There’s an interesting news documentary this week on Ajankohtainen kakkonen about immigrant candidates taking part in the October 28 municipal elections. One matter that bothered me about the program was the use of the word mamu by the reporters when referring to the candidates. Mamu is the shortened word for maahanmuuttajia, or immigrant. There are mixed opinions
Read on »Posts Tagged: Perussuomalaiset
Record number of immigrant candidates take part in Finnish municipal elections
A record number of immigrants are candidates in Finland’s municipal elections of October 28, reports YLE. The highest number of immigrant candidates can be found in the Social Democratic Party (118) followed by the National Coalition Party (81), Left Wing Alliance (56), Green Party (55) and Center Party (around 50). Most of the immigrant candidates
Read on »The PS campaigns for closed-door policy for refugees
I was surprised to read the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party’s municipal election program on refugees. It states that municipalities should not accept refugees because the best way to help these people is in refugee camps bordering their country. Finland holds municipal elections on October 28. The PS are expected to be one of the clear winners
Read on »We will win the battle against hate speech and intolerance
Much is at stake as Finland and Europe speeds into the depths of the new century. One of the greatest threats to our way of life and society today is hate speech and far-right ideology. Our resolve to identify and challenge these menaces is crucial during these times. Even if the media, politicians and public
Read on »The Rautiainen scandal: The PS’ short and selective memory
The Amon Rautiainen* scandal, the Perussuomalaiset (PS) municipal council candidate in Kotka who suggested on Facebook that Muslims should be boiled alive, reveals the Finnish anti-immigration party’s short and selective memory. Freddy Van Wanterghem, the PS chair of the local association in Kotka, is a good example of the party’s double talk, or first I
Read on »Perussuomalaiset candidate: Kill the prime minister, finance minister and boil Muslims alive
What is more serious: encouraging people to kill the prime minister and finance minister of your country or suggesting that Muslims should be boiled alive? The police are presently investigating whether to launch an inquiry against Perussuomalaiset (PS) Kotka municipal election candidate Amon Rautiainen, reports YLE in English. Rautiainen has publicly apologized for what he wrote on
Read on »PS of Pori: Nazi motto to kick off the municipal elections of October
The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party of the western Finnish city of Pori have come up with a catch phrase to launch their municipal election campaign: “One city – one leader,” reports Uusi Pori. The motto of the Nazis regime (1933-35) was chillingly similar to what the PS in Pori are using: Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer (One
Read on »An interesting discussion with some PS members about Finnish identity
I had an interesting discussion on Saturday with a Perussuomalaiset (PS) candidate for Mikkeli city council. The woman, who claimed that her mother is Russian, stressed that the PS strives to look after everyone’s interests in Finland, including that of immigrants. Good news. Even if such views are hard to find in the PS, they
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 »Racism, Counterjihadism and neo-Nazism sit well with the PS
I thought I had heard some lame excuses from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party, but I was wrong. Risto Helin, a PS city council candidate for Vaasa, beat all those before him hands down. On his Facebook page, Helin is wearing a blood-and-honor t-shirt. He claims that it was purchased about ten years ago but didn’t
Read on »An interesting blog that follows far-right candidates in Finland’s municipal elections
I bumped into a blog called Kunnollisvaalit 2012 (in Finnish), which aims to expose far-right candidates running for office in the Finnish municipal elections of October 28. The blog cites 11 Perussuomalaiset, 2 Center Party and one Muutos 2011 candidates as “far right.” The blog aims to expose what these candidates are posting on the Internet. Kunnollisvaalit 2012
Read on »Anti-racism web sites in Finland
Migrant Tales was named as one of seven anti-racist web site in Finland, according to a thread by “Tutkija” on Vaasa Forum. While Counterjihadist and anti-immigration websites have sprung up like mushrooms in Finland, anti-racist forums are one answer to the message of hate of these latter sites. The Perussuomalaiset party openly and indirectly supports a
Read on »What kind of a threat do Finland’s Counterjihadists pose?
It’s pretty clear that what goes up politically must eventually come down. Some groups, which have recently surged in popularity like the Perussuomalaiset (PS), could see their bubble burst quickly. While I wouldn’t count on anything like that happening anytime soon, it could be a totally different story for the hardline Counterjihadists of the party. The
Read on »PS Counterjihadists: Live and die politically by the sword
The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party is at a crucial juncture concerning its strange-bedfellow relationship with Counterjihadist and populist radical right members. What kind of links do some members of the PS have with far-right groups like the Finnish Defense League (FDL)? The FDL is nothing more than a mouthpiece of the English Defense League, a violent
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 »When will parties like the PS start banning Islam in Finland?
Pär Norling, a leader of the populist radical right Sweden Democrats of Bolnäs, located about 250km north of Stockholm, demanded the following on Sveriges Teleivision (SVT): ”Ban Islam in Sweden and deport those who persist in believing in the religion.” When will we start to hear similar demands from politicians in Finland? One matter that
Read on »Counterjihad Trojan Horse in Finland
Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik cited five Finnish groups in his manifesto, 2083 – A European Declaration of Independence. These were the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party, Suomen Sisu, Suomalaisuuden liitto, Suomen kansan sinivalkoiset and Vapaan Suomen liitto, according to a report by the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (SUPO). Writes YLE in English: “Texts similar to the manifest
Read on »Finland’s demographic landscape is changing (again)
Finland is presently in the midst of one of its biggest demographic changes in its history due to the rapid growth of its immigrant community. Our ever-growing cultural diversity as a nation has brought out the best in many of us but has encouraged some of us to throw in the towel on sanity. Is
Read on »The PS and the roosting chickens of intolerance
The fact that 19.1% of Finnish voters gave their support to an anti-immigration and anti-EU party in April 2011 speaks volumes about who we are as a society. Many things can be said about the Perussuomalaiset (PS) and their election victory, but one matter stands out for me: The chickens of intolerance have come home to
Read on »Poll supports PS’ negative stand on immigration
What value does the following news story offer: Sixty percent of Finns support cutbacks on spending that is linked with international agreements such as development aid, immigration costs, and green-house gas emissions, according to Helsingin Sanomat, the country’s largest daily. Matti Putkonen of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) Party said that the findings of the poll are “to
Read on »A letter to Jussi Halla-aho from Bashir Roble
Perussuomalaiset MP Jussi Halla-aho, Have you ever visited Somalia? Do you have any Somali friends? I know that both answers are negative because of the way you speak about my people and my country. MPs like you and others who think the same way, like Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen, belong to the same group. You
Read on »Those who loathe you are your supporters
The biggest supporters of immigrants and visible minorities in Finland aren’t groups lobbying for their rights per se, but their enemies. Instead of tapping ourselves on the back for challenging a social ill like racism, we should thank Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman Timo Soini for exposing in this country bigotry and isolationism in the raw.
Read on »(Migrant Tales, August 19, 2012): Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming, the super immigrant
Migrant Tales insight: Even if the op-ed was published about 10 years ago, too many politicians and officials continue to falsely believe that “super immigrants” will save the country from its low birth rates, aging population, and ever-present racism. See also: The world’s happiest country faces a labor and talent crunch THIS OP-ED PIECE WAS
Read on »PS MP James Hirvisaari does it again
Remember when Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari commented on Hommaforum, the unofficial PS website that spreads intolerance against minorities in Finland, that homosexuality is “a disability in sexual development?” The police have brought the case to the state prosecutor, who will decide whether to bring charges against the PS MP, according to Helsingin Sanomat. Criminal
Read on »How rape statistics reveal a serious problem: racism and prejudice
You know there is something fishy whenever any person starts to use percentages to drive home the point that immigrants are rapists. If anything, rape statistics do reveal a problem: racism and prejudice. One blogger on Uusi Suomi writes: ”In April, Finns were told that men from xxxx are guilty of committing rape alarmingly often.”
Read on »Using rape statistics to fuel ethnic prejudism and racism
This week’s A-Studio report on the ”high” number of rape convictions of foreigners in Finland, and another one published by Tampere-based daily Aamulehti in April, not only shed light on “a problem” in Finland but expose the prejudice of the media and Finnish society concerning immigrants. The exact arguments that the above-mentioned stories use to
Read on »PS MP shows more ”tolerant” side to Helsingin Sanomat concerning homosexuality
Contrary to what James Hirvisaari commented on the Hommaforum website, the Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP gave a more “tolerant” view on Helsingin Sanomat concerning his statement that homosexuality is “a sexual developmental disability.” Hirvisaari said that even a disabled people like homosexuals need to accept themselves for what they are, he emphasized that homosexuality or
Read on »Finnish anti-immigration party MP claims homosexuality to be a “disability in sexual development”
In light of the municipal elections of October 28 and the Perussuomalaliset (PS) party’s poll standings, it’s no surprise that MPs of the right-wing populist party like James Hirvisaari are leading the charge against different minorities in Finland. In a comment on Hommaforum, the PS MP considered homosexuality to be “a disability in sexual development.”* Hommaforum
Read on »Words have consequences: Deciphering code words of hate in Finland
…hate groups have used conflicts over immigration to advance their White Supremacy, their
Read on »James and Jussi out of control
As the municipal elections of October near, Perussuomalaiset (PS) MPs, James Hirvisaari and Jussi Halla-aho, are doing everything possible to bolster the sagging popularity of the right-wing populist party. It’s unclear, however, if they are attempting to stir up support for the Suomen Sisu wing of the party or for the PS. In their usual style,
Read on »Somali-Finn Abdulah: Living in no-man’s land (Part 2)
When Abdulah*, 30, talks to you about his twenty-two years in Finland, one of the first questions that arises is how has so much suffering escaped our attention. For Abdulah, acceptance isn’t only virtually impossible from white Finns, but can be just as hard to get from the Somali community. “I have decided to
Read on »Somali-Finn Abdulah: Living in no-man’s land (Part I)
Even if I have never met Abdulah* in person but only by phone and through his comments on Migrant Tales, it’s as if we’ve known each other for a long time. Abdulah moved to Finland from Somalia in 1990 with his parents and six sisters. He was eight at the time. When Abdulah came to
Read on »What happens when you dilute a term like racism?
Ignorance is a crucial factor that still holds Finland back from tackling effectively a social ill like racism. If it’s not seen as an issue, very little will be done to challenge it. Add to the latter the fact that even some of our elected representatives in parliament don’t know the difference between racism and
Read on »Let’s play fill in the blanks with with far-right Finnish MP James Hirvisaari
When reading the thoughts of far-right politicians like Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP James Hirvisaari, one of the most vocal white-Finnish-power advocates in this country, one should look for the visible or invisible but in his writing. Migrant Tales fished one today from Facebook. The PS MP writes: ”Some ‘humanitarians’ are driven by naive utopian ideology:
Read on »Kysymys vailla vastausta: keitä ovat perussuomalaiset?
Yksi mielenkiintoinen kysymys joka nousi esiin perussuomalaisista viime vuoden historiallisen vaalivoiton jälkeen oli keitä he ovat? Yli vuosi vaaleista ja kysymys on yhä vailla vastausta: keitä he perussuomalaiset ovat? Jos esitämme kysymyksen suoraan perussuomalaisille, vastaus saattaa olla yhtä sekava ja ristiriitainen kuin puolue itse. Riippumatta puolueen jäsenistön monimuotoisesta ideologisesta taustasta, voidaan kysyä kuinka on
Read on »A question begs an answer: Who are the Perussuomalaiset?
