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 »Posts Tagged: National Coalition Party
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 »Sweden’s election and UK PM Liz Truss’ demise are a warning to Finland’s National Coalition Party
Populism is a good way to win elections but an impossible way to govern. Eugene Robinson How far will right-wing parties like the Moderate Party of Sweden go to make a pact with their political devils? How much populism and empty nationalism led to the demise of UK Prime Minister Liz Truss? These are valid
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 »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 »What’s all the commotion about Wille Rydman? Why is Kokoomus now shocked?
A big question remains after a Helsingin Sanomat investigative journalism piece exposed how National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Wille Rydman treated women – even underaged ones – inappropriately. Some of these women, who were minors then, claimed that Rydman forced them to drink alcohol. A question remains: Why does Kokoomus appear so shocked today, even after the
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 »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 »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 »Populism and lack of leadership under Petteri Orpo fuel Kokoomus’ tailspin
The National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) received a political bomb that exposed the party’s internal strife between its liberal and populist-conservative wing. Kokoomus’ candidate for Helsinki mayor, Kirsi Piha, and Helsinki city councilor Hanna Gullichsen, both party’s liberal wing, announced they would step aside. Piha stated in a blog posting her decision to pull out from
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 »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 »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 »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 »Let’s have a serious chat about terrorism, National Coalition Party MP Kai Mykkänen
The former interior minister and leader of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) parliamentary leader, Kai Mykkänen, wants stricter laws to combat terrorism. What re the motives behind the tightening of such laws? Do such laws only to Islam-based terrorism? He writes: “According to the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo), the threat of terrorism in Finland
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 »MP Wille Rydman’s racist malarkey is a copy-and-paste job of the Perussuomalaiset
Wille Rydman is a National Coalition Party (NCP) MP who has built his career on xenophobia and racist soundbites. For some in the NCP, he is known as the Halla-aho of the party. Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairperson Jussi Halla-aho is largely responsible for steering the party further to the far-right. He was convicted of ethnic agitation
Read on »Parties like the PS spread hate while Finnish society becomes more polarized
I was surprised that Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-aho posted on his Facebook page what I consider inciting ethnic hatred against Muslims, which he refers to as “harmful immigration.” The fact that far-right politicians like Halla-aho feel free to insult and incite hate against Muslims shows that the work of the police on this front
Read on »Help the so-called Isis wives and their children return to Finland. Stop the politicking and Islmophobia.
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED The ongoing debate in Finland if the so-called Isis wives and their children, who are Finnish citizens, should be given assistance and allowed to return to the country is another example of the former government’s lofty disdain of Muslims, human rights, and the rule of law. It is shameful that a
Read on »Three “let them drown” MEPs were elected from Finland on Sunday
The European elections on Sunday elected 13 MEPs from Finland. Three of them were Migrant Tales “let them drown” Euro candidates.
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 »Vote in the European elections but not for the “let them drown” candidates
Forty-one percent of Finnish MEP candidates who answered Alma Media’s election compass stated that they either “strongly disagree,” “disagree” or are “neutral” (have no opinion) concerning the following claim: “Is it the obligation of the EU to save all those migrants who attempt to come to Europe and who are at risk of drowning in the Mediterranean?”
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 »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 »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 »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 »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 »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 »The National Coalition Party should stop bullying asylum seekers and migrants
Finance Minister Petteri Orpo and Interior Minister kai Mykkänen reiterated calls for asylum seekers to “integrate” and embrace Finnish values. Mykkänen was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat that there are plans to offer asylum seekers at reception centers courses on Finnish society.
Read on »White Finnish privilege #56: How Islamophobic is Finland?
Ever thought why political parties like the Perussuomalaiset,* Blue Reform and individual politicians from other parties, especially from the National Coalition Party, are so keen at pointing the finger at Muslims? Do they do so because they are racists? Opportunists? Political gold diggers?
Read on »Anti-refugee sentiment in Finland and politicians who capitalize on fear and racism
A new survey by PEW Research Center shows that there is wide support in several EU countries for taking in refugees. The report shows that Spain is the most welcoming while Poland and Hungary are the least responsive.
Read on »The State of Islamophobia in Europe report offers a distressing picture of the rise of such a social ill
The third issue of the annual The State of Islamophobia in Europe was published on Monday, and it paints a very worrying picture of Islamophobia in Europe. We have unfortunately seen in countries like Finland how hate speech and toothless measures to contain all forms of racism and discrimination have put in harm’s way other
Read on »A poll that that tells us that Finland will continue to be Islamophobic and weary of cultural diversity
An opinion poll and two results: how do young and older people vote and what does it say about the political future of Muslims and cultural diversity in Finland? For one, it suggests that matters will get worse before they improve.
