, an Iraqi, came to Finland in 2015 like so
Read on »A low-income employee from Iraq faces bullying daily; being a victim of Migri
Some foreigners, especially those who came to Finland seeking asylum in 2015 and got a work permit to stay, face a dire situation: either put up with the work or leave Finland. One such case is Majid*, a 24-year-old Iraqi national living in Rovaniemi for the past three years. Apart from the near-constant bullying and
Read on »A piece of heaven in hel: Be a Finn for 90 days
During the global pandemic, Helsinki Business Hub, the international trade and investment promotion agency of Finland launched a campaign to attract foreign top professionals to work for 90 days remotely, as freelancer, an entrepreneur, or investor located in Helsinki. A catchy slogan and an all-round package attracted over five thousand applicants during the application period
Read on »Alejandro Díaz Ortiz: Odyssey in the Finnish Immigration System
My name is Alejandro Díaz Ortiz, I am a Puerto Rican artist, musician, songwriter, graphic designer, and filmmaker who has lived in Finland for the past 9 years. I have been creating art and composing music here ever since I first arrived. Therefore, many know me for my performances in public spaces, gigs, concerts, and
Read on »Coronavirus cases at the Espoo asylum reception center surge from 2 to 22
After two coronavirus cases to mid-April, Helsingin Sanomat reported Monday of 22 infections at the Luona-managed Nihtisilta reception center in Espoo. Haidari Ehsan is an asylum seeker at the Nihtisilta reception center, which houses 410 refugees. “I’m not happy with the way Luona has informed us about the outbreak at the reception center,” he said.
Read on »Iraqi asylum seekers vow to continue demonstration in front of the Finnish Immigration Service building
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED After a setback on Sunday, Iraqi demonstrators in front of the Finnish Immigration Service building have vowed to continue their protest, according to Walid Sahib, one of the organizers of the demonstration. A total of four demonstrators were detained by the police on Sunday and released from custody three hours later.
Read on »Facebook Abdirahim Husu Hussein: The death of an asylum seeker called Taher
The cruel arm of Finland’s asylum policy is not only Migri (The Finnish Immigration Service) but too many politicians who lack the courage to show their humanity and empathy for others. One of the consequences of one’s journey to Europe is not only many years of waiting and despair, but death.
Read on »Facebook Abdirahim Husu Hussein: Kylmä toiminta Migristä
Lue alkuperäinen postaus täästä.
Read on »A second deportation attemp from Finland to Mauritania
The desperation and anguish in a woman’s voice are present as she pleads for help for her Mauritanian husband, 45, who was deported on March 27. It was the second time that the police had tried to deport her husband after the first attempt, on March 19, on Turkish Airlines failed.
Read on »An Iraqi family in Finland and their brave 13-year-old daughter
Asylum seekers and migrants commonly get in touch with Migrant Tales like a Turkmen Iraqi family below who feared being deported back to their former home country. Their daughter is 13 years old and she speaks at least five languages. Since she is the only one who can speak Finnish, she not only interprets language but the family’s anxiety and fear.
Read on »Onko Suomen ulkomaalaispolitiikkaa muuttunut paljon 1980-luvulta?
Migrant Talesin kommentti: Tässä on kirjoitus Näköpiiri lehdestä 1980-luvun alussa, joka käsitteli Suomen ulkomaalaispolitiikkaa. Onko paljon muuttunut niistä ajoista kun ulkomaalaistoimiston toimistopäällikkö Eila Kännö johti nykyinen Maahanmuuttovirasto? Jutussa lukee: “Väitän, että sillä miten viranomaiset ja lehdistö kohtelevat maassamme vakituisesti tai tilapaisesti oleskelevia ulkomaalaisia on hyvin suuri merkitys ja vaikutus somalaisten yleiseen suhtautumiseen ulkomaalaisuuteen.”
Read on »A deportees’ round-trip journey to a former hell and back
Ali, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is an asylum seeker, was deported with his wife on Tuesday from Helsinki to Baghdad. In Baghdad, he took a plane back to Finland. He is now staying with his wife at an asylum reception center in Greater Helsinki.
Read on »Harith Mana’thar Badr Alsilmawi: Asylum seeker sent from Finland killed in “safe” Iraq
For how long will the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) with the backing of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government continue to maintain that Iraq is a “safe” country to deport asylum seekers? The latest victim of this flawed policy is 33-year-old Harith Mana’thar Badr Alsilmawi, who sought asylum in 2015 and died on Wednesday in Basra.
Read on »Sari Alhariri: Suomen perheenyhdistämispolitiikka sairastaa ja on pahoinvoiva
Olen Sari Alhariri, syrialainen mies. Tulin Suomeen 2015. Asuin Laitilassa kahdeksan kuukautta ja sain myönteisen turvapaikkapäätöksen.
Read on »Finnish Immigration Service: “Your wife’s unborn child can grow up without you; is the child going to be raised a Muslim?”
Apparently, there is no guarantee in Finland that marriage or having a child with a Finnish citizen will guarantee asylum and a residence permit. It is the case of Abdul,* who spoke on condition of anonymity, an Iraqi asylum seeker who came to Finland in 2015. Contrary to many like him, Abdul is married to a Finnish woman who is expecting their child in September.
Read on »Asylum seeker in detention cell 406: “I got my second rejection [for asylum]”
Remember the young twenty-one-year-old Iraqi asylum seeker who was detained in Lappeenranta or 32 days from October 27 to November 23? Things aren’t going well for him because he got a second rejection after applying for asylum a second time.