The million-dollar question after the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party’s historic election victory was what kind of party had entered the Finnish political stage. After over a year in parliament and numerous scandals that have rocked the PS, a question still begs an answer: Who are they? If you seek an answer directly from the party, the response
Read on »Ana María Gutiérrez Sorainen: Me “mukasuvaitsevaiset” ja “mukasivistyneet” maahanmuuttokriitikot
Ana María Gutiérrez Sorainen* “Mukasuvaitsevaisto ja mukasivistyneistö heiluttelee rasistikortteja maahanmuuttokriitikoille”. Olisitko kuullut tai lukenut tuota lausetta vaikkapa 10 vuotta sitten? Maailma ja Suomi muuttuvat, vaikka jotkut väittävät muuta ja haluavat pitää kiinni nykyisyydestä, menneisyydestä ja jopa kaukaisesta menneisyydestä. Mutta he itse muokkaavat tätä maata. Ennen kuin otsikostani peritään tekijänoikeuksia on sanottava, että kansanedustaja Reijo Tossavainen
Read on »Business Insider: Timo Soini’s “threat” to the world economy
Not only must have Perussuomalaiset (PS) party chairman Timo Soini been swept off his feet with delight for being named by Business Insider as the seventh-most dangerous person to the global economy, but Finland as well for such a dubious recognition. Who ever heard of Business Insider anyway? For starters, somebody could inform the online publication that the official
Read on »Monikulttuurisuudesta ja kulttuurirelativismista
Susannah Kulttuurirelativismi tarkoittaa , että esim. yksilön suhde lakiin ja moraaliin on suhteellista. Sellaisia syytöksiä esim. Jussi Halla-aho (ps) ja antijihadistinen seurakunta on syytänyt antirasistien niskaan. Sen mukaan antirasistit muka sallisivat toisenlaisia lakijärjestelmiä, kuten sharia, Suomeen. Eikö tässä valossa ole varsin koomista, että Halla-aho on kommentoinut omaa tuomiotaan korkeimmasta oikeudesta näin: http://mtv3.mobi/uutiset/uutiset/kotimaa/2012/06/1564528.xml?p=0 Puheenjohtaja Soini ei suostunut ottamaan
Read on »Monikulttuurisuus ei ole poliittinen ideologia
Monikulttuurisuus on monimuotoinen ja monimutkainen käsite. Maahanmuutonvastustajille se on yksinkertaisesti siirtolaispolitiikka, joka mahdollistaa etupäässä muslimien, afrikkalaisten sekä ei-eurooppalaisten asumisen Suomessa tai Euroopassa. Tavoite on yksinkertainen: pitää Suomi valkoisena ja muuttumattomana. Kansanedustaja James Hirvisaari (ps) viimeisessä bloigissaan antaa tyypillisen maahanmuutonvastustajaan selityksen siitä, mikä on monikulttuurisuus. Hirvisaari väittää, että monikulttuurisuus on poliittinen ideologia. Mutta onko se niin?
Read on »How many types of racists are there in Finland?
I read an interesting blog entry by Julian Abagond that highlights three types of racists in the United States: white bigots, white implicit racists and whites with integrity. How many types of racists are there in Finland? When studying racism in this country or in other parts of Europe, denial is the most incriminating evidence
Read on »How to challenge a social ill like racism in Finland
The rise of an anti-immigration party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) in last year’s elections is not the most incriminating proof that racism is an issue in this country, but official denials that such a problem exists at all in Finland. What must we do as a society to effectively challenge such a social ill? Denials
Read on »Far-right violence spreads across Europe – what about Finland?
As the euro financial crisis deepens so does the rise of far-right violence across Europe, according to a report by the Institute of Race Relations. Finland stands out as one of the 100 cases documented by the report. It states that academics studying immigration in this country are forced to withdraw from public discussion rather
Read on »Migrant Tales March 15, 2012: Finland’s darkest period 2011-15
In the future, when Finnish historians of different ethnic backgrounds look at the present parliamentary term 2011-15, they will most likely conclude that it was the darkest period for Finland and immigrants in the new century. A prelude to this sombre period were the municipal election of 2008 and how it reflected a shift in
Read on »Have the PS and MP Tossavainen of Finland ever heard of the Non-Discrimination Act?
If the future of Finland were ever left to the populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) party, it’s quite certain that this country would be doomed. The ones that would suffer the most would be immigrants and visible minorities. Outright discrimination would be the rule. The PS, who should know better, sent a formal request to the council
Read on »Suomalaisia ei saa syrjiä (mutta toisia ryhmiä saa?)
Kansanedustaja Reijo Tossavaisen viimeisin blogi kirjoitus, Suomalaisia ei saa syrjiä, on hyvä esimerkki siitä mitä on pahasti vialla perussuomalaisissa ja kuinka suppea ja syrjivä on heidän käsitys suomalaisuudesta. Tossavaisen tieto Suomen historiasta on hyvin valikoiva. Hän puhuu kuinka karjalaiset sijoitettiin Suomeen jatkosodan jälkeen toista kertaa. Ruusuisesta kuvasta huolimatta, karjalaisten vastanotto oli monesti vihamielinen. Samaa suhtautuminen nähdään
Read on »Onko suomalaisen työn suosiminen syrjintää: kyllä!
Onko perussuomalaiset koskaan kuulleet yhdenvertaisuuslaista? Todennäköisesti ette ole. Säästän teille kallista aikaa: Yhdenvertaisuuslaki 2 § Soveltamisala Tätä lakia sovelletaan sekä julkisessa että yksityisessä toiminnassa, kun kysymys on: 2) työhönottoperusteista, työoloista tai työehdoista, henkilöstökoulutuksesta taikka uralla etenemisestä; Tässä on linkki. Kysymys kansanedustaja Anssi Joutsenlahdelle: Miksi perussuomalaiset haluavat erityskohtelua ja miksi ette kunnioita lakeija vaikka vaaditte samaa
Read on »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 »The PS asks if it can openly discriminate against immigrants and visible minorities in Finland
A group of Perussuomalaiset (PS) MPs, including its chairman Timo Soini, have formally asked the council of state whether they can only hire Finnish workers to refurbish its recently acquired 1.7-million-euro headquarters in Helsinki. Why should the PS limit itself to only hiring Finnish workers? Why not make sure that 100% of the materials used
Read on »Office of the Prosecutor General will not take action against Eronen’s blog entry on “armbands”
The Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG) will not take any action against Helena Eronen concerning a blog entry she published in April suggesting that immigrants should start wearing armbands to help police track down suspected criminals, according to Helsingin Sanomat. While no charges will be brought against Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari’s aide, it
Read on »Pirkko Mattila is the clear line that now separates Timo Soini and Suomen Sisu
The decision by the Perussuomalaiset (PS) parliamentary group to choose Pirkko Mattila to be the new chairwoman of the administration committee of parliament is welcome news. Considering that her challengers, Juho Eerola and Ismo Soukola, lost by wide margins bolsters PS chairman Timo Soini’s influence in the party. It shows as well that an ever-growing
Read on »Pro-Soini Pirkko Mattila to chair administration committee of parliament
The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party’s parliamentary group chose Tuesday Pirkko Mattila to be the new chairwoman of the administration committee after PS MP Jussi Halla-aho was forced to resign last week. The PS MP from the northern Finnish town of Muhos got 25 votes, clearly beating challengers Juho Eerola and Ismo Soukola, who got 5 votes apiece, according
Read on »Who are the PS’ powerbrokers: Suomen Sisu or Timo Soini?
Perussuomalaiset (PS) party chairperson Timo Soini’s silence after the Supreme Court announced that it would fine PS MP Jussi Halla-aho for defaming a religion and inciting ethnic hatred, speaks volumes about the power struggles in the right-wing populist party. Who are the PS’ powerbrokers today: the extremist Suomen Sisu wing led by Halla-aho, or
Read on »Finnish Supreme Court upholds hate speech conviction against Hirvisaari
The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not grant Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari permission to appeal a conviction for hate speech handed down in December by the Kouvola Court of Appeal, reports Helsingin Sanomat. Last week, the PS suffered another blow when its MP Jussi Halla-aho was forced to resign as chairman of the administration
Read on »Halla-aho scandal in Finland: Leadership is now needed more than ever
Finland’s political parties, including the Perussuomalaiset (PS), have a golden opportunity to show leadership and make a clear break from Jussi Halla-aho and his Suomen Sisu association followers. We’ll be back, however, to square one if Halla-aho’s heir-apparent, Juho Eerola, becomes the new chairman of the administration committee of parliament. Suomen Sisu is an extremist
Read on »Halla-aho wants Juho Eerola to be his successor
The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party never ceases to surprise us. Former administration committee chairman MP Jussi Halla-aho said he wants Juho Eerola to be his successor. The MP, who is second vice president of the PS, is Halla-aho’s close ideological ally and a member of the far-right Suomen Sisu association. Appointing Eerola as the new chairman
Read on »Jussi Halla-aho resigns as chairman of the administration committee
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho announced that he will resign as chairman of the administration committee, according to Helsingin Sanomat in English. The decision comes after the Supreme Court charged Halla-aho on Friday for defaming a religion and inciting ethnic hatred. A new chairman will be chosen by the committee on Tuesday. Halla-aho published a
Read on »The Halla-aho scandal raises disturbing questions
Disquieting questions emerge in light of the Jussi Halla-aho scandal: Is pressure on the Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP to resign as chairman of the administration committee due to his dismissive reaction to the Supreme Court sentence or because of what he wrote about Muslims and Somalis, which got him in trouble in the first place? When
Read on »Uusi Suomi: Länsimaiset arvot uhattuina
by Husein Muhammed* Kansanedustaja ja Eduskunnan hallintovaliokunnan puheenjohtajan Jussi Halla-ahon (ps) mielestä korkeimman oikeuden antama tuomio uskonrauhan rikkomisesta ja kiihottamisesta kansanryhmää vastaan on väärä ja epäoikeudenmukainen. Hän pitää medialle lähettämässään tiedotteessa Suomen korkeimman oikeuden ratkaisua “muutaman ihmisen henkilökohtaiseena tulkinta”, ei “minään taivaallisena totuutena”. Tähän asti Halla-aho on esiintynyt “maahanmuuttajien rikollisuudesta” huolestuneena kansalaisena ja poliitikkona. Nyt hän itse halveksii Suomen
Read on »PS MP Halla-aho says he will not resign as chairman of the administration committee
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho announced Monday that he had no reason to bow out as chairman of the administration committee of parliament after he was fined by the Supreme Court on Friday for defaming a religion and inciting ethnic hatred. The PS MP said he would not resign because he considered the Supreme Court
Read on »Finnish politicians should smell the coffee of far-right extremism
After over a year of following countless scandals, fines for hate speech, racism and exposures of their far-right ideology, a question begs an answer of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party: Who is Timo Soini? If we asked Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, a social democrat, his answer would be moral weakness and opportunism. Tuomioja writes a day after
Read on »Abagond: What this blog has taught me about white people
Comment: Abagond is a very successful blog that debates issues like racism in the United States. We at Migrant Tales like to ask serious question about such a social ill as well. What about if we asked that same question as Abagond did in the headline? For me personally, Migrant Tales has taught me that
Read on »Halla-aho should resign as chairman of the administration committee of parliament