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 »Wednesday was a good day for racism in Finland: Pia Kauma and Gleb Simanov
Wednesday was a good day for racism in Finland. National Coalition Party (NCP) substitute MP Pia Kauma, who accused migrant women three years ago of demanding social welfare to buy new baby carriages, took over as MP after Alexander Stubb took started his tenure at the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Read on »Jussi Halla-aho elected PS chairman. What happens next and will the party remain in government?
While it’s no surprise that Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Jussi Halla-aho was the clear winter against Sampo Terho 949 votes against 629, the big question is how the PS’ government coalition partners Center Party and National Coalition Party (NCP) will digest Halla-aho’s victory.
Read on »Finland’s blind spot of racism will persist for as long as we play dead and tango with it
National Coalition Party (NCP) Interior Minister Paula Risikko is a pretty questionable politician. She is deplorable for a number of reasons: spreads suspicion of asylum seekers and migrants and doesn’t care to distinguish what is a far-right anti-immigration group like Suomi Ensin (Finland First).
Read on »Finland’s interpretation of human rights is to turn you into an “undocumented migrant” and kick you out of the country – HELP!
What do you say about a country that is willing to throw into the street and deport a three-and-a-half old baby born in Finland? Let’s include another one-and-a-half old child, a six-year-old girl, and a boy, who is eight. What about if we add their parents as well?
Read on »Interior Minister Paula Risikko compares asylum seekers demanding justice to bigots
Green Party Chairman Ville Niinistö correctly criticized Interior Minister Paula Risikko Saturday for stating that Iraqis concerned about being deported to their country as “extremists” that are in the same league as racist bigot groups like Suomi Ensi.
Read on »Here we go again with the anti-immigration rhetoric – it’s election time in Finland!
Here we go again, folks, it’s election time in April 2017 in Finland. The populist-nationalist Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is picking up its hostile attacks against migrants, minorities and our ever-growing and proud culturally diverse community. Their partners in these attacks are their government partners, the Center Party and National Coalition Party (NCP).
Read on »The disgraceful stand of the government towards undocumented migrants in Finland
Winter is rapidly approaching and Interior Minister Paula Risikko isn’t too enthused about the idea that the Evangelical Lutheran Church wants to give housing to undocumented migrants, according to YLE.
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 »Asylum seekers’ rights in Finland to appeal will be severely undermined thanks to a new law that will come into force on September 1
President Sauli Niinistö, who has done little to challenge xenophobia in Finland because he is eyeing a second term, will sign Friday a new law that will shorten from 30 days to 21 the rights of asylum seekers to appeal negative residence permit decisions by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).
Read on »Finland’s shameful asylum policy should be changed
Some Finnish politicians from parties like the Swedish People’s Party, Greens and Left Alliance have expressed concern about the government’s ever-tightening asylum policy and a recent decision by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) to deny an Iraqi asylum.
Read on »White Finnish privilege #29: Your family is worth less than mine
There has been a lot of debate about the present government tightening further family reunification laws. It shouldn’t come to any surprise that such measures not only reveal hostility towards asylum seekers, migrants, and minorities but are an example of white Finnish privilege in its most extreme forms.
Read on »Abdirahim “Husu” Hussein resigns from the Center Party of Finland because “he no longer believes in the party’s policies”
Abdirahim Husu Hussein surprised everyone this week when he announced his resignation from the Center Party. In his words, he resigned from the party he joined 13 years ago because “he no longer believes in the party’s policies,” according to Suomenmaa.
Read on »The role of the Finnish media and politicians who spread their racist statements
The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is a horrible party for migrants and minorities. They have the dubious “honor” of being the first modern party in Finland to capitalize on voters’ racism and bigoted views. Certainly they couldn’t have done it alone. All the major parties have the same type of politicians who state and write the same type of things.
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 »Close to 80% of the police service of Finland sees asylum seekers as the greatest threat to security
A poll showed that close to 80% of the police surveyed consider the asylum seeker crisis as the most serious threat to Finnish security, according to YLE News. Another important matter that the poll revealed was that 25.1% of those polled voted for the National Coalition Party (NCP) and 24.4% for the Perussuomalaiset (PS).*
Read on »UPDATED: How long will reception centers and asylum seekers be under attack in Finland?
The fact that fourteen asylum reception centers that have been attacked in Finland since mid-September is shameful. According to the police service of Kangasala, an asylum seeker was beaten by two or three men Saturday evening near the Kaivanto reception center, reports YLE News.