Read on »Asylum seeker in detention cell 406: Administrative court halts deportation order temporarily
After a nerve-racking week, The Administrative Court has stopped temporarily deportation proceedings of Iraqi asylum seeker in detention cell 406 in Joutseno, Finland.
Read on »Iraqi asylum seeker in detention cell 406: “Migri doesn’t believe I’m a Christian”
Just like the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) proclaims violent countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia to be “safe” for such nationals but not for Finns, they don’t have any problems about deporting you back to such countries if you are a Christian. If what Iraqi asylum seeker in detention cell 406 in Lappeenranta states is correct, his life is in danger if deported as a Christian back to his former home country.
Read on »AntroBlogi: Minä, Jumala ja hallinto-oikeus
Jos turvapaikanhakija kokee lähtömaassaan vainoa uskonnollisen vakaumuksensa vuoksi, tämä voi olla peruste turvapaikan myöntämiselle Suomeen. Mutta entä jos hän on vaihtanut uskontoa kesken hakuprosessin? Tällöin Suomessa arvioidaan hakijan uskonnollisen vakaumuksen aitoutta. Hallinto-oikeus arvioi tuoreessa päätöksessään, millä perustein voidaan olettaa turvapaikanhakijan olevan kristitty. Se toteaa, että kaste ei ole riittävä selvitys “aidosta kristinuskoon kääntymisestä”. Lisäksi “yksinomaan
Read on »After detention for 27 days in Finland, Iraqi asylum seeker gets rejection for work permit after half-a-year wait
Remember an Iraqi asylum seeker called Hayder Al-Hatemi who was detained for 27 days from January 6-February 2 pending a deportation order? He applied for a work permit on February 6 shortly after his release and had learned at the beginning of August that it had been turned down.
Read on »The Finnish Immigration Service’s way of saying “this country isn’t your home”
I got a call Friday from a Migrant Tales longtime reader who came to Finland as a child and is in his mid-30s today. “Could you tell me what this message (by the Finnish Immigration Service or Migri) means?” he asked. “If they send me back to I won’t know what to do. I’ll kill myself.”
Read on »Facebook Kirsi Crowley: Seitsemänlapsinen irakilaisperhe viikkoja turvasälössä
Yleensä en kirjoita pamfletteja Facebookiin, mutta nyt on pakko. Tämä kirjoitus koskee seitsenlapsista irakilaisperhettä, joka on lusinut jo viikkoja säilössä. Pienin lapsista on puolitoistavuotias. Perustelut blogilähdeviitteineen palautukselle mielestäni omituiset. Olen tavannut perheen itse, siksi koin tärkeäksi kirjoittaa. Kiitos jos jaksat lukea.
Read on »“MZ” is the latest Iraqi asylum seeker to be deported from Finland to Iraq
A woman who was separated from her Iraqi asylum seeker boyfriend after having a relationship for 18 months. I asked if I could call her. She responded: “I am now too tired to speak on the phone. I’m sad and mentally broken by what happened to me and my fiancé.”
Read on »How interpreters, the police service and Finnish Immigration service mislead asylum seekers
I came up with the following issues when translating some asylum decision cases from the Finnish police service:
Read on »اشتباه مترجمان در اداره مهاجرت و پولیس
زمانی که تعدادی از جواب های منفی که اداره پولیس به پناهجویان میدهد را ترجمه میکردم؛ چند نکته مهم توجه ام را جلب کرد:
Read on »Facebook: Don’t let the Finnish government and Migri get you down, says Kerstin Ösgård
Kerstin Ösård Everybody here, my friends in the Iraqi community, feel so down these days about this country’s crazy asylum policy and Migri’s stupidity. I just want all you to know that we are many Finnish people who work very hard to change the situation because we simply cannot accept how our country treats you.
Read on »A naturalized Finn who returned to a “safe” country like Afghanistan and was killed last month
The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) announced in May that countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia are “safe” to return refugees who get their asylum applications rejected. Migrant Tales documented two deaths and one shooting of Iraqi asylum seekers that returned recently to Iraq.
Read on »The Finnish Immigration Service, with the blessings of the government, aims to separate migrant parents from their children
In August, the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) is reported to have given asylum reception center instructions that only the children can stay at the reception center if the parents have their asylum application turned down and refuse to leave the country making then undocumented migrants, according to MTV.
Read on »Reija Härkönen: Ajat ovat nyt sellaiset, että on kirjoitettava pääministerille
Hyvää pääministeri,
Tiedän, että monet ihmiset ovat kirjoittaneet teille samasta asiasta, mutta pyydän teitä lukemaan ne kirjeet ja kaikki tulevatkin. Maamme tulevaisuuden ja ihmisten hyvinvoinnin kannalta ei voi olla tämän tärkeämpiä kirjeitä luettavana tai asioita hoidettavana.
Helsingin Sanomat article on the Finnish Immigration Service sheds light on an institution distanced from human rights and Nordic values
It is surprising that whenever a Finnish government tightens immigration policy, it washes its hands by stating that it’s common practice in the EU or Sweden. Is it? If a landmark decision last month by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is anything to go by, the government’s hardline stance on returning asylum seekers to a “safe” country like Iraq is more than questionable.
Read on »In the asylum seekers’ eyes
Muh’ed Today I visited a Finnish-language class of asylum seekers silently worrying day by day. The Finnish-language teacher, a man, asked me to speak to them in the Finnish language, and tell about my life in Finland. I spoke slow Finnish, I told them who I am. How long I have lived in Finland and
Read on »Finland also locks up asylum seeker children
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- A child in the Joutseno Immigration Removal Center.
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