In light of the Finnish Supreme Court (KKO) sentence on Friday fining Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho for defaming a religion and incitement against an ethnic group, the next step that the PS MP should take is to resign as chairman of the administration committee of parliament. PS head Timo Soini was quoted as saying on YLE
Read on »Halla-aho gets convicted for defamation and inciting ethnic hatred
Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP Jussi Halla-aho was convicted today by the Finnish Supreme Court (KKO) for defaming a religion and inciting ethnic hatred. Halla-aho, who was fined in 2009 for defaming religion, was now criminally charged as well for inciting ethnic hatred. The sentence dates back to Halla-aho’s blog writings of 2008, when he claimed
Read on »Finnish anti-immigration party seeks to ban begging
Three Perussuomalaiset (PS) MPs plan to present a bill to Parliament that would ban begging in public places, according to YLE in English. The aim of the bill has nothing to do with helping the Roma, a group that has suffered persecution in Europe for centuries. Its main aim is to reap political points for an
Read on »Syrjäytyneet Suomessa ja epäonnistumisen merkkiä
Meillä on hyvä yhteiskunta Suomessa mutta tämä väite tarvitsee toisen kysymyksen: kenelle? Kannustetaanko todella eri vähemmistöjen oikeuksia elää Suomessa tasavertaisena jäsenenä ja turvallisessa yhteiskunnassa? Mielestäni kansanedustaja (ps) Reijo Tossavaisen viimeisin blogikirjoitus, Somalien kokemuksia tutkitaan 0,6 milj. eurolla, edustaa sitä Suomea, joka syrjii sanoin toisia. Tossavainen väittää blogikirjoituksessa, että Suomen Akatemian tutkimushanke somaleista on turhaa, koska
Read on »Finland’s mini Breivik: gunman kills two and wounds seven
What motivates a young man to take the law in his own hands and kill indiscriminately defenseless people? While we still don’t know the motives behind the killings in Hyvinkää, the suspect’s “likes” on Facebook may offer us some clues. Writes YLE in English: ”Police in the town of Hyvinkää, some 50km north of Helsinki, say
Read on »Migrant Tales Literary (26.5.2012): Before and After
Read on »
MTV3 poll shows support for PS to have plummeted to 5%
If the municipal election of October were held today, only 5% would vote for the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) party, according to a poll published Wednesday by MTV3. The latest poll is further proof that support for the PS continues to plummet compared with the impressive gains it made in last year’s election. In the
Read on »PS MP Olli Immonen plans to boycott YLE “for a short while”
By Enrique Tessieri Far-right anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP, Olli Immonen, said Monday he will boycott YLE “for a short while” since the state-owned radio and television company reports unfairly about the PS. According to him, there is a systematic propaganda campaign against the PS by YLE I doubt that many will lose sleep over Immonen’s
Read on »Julkisen sanan neuvoston päätös oli voitto sanavapaudelle
Enrique Tessieri Julkisen sanan neuvoston (JSN) vapauttava päätös Kirkko ja kaupungin lehdelle oli mielestäni voitto sana- sekä lehdistövapaudelle Suomessa. Miten on mahdollista, että yksi maamme suurimmista poliittista puolueesta kehtaa alkaa vaikuttamaan sekä rajoittamaan lehdistövapautta maassamme? Mielestäni tämä on juuri se tärkein kysymys koko JSN:n päätöksessä. Neuvoston mukaan pilapiirroksista on tullut erittäin vähän kanteluita sen olemassaoloaikana
Read on »JSN exonerates Kirkko & Kaupunki cartoon that mocks PS MPs
By Enrique Tessieri The Council for Mass Media in Finland (JSN) has exonerated Kirkko&Kaupunki after a cartoon was published on December 14 mocking a group of Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MPs telling everyone who wasn’t a Finnish heterosexual and white conservative to leave Finland. The JSN said in a statement that Ville Ranta’s cartoon was neither
Read on »Undermining the anti-immigration ideology of populist parties in the Nordic region
It is a tragedy that 77 people had to die at the hands of Anders Breivik. Ironically the mass killer did more on July 22 than anyone to undermine the ideology of anti-immigration populist parties and hate groups in the Nordic region and Europe.
Read on »YLE’S Spotlight: Finland’s PS links to the Finnish Defense League
How are we supposed to react to the following news: A number of Perussuomalaiset (PS) party membersbelong to the far-right and anti-Islam Finnish Defense League (FDL)? The story, which was scooped by Yle’s Swedish-language program Spotlight adds that these PS members with ties to the FDL belong as well to the extremist Suomen Sisu association.
Read on »Social inclusion is vital to a well-functioning society
Why are we so passionate at Migrant Tales about immigrant and minority rights? Because such groups are effective measuring sticks that reveal the state of civil rights and democracy. The more social inclusion you succeed at promoting the healthier your society is.
Read on »Will the PS succeed at its vicious campaign against immigrants and visible minorities?
Will Matias Turkkila, the new Perussuomalaiset (PS) editor-in-chief that aims to jump start the party’s website into a Hommaforum phenonmenon, succeed? In order to answer that question we’d have to rephrase the question in to the following way: Will Turkkila and the PS succeed at luring Finland’s biggest nationalist and multiculturally challenged crowd to the party’s cause whatever that may be?
Read on »Anti-immigration Hommaforum editor to head PS’ party newspaper
What kind of message does the Perussuomalaiset (PS) give when it names Matias Turkkila as the new editor-in-chief of the party’s newspaper and web page? It reinforces what Migrant Tales has been saying all along: the PS will step up their nationalistic and anti-immigration campaign up to the do-or-die municipal election in October.
Read on »Anti-immigration groups in Finland care less about immigrants and visible minorities
Behind all the rhetoric spread by anti-immigration groups in Finland and elsewhere a fact emerges:they are out to destroy the lives of as many immigrants as possible with their prejudice and racism. When a justice ministry official hands over rape statistics of different immigrant groups he gives a power weapon to slander and victimize people from different countries.
Read on »Mitä monikulttuurisuus on?
Kansanedustaja Saarakkala (ps) näyttää kuvittelevan, että monikulttuurisuus olisi joku poliittinen agenda:
http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/2012050315527919_uu.shtml?fb_ref=flb&fb_source=home_oneline
Read on »Migrant Tales May 16, 2011: Xenophobia and racism are the poverty of Finland today
Some claim that ever-growing poverty and social inequality in Finland were the reasons why the Perussuomalaiset (PS) scored such a big election victory in April. We read in the media about ever-growing bread lines and how it has become more difficult for some people to make ends meet. Even so, it justify growing xenophobia and racism in our society?
Read on »Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from June 14, 1993
Migrant Tales publishes on and off Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through some of the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how some of them reflected our xenophobic, prejudiced, racist or anti-Russian views.
Read on »YLE poll: The Perussuomalaiset party suffers a new blow in the polls
The many problems of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party deepened today after a poll published by YLE showed the popularity of the party slipped further by 1.7 percentage points to 14.1%. The biggest party was Kokoomus (22.6%), followed by the Social Democrats (up 1.8% to 19.1%) and the Center Party (16.4%).
Read on »Why is the Perussuomalaiset party riling mad at the Finnish media?
You know that there is something terribly wrong whenever a group never mind a major political party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) start blaming the media for their problems. This is exactly what Matti Putkonen and MP Jussi Halla-aho did Wednesday on YLE, blaming that the media treats the PS unfairly when compared with other parties.
Read on »PS anti-immigration wing: “a new [Cadillac] model every year”
Helena Eronen, the parliamentary aide that suggested armbands for foreigners, is what Malcolm X said about racism and Cadillacs: They make a new model every year. The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party’s far-right anti-immigration wing led by MP Jussi Halla-aho have a new model: Helena Eronen.
Read on »Anti-immigration sentiment in Finland hinges in great part on the PS
The atmosphere for some immigrants in Finland has been an ever-worsening slippery slope. First the historic victory of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party last year and then the near-constant racist gaffes and foot-in-the-mouth shows.
Read on »Is the PS expecting a “catastrophic election result?”
The scandal ridden Perussuomalaiset (PS) is saving up for a rainy day if the party “suffers a catastrophic election result,” said PS Foundation chairman, Raimo Vistbacka. YLE’s Ajankohtainen kakkonen revealed that the PS Foundation bought a 1.7-million-euro apartment in one of Helsinki’s most expensive neighborhoods for the party’s headquarters.
Read on »The PS and the municipal election: Vicious campaign against immigrants and minorities
There are already clear signs that the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party has kicked off its vicious campaign and instigated social-media lynch mobs against immigrants and minorities as the October 28 municipal election nears. The Eronen-Hirvisaari scandal as well as publishing the names of two minors found guilty of rape are some recent examples of who the PS hopes to boost its depressing poll results.
Read on »JSN to announce by May or June its ruling on Kirkko&Kaupunki PS cartoon
Remember the cartoon that got some members of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party so riled that they filed a complaint to the Council for Mass Media in Finland (JSN)? A ruling on the cartoon by Kirkko&Kaupunki, a Helsinki Lutheran Church weekly, will be made by May or June, a JSN official, told Migrant Tales.
Read on »More Finns oppose anti-immigration groups and racism than before
Matters have changed for the better with respect to the ongoing debate on immigrants, immigration to Finland and our ever-growing cultural diversity, reports Turun Sanomat, quoting researcher Suvi Keskinen of Turku University. She warns, however, that making strong distinctions between “us Finns” and “them immigrants” can have dire consequences for the person and society.
Read on »PS MP Hakkarainen instigates social-media lynch mob from Singapore
Scandal-ridden Perussuomalaliset (PS) party MP, Teuvo Hakkarainen, has stuck his foot in his mouth again. This time he has taken the law in his hands and instigated a social-media lynch mob against two minors found guilty of rape, according to Keskisuomalainen. The Jyväskylä-based daily reports that Hakkarainen published on his Facebook page link to court documents that give the accused names, social security numbers, addresses and even their parents’ names.
Read on »The Eronen-Hirvisaari scandal reveals their contempt for press freedom, immigrants and minorities
Helena Eronen , the Perussuomalaiset (PS) parliamentary aide who suggested in a satirically intended blog entry that foreigners and minorities should start wearing armbands, appeared on two talk shows Friday. One of the most disturbing matters that is reinforced in both interviews is Eronen’s Hirvisaari-spirited view of immigrants and contempt for press freedom.
Read on »Are Hirvisaari and Eronen a mean Finnish version of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza?
If I had to draw a cartoon about suspended Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari and his aide Helena Eronen, I’d draw them as the legendary Spanish literary icons Don Quixote and Sancho Panza that chased after windmills. If Hirvisaari were Don Quixote, would his windmills be “multiculturalism,” “Islamization” and the media?
Read on »Kyllä pistää vihaks!