Read on »Finland’s Finance Minister Alexander Stubb is a huge disappointment
What has happened to National Coalition Party (NCP) Minister of Finance Alexander Stubb? In March 2011 he took a strong stand against the xenophobia that was and still is gripping Finland.
Read on »Swedish People’s Party Carl Haglund: Who wants to move to Finland knowing that a price tag will be placed on your forehead?
Imagine a country that needs skilled labor due to the rapid graying of its population and whose new government still doesn’t know whether immigration brings benefits or not? Well that country, folks, is none other than Finland. Yes, the country that saw over 1.2 million of its people emigrate between 1860 and 1999 to the world and which saw the rise of an anti-immigration party from the minor political leagues to become the second-biggest party in parliament.
Read on »Migrant Tales (September 14, 2013): The Finnish and European media still have a lot to learn about racism and intolerance
One matter that is interesting to note when looking at the media before the historic victory of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party in April 2011, is the present controversy surrounding the Youth League of the National Coalition Party’s program. Is the media giving racists, radical anti-immigration groups and voices inflated respectability and importance? The whole Susanna
Read on »When youth leaders of parties like the NCP of Finland are in the dark about cultural diversity
It is sad, even unfortunate, that some of our future political leaders of the National Coalition Party (NCP) see Finland’s ever-growing cultural diversity as a threat and the adaption of these newcomers and their children as an ethnocentric one-way affair. One of the first matters that these youth leaders would learn about the over 1.2 million
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 »Nura Farah: A blooming flower with a pen that many aimed to destroy
There is an interesting interview of Nura Farah, Finland’s first Somali-born writer, who speaks openly about growing up as a black person in this country from the 1990s, when even middle-school teachers took part in the racist bullying of non-white Finns. Racist bullying and racism are white privilege weapons used by this society to destroy
Read on »Who spreads hatred in Finland: YLE or the PS?
Attempting to gain the maximum political mileage from the act of vandalism against the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* office in Helsinki on Thursday, party secretary, Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo, is pointing the finger at the “green-left alliance” (a favorite catchword that the party uses to describe its enemies) and YLE for comparing it to the anti-immigration far-right Sweden Democrats.
Read on »Pekka Myrskylä: “Why aren’t we debating about why [white] Finns buy alcohol with social aid?”
National Coalition Party MP Pia Kauma has proven with her victimization of migrant mothers and migrants that prejudices have deep roots. No matter how much you expose an outright lie, your evidence will have little impact because some people are set in their prejudices and beliefs. Kauma continues to be adamant: She will not apologize
Read on »Defining white privilege #10: I can victimize and make up any story I like about migrants because I’m white
National Coalition Party MP Pia Kauma has made headlines recently by exploiting people’s suspicion of migrants in general and migrant women in particular for buying new baby carriages with welfare money. Even if her claim is based on hearsay, the MP continues to make headlines. She doesn’t get noticed for victimizing migrants and basing her claim
Read on »Kokoomus MP Pia Kauma continues crusade against baby carriages – now includes Finnish mothers
Pia Kauma, the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP that pointed the accusing finger at migrants Friday by asking why migrant women get social aid to buy new baby carriages since Finnish mothers buy used ones, wants to do away with social aid to buy baby carriages altogether, reports Helsingin Sanomat. Migrant Tales reported Friday that the finger pointing and
Read on »Why we should treat Pia Kauma’s apology with tweezers
Wouldn’t you have known it. After labeling and victimizing migrant women in Finland on Friday, who she claimed were buying new baby carriages with social assistance, the National Coalition Party MP Pia Kauma now apologizes for what she said, reports Helsingin Sanomat. Is her apology sincere or a sham? Read full story (in Finnish) here.
Read on »MP Pia Kauma’s crusade against baby carriages is based on hearsay
National Coalition Party MP Pia Kauma has become quite a sensation after she accused migrant women of buying new baby carriages with welfare money. When asked on YLE’s A-Studio where she got such information, her answer was quite startling. ”Of course it’s very difficult to get factual information,” she said on YLE’s A-Studio, “but I
Read on »Kokoomus MP still points accusing finger at migrant women for buying new baby carriages
Even if parliamentary elections are in April, some politicians, like National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP and Espoo city councilwoman Pia Kauma, are openly attacking migrants. She’s the conservative politician who stated on Friday that migrants shouldn’t buy new baby carriages with welfare money. Kauma got an opportunity on Monday to present her case on YLE’s A-Studio.