Kun tässä kaikessa mediamylläkässä ja ihan ympäristön seuraamisen myötä on tullut melko ilmeiseksi muutama keskeinen seikka jotka antavat luvan vihaan, päätin minäkin kunnostautua ja ryhtyä vihaamaan.
Read on »PS MP Hirvisaari gets suspended for five months for not sacking Eronen
The Helena Eronen scandal, the parliamentary aide that infamously suggested in Finland that foreigners should start wearing armbands to help police in profiling ethnic groups, took a new turn Tuesday when the Perussuomalaiset (PS) parliamentary group decided to suspend MP James Hirvisaari until September 15 for not sacking his aide. The whole affair, which is far from over and could escalate into something bigger, has revealed the internal party struggles within the PS.
Read on »As Breivik speaks out against multiculturalism the more damage he inflicts on anti-immigration parties
As Anders Breivik,who killed 77 people on July 22 on his crusade against multiculturalism, takes the stand and speaks out against immigration and Islam the more damage he inflicts on anti-immigration parties in the Nordic region like the Perussuomalaiset (PS). After his rampage in Norway, nothing was ever the same for parties like the PS because Breivik put them on the defensive.
Read on »Halla-aho says ghettoization spreading in Finland’s major cities
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho said on a popular talk show that he stands by everything he said and doesn’t regret anything. He does, however, admit that sometimes the timing of what he said was wrong. He then tells us that ghettoization is taking place ” full steam ahead” in Finland’s biggest cities.
Read on »The Eronen “armband” scandal reveals healthy accountability by the media
The Helena Eronen scandal exposes an important watershed in Finland. It is a similar turning point we saw on July 22 with the mass killings in Norway and in February when Tommi Rautio suggested decoarating a white Finn for killing a Muslim in February in Oulu. The latest scandal reveals that those who bashed and spread racism and Nazi-spirited writings freely are now held accountable for what they write.
Read on »Finland’s interior minister wants to make begging illegal
Christian Democrat (KD) Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen was quoted as saying on MTV3 that she is in favor of making begging illegal in Finland. Just like many past suggestions by the conservative Räsänen, like her provocative views on homosexuality that caused last year an exodus from the Lutheran Church, her views on begging and how to deal with a group like the Roma of Eastern Europe doesn’t come as a surprise.
Read on »Eronen strikes back in order not to strike out
The Helena Eronen scandal, Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP James Hirvisaari’s aide who suggested with bad satire that foreigners should start wearing armbands, struck back today with a new column in order not to strike out.
Read on »Eronen asked for trouble when she wrote her column about armbands
Finland has been inflicted for a number of years by people who think they can say and write anything they please about immigrants and visible minorities in Finland. It’s only natural that when you let out racism and prejudice to roam freely in society unchecked, things will eventually snap as we saw in Norway in July. What did Helena Eronen, Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari’s aide, do wrong?
Read on »PS parliamentary group wants Hirvisaari to sack Eronen
The Perussuomlaiset (PS) party parliamentary group decided today that Helena Eronen, PS MP James Hirvisaari’s aide should be sacked immediately for writing about foreigners wearing sleeve emblems to help police differentiate the nationality of the person, according to YLE.
Read on »What PS MP aide Helena Eronen wrote about armbands for foreigners in Finland
Every month we’ve seen some sort of scandal coming from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party. In April, which is only eleven days old, we already got another one by an aide who suggested in a blog entry that foreigners should start using armbands to help police distinguish who is an immigrant and who is a Finn.
Read on »Finnish police accused of ethnic profiling
A day after the police released a Somali who was under police custody for about seven months, the Ombudsman for Minorities expressed concern about ethnic profiling by the police, according to YLE.
Read on »Far-right groups and anti-immigration extremists in Finland and Europe flirt with fascism
When far-right groups and anti-immigration extremists flirt with fascism nothing good can ever come out of it. Even if it sounds incredible, we have in Finland our own holocaust deniers or those who claim the Nuremberg Trials were a farce.
Read on »Let’s stop fooling ourselves about the Romany minority in Finland and Europe
I’ve been following with disappointment the stories published in the Finnish media about the East European Romany minority beggars coming to Finland. If politicians don’t get it, it’s pretty clear that a part of the media never mind the public won’t either. Social ills like xenophobia, prejudice and racism are not “fixed” in a few days, months or years but take generations for the wounds to heal.
Read on »Ilta-Sanomat poll shows Greens leading PS in municipal election
A poll commissioned by Ilta-Sanomat gave the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party a big surprise. If the October municipal election took place today, the Greens would get 11% of the votes compared with 10% by the PS. The previous setback that the PS got from the Greens was in the presidential election, when an openly gay candidate beat two conservative anti-EU hopefuls, Timo Soini of the PS and Paavo Väyrynen of the Center Party.
Read on »Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from November 16, 1995
Migrant Tales publishes on and off Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through some of the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how some of them reflected our xenophobic, prejudiced, racist or anti-Russian views.
Read on »Why was Migrant Tales deactivated for about thirteen hours?
Thursday night was one of the worst I had experienced in a while: my son tells about some SKV neo-Nazi stickers put on a lamppost in front of our house and then Migrant Tales gets deactivated a couple of hours later because “it does not comply with the WordPress.com Terms of Service or advertising policy.” What’s going on?
Read on »Trolls come in many sizes and shapes in Finland
I read an interesting blog entry on Iowa State Daily that gave a very good suggestion to the vicious racist stuff you find in the blogsphere: “Require identification for comments and monitor, monitor, monitor the trolls,” said Michael Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. “The blogosphere is full of trolls, and some write the most vicious things. Keep them out of mainstream media, and ignore them whenever you can.”
Read on »Finnish PS hardcore far-right MP gives a kick in the gut to the Romany minority
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen represents the worst of the worst when it comes to the acceptance of our ever-growing culturally diverse society. Apart from predicting a war between Islam and white Christian Europe, Immonen never loses the opportunity to kick the most vulnerable members of society in the guts.
Read on »Hommaforum stoops to new depths by “defaming” adolescent
Hommaforum is a forum closely linked to Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP Jussi Halla-aho’s blog, Scripta, and to Suomen Sisu, a far-right extremist association. Even if Hommaforum and Scripta are only smears of hatred that splash on Finland’s good name, they don’t care whom they tar and feather as long as they have a good time. But to attack and defame publicly a brave adolescent, Rebecca Holm, who spoke out against racism, shows how low they will go to make their point.
Read on »Hommaforum stoops to new depths by "defaming" adolescent
Hommaforum is a forum closely linked to Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP Jussi Halla-aho’s blog, Scripta, and to Suomen Sisu, a far-right extremist association. Even if Hommaforum and Scripta are only smears of hatred that splash on Finland’s good name, they don’t care whom they tar and feather as long as they have a good time. But to attack and defame publicly a brave adolescent, Rebecca Holm, who spoke out against racism, shows how low they will go to make their point.
Read on »Finnish human rights activist and writer reports threats by two PS members to the police
Every month the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party offers us a scandal. Well, here is the one for the month of March: two PS members, Klaus Eovaara and Jani Viinikainen, have threatened on Facebook writer and human rights activist Jussi K. Niemelä, who has reported the matter to the police.
Read on »Finland’s darkest period: 2011-15
In the future, when Finnish historians with different ethnic backgrounds look at the present parliamentary term 2011-15, they will most likely conclude that it was the darkest period for Finland and immigrants. A prelude to this sombre period between two parliamentary elections will be the municipal election of 2008 and how it reflected the negative mood of the country.
Read on »Who needs integration: immigrants or natives?
We must ask hard questions if we want our new integration program, which came into force in September, to do what it sets out to: effectively integrate new immigrants as equal members of society. But one of the many challenges of the program aren’t resources and immigrants but the attitudes of the native population.
Read on »Why are Finland’s politicians still so silent?
Have you heard anything from any government official or even a politician being outraged by what happened in Oulu and Perussuomalaiset (PS) councilman Tommi Rautio’s infamous suggestion that the killer of a cold-blooded death should be decorated? It took thirteen days for Rautio to get sacked from the PS. Silence, everywhere, again.
Read on »Why are Finland's politicians still so silent?
Have you heard anything from any government official or even a politician being outraged by what happened in Oulu and Perussuomalaiset (PS) councilman Tommi Rautio’s infamous suggestion that the killer of a cold-blooded death should be decorated? It took thirteen days for Rautio to get sacked from the PS. Silence, everywhere, again.
Read on »How well known is Teuvo Hakkarinanen in Honduras?
A story by tabloid Iltalehti on February 28 that Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP Teuvo Hakkarainen was widely known and had “cult status” among the Hondurans. Who knows him and where has he become a cult?
Read on »How would you react to a racist, sexist or homophobic joke?
How would you react if somebody at work during a coffee break would crack a racist, sexist of homophobic joke? We’ve all been in such uncomfortable situations many times in our lives. Sometimes our silence glares back at us, other times we do react.
Read on »Soini: PS to sack two members today
Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman Timo Soini was quoted as saying today on Nelonen television that “at least two” members will get sacked at the national executive board meeting today. One of these is the PS councilman Tommi Rautio, who suggested giving a medal to the Finn that killed in cold blood a Moroccan pizzeria employee.
Read on »Three anti-immigration PS MPs will pay Hirvisaari's fine for hate speech
Three far-right anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS) MPs, Juho Eerola, Jussi Halla-aho and Olli Immonen, announced today in a statement that they will pay PS MP James Hirvisaari’s 1,424-euro fine slapped for hate speech by a Kouvola court in December. The statement, which was signed the three PS MPs, states that the fine was politically motivated.
Read on »Three anti-immigration PS MPs will pay Hirvisaari’s fine for hate speech
Three far-right anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS) MPs, Juho Eerola, Jussi Halla-aho and Olli Immonen, announced today in a statement that they will pay PS MP James Hirvisaari’s 1,424-euro fine slapped for hate speech by a Kouvola court in December. The statement, which was signed the three PS MPs, states that the fine was politically motivated.
Read on »Another scandal is brewing thanks to the Perussuomalaiset
Another scandal involving the Perussuomalaisete (PS) party is brewing on the net after councilman Tommi Rautio and MP Teuvo Hakkarainen. At the eye of the political storm is Jani Viinikainen, a PS Pirkamaan region board member, who has now founded an anti-Roma Facebook page called Mannat kuriin (Let’s put Gypsies in line)!
Read on »PS red faces (again) after MP Hakkarainen's latest scandal
The latest scandal caused by none other than Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP Teuvo Hakkarainen has caused agan a number of red faces in Timo Soini’s party. Hakkarainen was in such a drunken state, according to Nelonen, that he ended up at the premises of a Bandidos motorbike club and gave a prostitute 100 euros out of pity.
Read on »Wikileaks document warns of neo-Nazi (far-right) anti-immigration groups in Finland
A Wikileaks document reveals a disturbing perception that Migrant Tales has expressed concern: the threat of far-right anti-immigration groups in Finland like the Suomen Sisu faction in the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party. In the presidential election, all of the candidates except for PS’ Timo Soini, Sauli Niinstö of Kokoomus and Christian Democrat (KD) hopeful Sari Essayah, stated in an MTV3 poll that the far right does not pose a threat to Finland.
Read on »Timo Soini's little PS fish and big PS fishes
The PS councilman Tommi Rautio scandal, where he stated on Facebook that he’d decorate the Finn who killed a Moroccan native in cold blood at a pizzeria Oulu, is turning into a messy Breivik-type watershed for the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The concern raised by PS chairman Timo Soini, and how the Rautio scandal has already impacted the party’s popularity internally and externally, is clear in its new non-convincing get-tough stance on racism.
Read on »Thank you Oulu for demonstrating and standing up for your rights!
Migrant Tales would like to thank all those people who marched in Oulu and Helsinki on Friday against the violence that gripped Oulu last weekend and give simultaneously the thumbs down to the chicanery of others, like Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP from Oulu Olli Immonen, who has warned us about a “culture war” between white Europe and Islam. Is this the first chapter of the war that Immonen seeks?
Read on »Soini and the PS to ban "racists" from running for office
In light of the recent scandal that has rocked the Perussuomalaiset (PS), party chairman Timo Soini now promises to banish “racist” candidates from taking part in the municipal election of October 28, according to Helsingin Sanomat, citing Swedish-language daily HBL. Can we and should we believe Soini’s latest promise?
Read on »Zuzeeko's blog: Finland – Shooting of Immigrants in Oulu pizzeria must be condemned
In a country where a Member of Parliament for the Perussuomalaiset (PS) political party can openly use racist and derogatory language (video) against Muslims and people of African decent and is not forced to resign as representative of the people, it is easy to conclude that racism is deep-seated. However, any racially motivated shooting or killing must be unequivocally condemned in the strongest terms by all people of goodwill.
Read on »Facebook PS killer "medal" scandal: Shame on Timo Soini and the police
Thanks to exemplary action of some Finns, who are shocked by the tolerance for racism, is what led to the downfall of Perussuomalaiset (PS) city councilman Tommi Rautio. If blogger Ossi Mäntylahti would not have pasted on his Facebook pages what Rautio had said, the PS politician wouldn’t have dug his own political grave.
Read on »Finnish police confirm ethnic background of second death on Friday
The Finnish police have confirmed to Migrant Tales that the second death of a young man to be a naturalized Finn who was born in Somalia. The young man lost his life on in Espoo on Friday. It is the third killing of an immigrant in just over three weeks.
Read on »Facebook PS "medal" story update: Rautio may be sacked from party
Tommi Rautio’s statement on Facebook that he would give a medal to the Finn who shot two Moroccan workers at a pizzeria in Oulu Saturday night “because we are at war,” has become quite a sensation on the Internet but all for the wrong reasons. The Perussuomalaiset (PS) may sack Rautio for his racist comments that not only condone but encourage violence against immigrants.
Read on »Populist PS of Finland: Living and dying by the political sword
The chairman of the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS), Timo Soini, has stated publicly on numerous occasions how racism and hate speech should have no role in his party. He has said that those who wander down such a questionable path will end up being devoured by their hatred.
Read on »Facebook: ”If Janne is the one [who shot the foreigners at the pizzeria] then we should give Janne a medal”
Here is an excerpt of Tommi Rautio’s Facebook page about the tragic shooting at a pizzeria in Oulu, Finland, which killed one Moroccan worker and a former owner. ”If Janne is the one [who shot the foreigners in the pizzeria] then we should give Janne a medal”
Read on »Facebook: “Jos Janne on ampuja niin kunniamerkki Jannelle”
Tässä Tommi Raution Facebook sivulla hän kirjoittaa Oulun pizzeria Monacossa tapahtuneesta: “Jos Janne on ampuja niin kunniamerkki Jannelle.”
Read on »Forgiving our past enemies and mending relations with new ones in Finland
I have never understood why some Finns are capable of expressing so much hatred for religious groups like Muslims, Somalis, blacks, and especially the Romany minority and Russians. Even if the Continuation War (1941-44) ended 67 years ago, some of us still sound as if we were in those trenches waiting for the enemy to attack.
Read on »Somali death in Finland: The problem that constantly mocks at us
Migrant Tales was saddened to be tipped off that apparently another Somali national had died violently now in Espoo after it reported the tragic death of a Somali national in Oulu. The shock and outrage of the Somali community of the death of one of its members reveal their mistrust for white Finnish society and the authorities.
Read on »"Real" Finns were, are and will be culturally diverse Finns
People who think that only white Finns are “real” Finns are, in my opinion, seriously mistaken. They represent a modern segregated view of society we saw in the United States before the 1960s and in worst cases in South Africa before 1994. The “Only Whites” sign isn’t posted on doors these days but shines constantly in their minds.
Read on »Demand your right to be a Finn on your own cultural and ethnic terms
One of my biggest problems in understanding institutional racism in Finland was that I accepted being a member of such a social ill. Even if I had every right to claim Finnish identity from my mother’s side, I did not do so because I reinforced with my silence the stereotypical and even racist views that some Finns held about non-Finns.
Read on »Harassment and abuse of Somalis in Finland picked up after the election
In many respects, the treatment of Somalis in Finland sadly reminds me of how blacks in the United States were excluded from society in the 1960s, when the civil rights movement was in full swing. Like in the United States, racism in Finland not only threatens our values as a society but questions who we are as a nation and people.
Read on »Debate on racism against the Somali community in Finland resembles a dead battery
Taking into account the hostility and racism that Finland’s Somali community suffers, the news isn’t about racism that such nationals experience but how little has been done to address the issue. A story on YLE news Monday brings to light (again) what we all know about the country’s fourth-largest immigrant community: racism and exclusion are the rule, not the exception.
Read on »Irish Examiner: Anti-immigrant or racist political rhetoric ‘must not go unchecked’
An example needs to be made of politicians who make negative comments about immigrants if Ireland is to avoid going down a route of an “accepted rhetoric or racism”, Integration Ireland has warned.
Read on »Finland's growing image abroad now hinges on racism and intolerance
The lead story in Sunday’s Helsingin Sanomat is about how racism and intolerance have tarnished Finland’s image abroad, according to a survey of Finnish expats living in different countries. Even if the daily blames the rise of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party for our country’s questionable image abroad, the real culprits are none other than us.
Read on »Cultural diversity needs proactive solutions not populist whining
The many threads on Migrant Tales mirror what is wrong with the ongoing debate in Finland and our ever-growing cultural diversity. On the one side we have those who cannot do anything else but complain while the other side looks for solutions.
Read on »No cliffhangers in today presidential election in Finland
Finns go to the polls today vote elect their next president. Opinion polls reveal that Kokoomus’ Sauli Niinistö is the front-runner followed by a close neck-and-neck race between Pekka Haavisto of the Greens and Paavo Väyrynen of the Center Party.
Read on »Who remembers Ulla Pyysalo and her links to the neo-Nazi PVL?
Remember Ulla Pyysalo, Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP Juho Eerola’s aide? She’s the one who got her fingers burned when her name appeared on a hacked membership list of the neo-Nazi Kansalinen vastarintaliike (SVL). Pyysalo said that she would resign if she found a new job by the end of last year. Well, folks, surprise, surprise… My sources in parliament tell me that Pyysalo is still working for Eerola.
Read on »Is full integration and ethnic equality possible in Finland?
What would happen if different ethnic groups switched their roles in society and promoted their history and justification of the domination of other groups? Below is a satirical video clip about that switched view of white Australia’s ongoing program of racisim and oppression of black indigenous people.
Read on »Finland and the far-right threat posed by Halla-aho and Niinistö
Social Democrat Party presidential hopeful, Paavo Lipponen, has been the most outspoken candidate about the threat of the far right in Finland. On a television debate Thursday, he accused Perussuomalaiset (PS) party far-right MPs like Jussi Halla-aho and Jussi Niinistö of hiding behind Timo Soini and swelling him and the party’s popularity.
Read on »The question that exposed Timo Soini’s good-cop-bad-cop strategy on racism
The televised presidential debate on Thursday is probably one of the first time when Perussuomalaiset (PS) party chairman Timo Soini’s lie was uncovered to the tee. His usual response, “I don’t support racism and hate speech,” didn’t work because it was unconvincing. We should thank again the high school students of the city of Järvenpää for their question that brought Soini’s political house of cards down.
Read on »Christian Democrat candidate does not see Finland "more racist" than before
Christian Democrat presidential hopeful, Sari Essayah, was quoted as saying on Jyväskylä-based daily Keskisuomalainen that racism hasn’t increased in Finland and that the media is to blame for following what is written on the net on different anti-immigration forums.
Read on »Lip service or action by Finnish municipal authorities?
The role of accepting refugees in remote municipalities as a way of slowing the number of people who move out of the community is a half-way solution to the challenging demographic problem facing many parts of Finland. While there is a lot of good will to accommodate refugees in their municipality, many of these people end up moving to bigger cities like Helsinki after short stay.
Read on »We can contain the PS' populist threat to Finland
The more I read about Timo Soini the more I am convinced that the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party is a threat to this country, especially to those who do not fit the PS’ narrow view of the world. I am not contesting the election result, which I respect, but what the cat has brought in from the back door.
Read on »Timo Soini: The beast behind the sugar-coated words
What does Perussuomalaiset (PS) party presidential hopeful, Timo Soini, really think about immigration and cultural diversity? A column he wrote in the latest Suomen Soini Presidentiksi [Soini for Finnish president] publication exposes what the leader of the PS thinks about such important issues.
Read on »Finland & Cultural Diversity 2011
In many respects 2011 was a watershed year for Finland and Europe concerning the rise of anti-immigration parties and xenophobia. The biggest news to hit Finland this year was without a doubt the April 17 election, which saw the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS) party win 39 seats compared with only 5 in 2007. On July 22 Anders Breivik gunned down most of his 77 victims in Norway.
Read on »Different cultural diversity strokes for different folks in Finland and Europe
One matter shines through after reading and responding to the thousands of threads on Migrant Tales: multiculturalism, racism and inequality mean different things for different people. One way to make sense of the ongoing debate on Finland’s ever-growing acceptance of its cultural diversity is figuring out what these terms mean for different groups.
Read on »A matter of perspective and the real issue in the Finnish immigration debate
Perspective is one reason why Migrant Tales has grown especially after the April 17 election and become a home for a large and ever-growing number of bloggers. We have, in my opinion, become for some that sincere critical “voice for those whose views and situation are understood poorly and heard faintly by the media, politicians and public.”
Read on »A bitter taste of the PS’ idea of press freedom
I read with some dismay that 12 Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MPs have filed a complaint to the Council for Mass Media in Finland (JSN) about a cartoon that was published in the Helsinki Lutheran Church’s weekly Kirkko ja Kaupunki, according to Helsingin Sanomat. The cartoon showed PS chairman Timo Soini and a number of MPs wishing those who weren’t white, conservative and heterosexual Finns a shitty Christmas.
Read on »guardian.co.uk: Tory MP Aidan Burley sacked over ‘Nazi’ stag party attendance
A Conservative MP who attended a stag party where guests dressed as Nazis has been sacked as a Commons aide for “offensive” behaviour and placed under investigation by David Cameron.