Read on »Kokoomus MP Pia Kauma takes a cheap shot against migrants
With parliamentary elections nearing in April 2015, politicians will do almost anything to get attention. We heard Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman Timo Soini state this week that his party’s ass isn’t for sale. National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP and Espoo city councilwoman, Pia Kauma, now joins this questionable group by asking why the municipality should help migrants
Read on »Finland is repeating the mistakes of the past because we deny our history
There’s an interesting question that a YLE journalist asks National Coalition Party minister for European affairs and foreign trade, Aleksander Stubb, on the Ykkösaamu talk show Saturday about why small- and medium-sized companies in Finland prefer to be acquired by foreign companies instead of continue to expand in global markets. National Coalition Party Minister for
Read on »National Coalition Party of Finland to spearhead ban on begging
Matters are getting tougher in Finland if you are a minority belongs to an affluent group like the Swedish-speaking Finns or a poor one like the Romany minority. What do both initiatives, to demote Swedish to elective status at schools and ban begging, tell about Finland today? One way to answer the latter question is
Read on »Direct initiative to demote Swedish language at schools stands slim chance of approval
What are we to think about a direct initiative that got over 50,000 signatures today to demote Finland’s second official language to elective status at schools? While this initiative stands a slim chance of passing in parliament, it shows how intolerance has raised its head in Finland recently. Even if those that are lobbying against
Read on »Interior Minister Räsänen disagrees with findings of police report on the Romany minority
Migrant Tales asked Monday what kinds of arguments will politicians now come up with to criminalize begging after a police report didn’t reveal any links between Romany beggars and human trafficking and organized crime. The police report not only exposed shameful urban legends used to victimize poor Romanies from Romania and Bulgaria, who make 10-20 euros a
Read on »Finnish police: Roma beggars are not victims of human trafficking or linked to organized crime
Remember the hostile reception that Romany beggars have got in the past from some Helsinki municipal politicians like mayor Jussi Pajunen, Christian Democrat Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen, Perussuomalaiset (PS) MPs like Olli Immonen and National Coalition Party MP Arto Satonen, who wants to make begging illegal? The Finnish police now claims that Romanian and Bulgarian
Read on »Our response to intolerance in the EU and Finland must be first and foremost a response
Every great journey challenge begins with a single step. A Chinese proverb slightly changed A study by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), reveals how racism and intolerant attitudes are becoming more prevalent in the European Union. What to do? Read ENAR study here. A recent example of how racism and intolerance spread roots in
Read on »Hate crimes in Finland are shameful but reveal our meek response to intolerance
Just like over a year ago, during Black February, when three Muslims died under violent circumstances in a span of about three weeks, Migrant Tales learned of a new tragedy in the city of Kaajani. A black man, who is a train cleaner for the state railways company VR, was violently attacked by two men on
Read on »If you’re anti-gay you’re probably anti-immigration (or don’t understand what is at stake)
It is surprising that a country like Finland, which claims to be a Nordic democracy, we see so much opposition to gays not only from anti-immigration parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS), but from other ones as well like the National Coalition Party. PS MP Mika Niikko, a fierce opponent of gay rights, echoed on Helsingin
Read on »Racism is alive and well in the PS as well as in other parties
Husein Mohammed raised an important point on a recent blog entry where he reviewed Umayya Abu-Hanna’s latest book, Multikulti. He asks if the Perussuomalaiset (PS) is the only intolerant party in Finland. He writes: “The term racism is used quite a lot in [Abu-Hanna’s] book but there’s no mention of violence, visible or about racism in [other Finnish] political
Read on »What some Finnish conservatives think of the poor
Saul Schubak, the vice chairman of the National Coalition Party’s youth wing, has unleashed a storm due to his views on poverty. Schubak wrote on Facebook that people who aren’t fit to parent should not receive child allowances. He writes on his original post: ”Child allowances should be definitely eliminated. It’s absurd that we give
Read on »Per-Looks: A taste of one’s own medicine for the PS of Finland
I’ve been reading with some interest the ongoing debate on social media about the Per-Looks blog that has outraged some Perussuomalaiset (PS) party members. The blog shows a number of PS candidates running for office in the October 28 municipal elections. Just for the record, I don’t like to make fun of people due to
Read on »YLE poll: PS seen as big winner of the Finnish municipal elections
YLE’s latest poll published Thursday shows the Perussuomalaiset (PS) Party will be the biggest winner of the October 29 municipal elections. The poll sees the PS getting 17.2% of the votes versus 5.4% in 2008. The poll predicts the Center Party as the biggest loser of the election with 15.9% versus 20.1%. The National Coalition
Read on »YLE poll: The PS is expected to make the biggest gains in the October municipal elections
A poll commissioned and published by YLE on Sunday reveals that the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party will make the biggest gains in the October 28 municipal elections. If the PS gets 15.8% of the votes as the poll suggests, it will be a big leap from 5.4% that the party got in the 2008 municipal elections. The poll sees
Read on »
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