Read on »A bad week for the PS and Timo Soini
Three cartoons that appeared in the Finnish and Swedish media this week gave the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party a taste of its own medicine. The Helsinki Lutheran Church’s newspaper, Kirkko ja Kaupunki, published on Wednesday a cartoon where Soini and the PS wished all those who weren’t white, conservative and heterosexual Finns a shitty Christmas.
Read on »Finland’s PS Soini plays down racism in his party to “one, two or three” cases
Perussuomalaiset (PS) party presidential hopeful Timo Soini’s excuses about the issue of racism in his party and in Finland are getting more surreal every day. At a presidential debate Wednesday on MTV3, Soini played down racism in his party to “one, two or three” cases compared with a half a million people who voted for the PS in April.
Read on »Finland’s ignorance of racism and fascism
One of the political dramas that Finland is suffering today is that it does not know what racism and fascism is. The Finnish media up to the April 17 election not only lost its teeth and forgot the important role it plays in defending our civil rights it helped the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS).
Read on »PS MP Hirvisaari gets convicted for hate speech
Perussuomaliset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari was convicted Monday by a Kouvola court for incitement against an ethnic group, according to Helsingin Sanomat in English. He got off the hook last year in November when a court in Päijät-Häme acquitted him of the same crime. Hirvisaari says that he will appeal the latest decision in a higher court.
Read on »The PS is the PS of Finland no matter how you slice it
Perussuomaliaset (PS) party head Timo Soini reitereated plans on MTV3 to establish a new party that would be politically center-right. He said that in five years the PS would be a similar populist party like the Progress Party (FrP) of Norway and Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ). Both of these parties are anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Muslim.
Read on »Urban Faith: Why We Can’t Ignore Racism
As a white man in America, I’ve been guilty of rolling my eyes when someone would raise the subject of racism. “Why can’t everyone just get over it,” I’d think. But ignoring wounds from the past can be as damaging as the initial offense.
Read on »Fueling “harmful stereotypes, discrimination and xenophobia” in Finland and elsewhere
The recently published report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) rightfully warns about how misinformation about migration fuels “harmful stereotypes, discrimination and xenophobia.” A New York Times article states that such perceptions are so distorted that citizens believe that there are three times more immigrants living in some countries than is the case.
Read on »Good questions about the PS by the Vallan Vahtikoira blog
Vallan Vahtikoira is an interesting blog that asks all the right questions that some media should be asking the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party. His latest blog entry (in Finnish), Perussuomalista normimenoa, asks about some of the embarrassing revelations that become public about some PS members belonging to neo-Nazi associations like the SKV.
Read on »Making racism shameful in Finland and Europe
While the US Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. did not eradicate racism in the United States, it was singled out as a threat to society and challenged. Landmark laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were not the only matters that changed things. Racism became shameful in many parts of the United States.
Read on »Should Finland adopt a citizenship test?
What would an anti-immigration hardliner like MP Olli Immonen of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party seek when he believes that Finland should adopt a citizenship test like Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship? Immonen offered an written question Thursday on the matter to the speaker of the house.
Read on »MTV3: Janne Virkkunen: Tulevan presidentin puututtava Suomen ahdistavaan ilmapiiriin
Helsingin Sanomien entinen päätoimittaja Janne Virkkunen on huolissaan Suomessa leviävästä ulkomaalaisvastaisuudesta ja vihakirjoittelusta. “Minua ahdistaa. Yhteiskuntamme ilmapiiri on tällä hetkellä sellainen, että suvaitsemattomuus vain nousee nousemistaan,” Janne Virkkunen sanoo.
Read on »The snow job of the far right in Finland
The shocking revelations in Germany, whereby 140 people have died since 1990 as a result of far-right violence, is a wake-up call for us in Finland as well. How is it possible that so many people are killed by a far-right terror cell without anyone raising a question?
Read on »Further momentum against racism in Finland
Here is a story published Sunday on Savon Sanomat of Kuopio that shows members in the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) party giving the thumbs down to racism. Jukka Kotimäki, PS organization secretary of Siilimäki near Kuopio, states that he does not want openly racist people to be a part of his party.
Read on »Most Finnish parties are giving the thumbs down to racism
Left Alliance presidential hopeful, Paavo Arhimäki, said Sunday that his party has taken the strongest stand against racism when compared with the Swedish People’s Party and Greens, reports Tampere-based daily Aaamulehti. It is a very positive sign that Finland’s political parties are now competing to be the most outspoken on racism.
Read on »When racism attacks its eager keeper in Finland
Racism is a serious social ill that festers in all societies. Some parties, like the Persussuomalaiset (PS), appear to be dazzled by the political opportunities it offers in the way of votes and public attention. What they forget, however, is that racism has no master and can attack its supposed keepers.
Read on »HS in English: Prospect of dancing gays keeps MP away from Independence Day reception
True Finns MP Pentti Oinonen has announced that he will not attend the President’s annual Independence Day reception on December 6th this year. Oinonen said that he would not be comfortable at a party attended only by people who are well off.
Read on »KU Verkkolehti: Rasistinen äärioikeisto hivuttautuu valtavirtaan
Euroopassa on pitkään suhtauduttu aivan liian huolettomasti äärioikeistosta tulevaan uhkaan, sanoo aiheesta kirjan kirjoittanut ruotsalainen toimittaja Lisa Bjurwald.
Read on »HS.fi: Rasistikin suvaitsee itseään
Keskustelu suomalaisten rasismista ja sen heijastumisesta politiikkaan on lukkiintunut toistuvaan kaavaan. Muiden puheenvuoroissa arvioidaan, että rasismi ja muukalaispelko ovat lisänneet perussuomalaisen puolueen kannatusta.
Read on »Racism in Finland: She loves me, she loves me not…
The region of Pohjois-Karjala in eastern Finland has gained a dubious reputation for being one of Finland’s hotspots of racism. A poll published by Joensuu-based Karjalainen shows that while people from this region are not against labor immigrants they don’t want refugees moving there.
Read on »guardian.co.uk: Far-right Finnish politician Timo Soini bids for presidency
Timo Soini is excited about Italian bond yields. “I just heard that the interest on Italian 10-year loans is now over 7.3%,” he whispers as a cast-iron lift hoists us from the ground floor of the monumental Finnish parliament to his office above. “This is a horrendous situation.” But it’s clear that, from his political standpoint, it’s actually quite good news.
Read on »The ever-embattled Soini of the PS of Finland
Perussuomalaiset (PS) party chairman, Timo Soini, appears more embattled every day as he watches with weary eyes polls. The latest one published by Helsingin Sanomat Saturdayshows racism to be more acceptable among PS supporters.
Read on »PS of Finland: Giving racism a new respectable face
A number of far right anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MPs have seen an image facelift after they were elected. PS MP Juho Eerola has seen the biggest transformation.
Read on »eWeek Europe: Anonymous Implicated In Finnish Web Hacks
Neo-Nazi politicians were exposed in Finland – but was Anonymous really responsible? In the largest ever breach of its kind, Finnish websites were hacked last week and personal data leaked onto a file sharing website, it has been reported.
Read on »Supo: Suomen Sisu is an extremist group
Kari Harju, Finnish secret police Supo regional security chief, classified Suomen Sisu as an extremist organization. He made the statement Monday in Ylen A-studio.
Read on »A-studio 7.11.2011 TV1 klo 21:00: Onko perussuomalaisilla yhteyksiä äärijärjestöihin?
It would be interesting to have a debate on Migrant Tales after the A-studio report today at 9pm that asks if the PS has connections to far right groups.
Read on »Is the PS to blame for racism?
Are the Perssuomalaiset (PS) party to blame for checkmating the status quo in Finland on April 17? Or is it a more general and worrying symptom of how Finnish society is changing and how some believe it is now ok to be racist and hostile to other groups?
Read on »The PS’ lame stance on neo-Nazism
The resignation of Perussuomalaiset (PS) party aide, Ulla Pyysalo, didn’t come as a surprise. One of the most incredible characteristic of the Pyysalo case is how PS MP Juho Eerola has played down the whole affair. Has Eerola and the PS made it clear that the party does not want anything to do with a neo-Nazi organization.
Read on »YLE Kymeenlakso: Juho Eerola ei tue Pyysalon erottamista
Kotkalaisen kansanedustajan Juho Eerolan lappeenrantalainen avustaja Ulla Pyysalo haki 2 vuotta sitten kansallissosialistisen Suomen vastarintaliike -järjestön jäsenyyttä. Juho Eerolan sanojen mukaan olisi mieletöntä erottaa Pyysalo puolueesta vain sen vuoksi, että hän on tullut järkiinsä ja jättänyt liittymättä natseihin.
Read on »SVT: Arjen rasismi on lisääntynyt Suomessa
Maahanmuuttoa ja monikulttuurisuutta vastustetaan Suomessa yhä avoimemmin. Helsingissä järjestetyssä seminaarissa todettiin, että asenneilmapiiri on koventunut ja maahanmuuttajat kokevat arjessaan suvaitsemattomuutta entistä enemmän. Vihapuheet kohdistuvat myös maahanmuuttajataustaisiin lapsiin ja nuoriin.
Read on »Using Finnish “fatherland” patriotism to justify neo-Nazism
The Ulla Pyysalo case has turned some Perussuomalaiset (PS) party faces red. Her name came up on a membership list of a neo-Nazi organization Suomen Kansallinen Vastarinta (SVL) after hackers broke into the www.patriootti.com website over the weekend.
Read on »Hackers get far-right Kansallinen Vastarinta membership-request list
The growing face of far-right Finland exposed itself Monday when some hackers succeeded at breaking into patriootti.com’s membership-request list. One of the red faces to appear was Tuomas Uokkonen, a Perussuomalaiset (PS) party board vice president in Oulu. He states that when he sought membership in the far-right group said on his Facebook page that he did not know what he was doing because he was drunk.
Read on »If Finland is serious about stamping out racism…
If our society is a model of social justice for other countries to emulate, why would we tolerate discrimination and all types of racism? Which group are the biggest threat to our society: immigrants or anti-immigration groups?
Read on »PS will not take any disciplinary action against MP Teuvo Hakkarainen
What kind of a message does the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) party send to their supporters and Finland when they decide that it’s OK to turn a blind eye to one of their many controversial MPs, Teuvo Hakkarainen, who publicly insults homosexuals, lesbians and Somalians? Hakkarainen was quoted as saying on tabloid Ilta-Sanomat that these types of minorities should be relocated to the Åland Islands.
Read on »Separating urban myths from facts in the Finnish immigration debate
To confirm whether anti-immigrant politicians are spreading urban myths or not, I recommend taking a look at the 2010 Finnish Immigration Service (FIS) annual report. What you may find may startle, even anger you.
Read on »Ilta-Sanomat: Homot ja somalit Ahvenanmaalle asumaan
Kansanedustajan Teuvo Hakkaraisen (ps.) Ilta-Sanomille antamat lausunnot herättivät tuoreeltaan vilkasta kommentointia lauantaina muun muassa netin keskustelupalstoilla. Ilta-Sanomien mukaan Hakkarainen ehdotti, että homot, lesbot ja somalit pitäisi laittaa Ahvenanmaalle keskenään asumaan.
Read on »HBL: Lipponen tar ställning mot svenskfientlighet och slutenhet
– Jag stämplar inte Sannfinländarna som parti, men det finns högerextremister i partiet och Timo Soini måste vara tydlig mot dem, sade Lipponen på FSD-kongressen i går.
Read on »Timo Soini: “The PS do not hate anybody – not anybody”
Do you agree and can Perussuomalaiset (PS) party head Timo Soini claim that his party does not “hate” anyone? I wonder if Soini, who made such a claim on Saturday when he was chosen to be the PS’ presidential candidate, ever heard of Freddy van Wonterghem, James Hirvisaari, Olli Immonen, Teuvo Harkkarainen, Juho Eerola, Reijo Tossavainen never mind Jussi Halla-aho and others.
Read on »Kymen Sanomat: Muslimivastaisuus toi syytteen van Wonterghemille
Valtakunnansyyttäjänvirasto on määrännyt nostettavaksi syytteen kotkalaista kaupunginvaltuutettua Freddy van Wonterghemia vastaan. Syyte tulee kiihottamisesta kansanryhmää vastaan.
Read on »Why the PS are a threat to immigrants and Finland
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen, a member of Suomen Sisu and well-known for his anti-immigration views, wants to do away with the Ombudsman for Minorities office, according to Oulu-based daily Kaleva. Apart from slashing the budget by 50%, Immonen plans to draft a law that will make the Ombudsman for Minorities redundant.
Read on »Brain drain from Finland set to get worse as anti-immigration sentiment grows
Think tank Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA) states in a report that Finland already suffers from brain drain “to some extent.” With the backdrop of the April 17 election and a more negative atmosphere towards immigrants, coupled with the cooling of the economy, suggest that brain drain will continue to get worse.
Read on »An about-turn by the PS on racism?
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Tom Packalén expresses concern on an Uusi Suomi blog about recent hate crimes in Lieksa that have hit the national news. The former policeman appears to be exited by an article he read in Helsingin Sanomat quoting Muqtar Moalin Nuurin, head of the Somalian association of Lieksa, who said that Somalians are also to blame for the situation in Lieksa.
Read on »An “honest police debate” about rape with the help of an Islamophobist PS MP
What would you say about a policeman who wants to begin an open debate on Facebook about rape crimes committed by immigrants? He uses as one of his sources Islamophoibist Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen, who believes that it is only a question of time when there will be a “war of cultures” in Europe.
Read on »Karjalainen: Lieksassa raju puukkotappelu – somalimiehelle pahimmat vammat
Ainakin kaksi miestä sai vammoja teräaseesta viime yönä kello 4:n aikaan Lieksan keskustassa Siltakadulla. Kahakan osapuolina oli joukko lieksalaisia miehiä ja kolme somalimiestä.
Read on »The language of “keeping Finland white”
The ongoing debate on the role of immigrants in Finnish society boils down to one big issue for the right-wing populists: How to keep Finland white and curtail non-European immigration. The view, that Finland must remain white, is as racist as a white man’s claim in the United States during the Civil Rights era that blacks don’t have a place in society.
Read on »Finland’s belated response to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989
Finland lags behind Europe in some areas. Good examples are immigration and reaction to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Is the growth of right-wing populism in Finland today only a belated response to the demise of the former Soviet Union in 1991 and Berlin Wall?
Read on »Our ignorance of others and our ability to change
Sometimes when hearing the arguments of some Finns and Europeans on immigrants, minorities and immigration is like returning to the nineteenth and/or part of the twentieth century. Our educational system has failed miserably if in 2011 people still believe cultures have certain predictable traits or that our genes guide our behavior like robots.
Read on »Iltalehti: Suuntautuminen kerrottava
Perussuomalaisten kansanedustaja Mika Niikko puolestaan sanoo, että hän haluaisi työnantajana tietää työntekijän seksuaalisen suuntautumisen.
Read on »Violence and racism are always in the eye of the victim
Are the Perussuomalaiset (PS) a violent party? Despite a story that was published widely by the media last week, there were no conclusions made by an ongoing study that a part of the PS approves violence, according to think tank Demos. The British-based think tank will publish the results of a wider study on online populism in Europe later this year.
Read on »Savon Sanomat: Persujen linja – onko sitä?
Savon SanomienTaloustutkimuksella teettämän kyselyn mukaan ylivoimainen enemmistö suomalaisista ei hyväksy perussuomalaistenJussi Halla-ahon Kreikka-puheita. Täystyrmäys tuli sukupuoleen, ikään, varallisuuteen tai puoluekantaan katsomatta.
Read on »What the far right in Finland really means when it says “multiculturalism sucks ass”
If one reads the anti-immigration rhetoric of the far-right wing of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party led by MP Jussi Halla-aho, you will eventually find the racism and the meaning behind their discourse. Almost everything they claim and object to boils down to one matter: Stop Muslims and non-Europeans from coming to Finland and Europe.
Read on »guardian.co.uk: English Defence League filling vacuum left by mainstream politics, says report
Mainstream political parties must tackle far-right groups through doorstep hearts and minds campaigns that tackle anti-Muslim sentiments at local level, according to two reports on challenging extremists.
Read on »PS’ Hirvisaari and his overkill of the media
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari went on the rampage today by calling journalists “bloodthirsty hyenas” as well as “arrogant and lying scum.” He equated persu, the shortened term for Perussuomalaiset which is now a forbidden word in parliament, to nekru, or the n-word.
Read on »ESS: Hirvisaari lakkauttaisi Ylen
Perussuomalaisten kansanedustaja James Hirvisaari leimaa Yleisradion täysin ylimitoitetuksi ja kohtuuttomasti rahaa kuluttavaksi muinaisjäänteeksi, jolla nykymuodossaan ei ole olemassaolon oikeutusta. Hirvisaari vastasi sähköpostilla Etelä-Suomen Sanomien kysymykseen Yleisradion tulevasta rahoitusmallista. Hän ei suostu puhelinhaastatteluihin.
Read on »Ihmisiä muuttoliikkeessä: Susanna Niinivaara: Muisti Pätkii
Ensin perussuomalaiset onnistuivat brändäämään itsensä maahanmuuttokriittisenä puolueena, ja sitten puolue onnistui sumentamaan meidän toimittajien muistia.
Perussuomalaiset toistavat sitkeästi, että Suomessa maahanmuuttoon liittyvistä ongelmista on vaiettu ja varsinkin näitä ongelmia on hyssytellyt media. Viestimissä on väitteelle annettu tilaa ja perussuomalaiset ovat saaneet kiitosta siitä, että he ovat nostaneet vaietun aiheen keskusteluun.
Ilta-Sanomat: Tässä ovat perussuomalaisilta kielletyt sanat
Professori Erkki Havansi on ohjeistanut puoluetovereitaan vihapuhelainsäädännön suhteen. Nettiin laitettua muistiota voidaan pitää selvänä ohjeena varsinkin Jussi Halla-aholle, joka viime viikolla erotettiin kahdeksi viikoksi ryhmän toiminnasta.
Read on »PS’ far right threatens our society and values
The sooner we comprehend as a society that the far-right wing of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party led by MP Jussi Halla-aho and his cronies are a threat to our Nordic way of life the better. There are already clear signs that this group of MPs in the PS has not only become a thorn in Timo Soini’s side but is being shunned by other political parties and the public.
Read on »YLE in English: Lipponen condemns Finns party statements
SDP Presidential candidate Paavo Lipponen has warned the Finns party not to joke about basic democratic values. In Lipponen’s opinion it is now time to create clear boundaries for the hard right both in politics and in wider society.
Read on »YLE: Halla-aho suspended for two weeks
The Finns party MP Jussi Halla-aho was suspended for two weeks by his parliamentary group on Thursday afternoon following Facebook comments deemed inappropriate by the party.
Read on »Uusi Suomi: Halla-ahon ryöpytys jatkuu: ”Rasisti”
Suomalaista maahanmuuttokeskustelua riivaa eliitin kummallinen hyssyttelykulttuuri. Maahanmuuttokriittisten, niin kutsuttujen hommalaisten, vastapainoksi ei ole syntynyt kunnollista poliittista oppositiota, joka tarjoaisi vaihtoehdon keskustelun pohjalla kytevälle rasismille.
Read on »YLE: Soini demands temporary explusion of Halla-aho from Finns party parliamentary group
The leader of the Finns party, Timo Soini, has demanded the temporary expulsion of controversial MP Jussi Halla-aho from the party’s parliamentary group. The move follows a writing on Facebook made on Wednesday by Halla-aho in which he said a military junta could best solve Greek crisis by using tanks to crush protestors.
Read on »HS.fi: Soini sai puolustella omiaan Pietarissakin
Perussuomalaiset ja Timo Soini kiinnostivat pietarilaistoimittajia tiistaina enemmän kuin kaupungissa vieraileva eduskunnan ulkoasiainvaliokunta. Venäläistoimittajat tenttasivat valiokunnan puheenjohtajaa Soinia etenkin perussuomalaisten viileästä suhtautumisesta Euroopan unioniin ja maahanmuuttoon, mukaan lukien venäläisiin.
Read on »Finland: To isolate or not to isolate ourselves from the world
If there is a post-Finlandization period in this country it manifests itself today through fear and suspicion of the outside world. As the April election result showed, a large minority of Finns don’t have a problem about returning to the days when Finland was near-isolated geopolitically from the outside world thanks to its special relationship with the former Soviet Union.
Read on »Finland’s long-overdue issue with the cold war
Every country has its silent minority or majority and Finland is no different in this respect. The victory of the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) party in April raises a lot of questions: Has the ghosts of Finlandization and the Continuation War (1941-44) been resurrected?
Read on »Finnish hate blogs’ toilet graffiti attack (or toilet democracy)
It is a positive sign that more politicians and organizations like the Council for Mass Media (JSN) are finally taking a strong stance against hate speech and racism that is rife on the net. These types of opinions, usually done anonymously and on sites like Hommaforum, Scripta and others, resemble racist peeping Toms writing graffiti on public toilet walls.
Read on »Ten steps to tame the beast of racism and prejudice in Finland
Like alcoholism, racism is a social ill that exists but is rarely recognized as a problem. In countries like Finland we are still debating whether racism and prejudice is a problem or not. How much must racism grow for us to accept it as a serious problem that threatens our present Nordic way of life?
Read on »Boycott “The Finns”
Migrant Tales had decided in April to ditch the Englisgh-language name “True Finns” for the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party because it was a horrible translation. By calling a party “True Finns” one is insinuating that those that don’t support this right-wing populist party are “phony Finns.” The new English-language name, The Finns, stoops even lower.
Read on »The Perussuomalaiset adopt “The Finns” as their official English name
The right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) party are now officially calle in English “The Finns,” reports Helsingin Sanomat citing Finnish News Agency (STT). The motion to adopt “The Finns” as the official English name of the party was made by PS head Timo Soini.
Read on »The far right and the PS should know there is no such thing as selective hatred
Even if some anti-immigration groups try to make their message more digestible to voters, it should be clear after the tragic events in Norway that hate speech affects everyone. Selective hatred is a myth. If you loathe one group that poison spills over on other ones and eventually to all of society.
Read on »Far-right thinking and the cold war in Finland and the PS
The rise of far-right thinking and nationalism in Finland seen through the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party is nothing new in the face of Finland’s long cold war isolation. Finnish-Soviet relations were not the only one that were under close scrutiny by the state, but how we interpreted our history and ourselves as a nation. That is now changing thanks to the reemergence of our ever-growing diversity as a nation.
Read on »PS stands for perkele saatanas – damn everything!
The biggest shock on April 17 was that Finns woke up to the reality that a large minority (19.1%) had radical views on issues like the EU, immigration and nationalism. A poll published on Friday showed that the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party continues to be the biggest in Finland. What does it say about the present state of Finland?
Read on »A model for cultural diversity in Finland
While the term multiculturalism means many things to many people and groups, Finland is not officially a multicultural country. Nowhere in our laws will you find that magic adjective, multicultural. But taking that big leap from the perception of being a monolithic ethnic society from one that is multicultural like Canada is a tall order for any country. Even so, Finland needs today best practice models and values that promote and encourage inclusion and acceptance of our ever-growing cultural diversity.
Read on »HS in English NEWS ANALYSIS: As thick as a (message) board
The shocking mass murder in Norway on July 22nd has prompted a great deal of discussion within Finland about the Internet and about the hate-speech that emanates from some quarters of it.
Read on »PS politics: Problems conveniently disappear if you don’t exist
Ever wonder why immigrants and minorities are seen as outsiders in Finland with no history? Why do the majority of Finns, when speaking of these groups, usually talk in the present and future tense but rarely in the past tense? What are they really saying when they deny that racism isn’t a major problem in Finland?
Read on »Halonen cites the economy and racism as threats to Finland
President Tarja Halonen was quoted as saying on YLE that the government is facing two challenges after it returns from its summer holiday: the economy and racism. Her advice was calm, patience and not allowing hate speech to overtake our worst fears.
Read on »AFP & YLE: Halla-aho claims being victim of “witch-hunt”
True Finns Party MP Jussi Halla-aho says that he feels that a witch-hunt has started against him and free speech after the Norway tragedy. In an interview with AFP, he said that things are completely out of control.
Read on »Spiegel Online International: Can Europe’s Populists Be Blamed for Anders Breivik’s Crusade?
Norway and the world are still struggling to understand the ghastly deeds of Anders Breivik, who was driven to kill by his hatred of Muslims. His confused worldview, which Breivik describes in a 1,500-word manifesto, was influenced by European right-wing populists. Do politicians and writers share some of the blame for his terrible crimes? By SPIEGEL Staff.
Read on »Ilta-Sanomat: Kansanedustaja: Tiedossa sisällissotia ja terrori-iskuja
Perussuomalaisten kansanedustaja Olli Immonen uskoo monikultturisen kehityksen Euroopassa johtavan tulevaisuudessa väkivaltaan.
Read on »Europe’s and Finland’s radical right: toning down diatribe rhetoric
We are seeing today how the impact of the killings in Norway have placed the far right and right-wing populist parties under greater scrutiny. If these parties are now forced to tone down their anti-immigration message that fueled their rise, will greater scrutiny dull their message and weaken them in the end?
Read on »YLE: Parties consider Halla-aho’s position
Jussi Halla-aho, a critic of immigration and multiculturalism, is facing pressure to stand down as chair of parliament’s Administration committee in the wake of the Norwegian terror attacks. The Administration Committee deals with matters that include immigration policy and gun legislation.
Read on »Waging a war of “total words” in Finland and Europe
The Age of Chivalry died in the 2008 municipal election in Finland with the advent of “total words.” The ongoing war of words bring near memories of the former German concept of “total war,” which meant attacking undefended shipping, helpless civilians and breaking all the rules of wars prior to WW I.
Read on »tygodnik.onet.pl: Psychopaci są wśród nas
Ku oburzeniu dobrych chrześcijan policja poinformowała, że Breivik jest „chrześcijańskim fundamentalistą”. Trzeba się pogodzić i z tym, że „chrześcijański fundamentalizm” istnieje, że jest równie, a może bardziej groźny aniżeli fundamentalizmy laickie.
Read on »Ilta-Sanomat: SDP tahtoo Halla-ahon eroa
Sdp aikoo kyseenalaistaa perussuomalaisten kansanedustaja Jussi Halla-Ahon aseman eduskunnan hallintovaliokunnan puheenjohtajana. Asiasta kertoo Ilta-Sanomat.
Read on »Living in post 22/7 for Finland’s PS: Better late than never?
It is clear that matters are no longer the same for the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party after the horrific events that shook Norway and the world on July 22. Migrant Tales predicted a couple of days after the mass killings that they would cast a critical light on far right and right-wing populist parties like the PS, which have been riding the crest of the popularity wave thanks to their anti-immigrant and anti-Islam rhetoric.
Read on »HS.fi: Hirvittävä teko, mutta . . .
Perussuomalaisten kansanedustaja James Hirvisaari löytää syitä Norjan verilöylyyn ja tappaja Anders Breivikin toimintaan. Hirvisaari kirjoittaa ajatuksistaan Uuden Suomen Puheenvuoro-palstalla 24. 7. aloittamassaan keskustelussa.
Read on »The PS Counter-Jihadists are Soini’s biggest threat
For those who still believe that the mass killings in Norway will not impact parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) and hate websites in this country should think twice. Migrant Tales was right: there is already clear evidence that living in a post-22/7 Europe has torn a hole in the argument of the anti-immigrant populists and extremists in Finland.
Read on »YLE: Soini: Suomen poliitikot käyttävät hyväkseen Norjan tragediaa
Ylen Päivän kasvo -ohjelmassa vieraillut perussuomalaisten puheenjohtaja Timo Soini sanoo, että Suomen poliitikot ovat käyttäneet hyväkseen Norjan murhenäytelmää yhdistämällä kaikki perussuomalaiset äärimielipiteisiin ja vihapuheeseen. Soini haluaa tehdä selväksi, että hän ei hyväksy väkivaltaa, ja katsoo, että viha on tuhoava voima.
Read on »Living in post-22/7 Europe: The tide has turned
One of the biggest blows to the far right and right-wing populist parties in Europe and the Nordic Region after the horrific events in Norway has been to seriously question their raison d’être: their provocative anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam discourse.
Read on »Suomen Kuvalehti.fi: Terrorismintutkija: Breivik selittää tekonsa vasta-jihadilla – tästä on kyse
Kun uhrit on laskettu, alkaa syiden pohdinta. Millaisella ajatusmaailmalla Anders Behring Breivik perusteli tekonsa itselleen ja yrittää tehdä niin myös muille?
Breivik julkaisi perjantaina noin 1500-sivuisen manifestin, jossa hän muun muassa kuvailee valmistautumista terrori-iskuun. Hän kertoo vastustavansa islamia ja marxismia. Terrorismintutkija Toby Archer sanoo, että Breivik ei ole vain hullu. Hän on selvästi mielenvikainen, mutta hänellä on myös poliittinen viesti.
Read on »guardian.co.uk: The news coverage of the Norway mass-killings was fact-free conjecture
I went to bed in a terrible world and awoke inside a worse one. At the time of writing, details of the Norwegian atrocity are still emerging, although the identity of the perpetrator has now been confirmed and his motivation seems increasingly clear: a far-right anti-Muslim extremist who despised the ruling party.
Read on »HS.fi: Hommaforum suljettiin Norja-keskustelun takia
Maahanmuuttokriittinen keskustelupalsta Hommaforum suljettiin sunnuntaina. Sulkemisen syynä oli Norjan terrori-iskuista käyty kiivas keskustelu. Hommaforum aukeaa sunnuntai-iltana kymmeneltä.
Read on »Norway is a watershed for Finland and the Nordic region
The horrific carneage that took place in Norway on Friday at the hands of a far-right extremist is an watershed for our societies. Even if the mass killer, Anders Behring Breivik, is in police custody his outlandish deeds continue to provoke us.
Read on »The PS and their culture of fear in Finland
If there is one matter that I would wish stopped in Finland it is the culture of fear being spread by the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party. We can all remember prior to the April election how some members of the right-wing populist party portrayed immigrants and refugees as gang rapists and social welfare shoppers as soon as they crossed the border into Finland.
Read on »Nelonen: Hakkaraisten tulipalojen koettelema saha hoipertelee konkurssin partaalla
Perussuomalaisten kansanedustajan Teuvo Hakkaraisen perheyritys on rämpinyt vakavissa talousvaikeuksissa kymmenen vuoden ajan. Lähes konkurssikypsälle sahalle on pumpattu yhteiskunnan tukia vuosikymmenen aikana yli 800 000 euroa.
Read on »Iltalehti: Perussuomalainen eduskunta-avustaja levitti törkeää vitsiä
Kansanedustaja Juho Eerolan (ps) avustaja Ulla Pyysalo julkaisi rasistisen vitsin Facebook-profiilissaan sunnuntaina. Kirjoituksessa vitsailtiin Jani Toivolan ihonväristä ja seksuaalisesta suuntautumisesta.
Read on »Iltalehti: Kansanedustaja törttöili kännissä – poistettiin ravintolasta
Kansaneduataja Teuvo Hakkarainen sammui pöytään ja hänet jouduttiin poistamaan Mierontie -ravintolasta kahden miehen voimin.
Read on »Karjalainen: Kansa tahtoo muuta kuin perussuomalaiset
Ulkoministeriön tuore tutkimus suomalaisten suhtautumisesta kehitysapuun on hyvin linjassa eduskuntavaalien tuloksen kanssa ja osoittaa poliittisessa demagogiassa tällä hetkellä vallitsevan harhan.
Read on »Is there racism in Finland (Part 2)?
The first time I wrote an entry on this question on Migrant Tales was in May 2008. Back then, a thread by Mikko claimed that racism wasn’t even on the top-five list of problems in Finland. Is racism a serious social problem that needs to be addressed vigorously? Where do we begin?
Read on »Halla-aho and Suomen Sisu get caught in their own game
If the Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu and Perusuomalaiset (PS) MPs were an onion, what would we find at its center? A twenty-first century version of the solution without the scary adjective “final?” Racism in its most hostile form? A huge factory turning out urban myths about immigrants and minorities?
Read on »A ticking time bomb called the Perussuomalaiset
The right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) may be the biggest party in Finland today according to a poll by YLE, but some see it as a ticking time bomb. By staying in the opposition and postponing its inner feuds and differences, Timo Soini has avoided a head-on collision within the party.
Read on »Suomen Kuavalehti.fi: Mikko Heikka: Suomalaisia köyhiä ajetaan maahanmuuttajia vastaan
Köyhyys nousi huhtikuussa pidettyjen eduskuntavaalien tärkeäksi teemaksi. Myös hallitusneuvotteluissa asia on nähty keskeiseksi. Köyhyys ei kuitenkaan ole uusi ongelma. Jo vuosia kirkon tutkimukset ja piispojen puheenvuorot ovat tuoneet esille kasvavan köyhyyden seuraukset erityisesti pitkäaikaistyöttömien, lapsiperheiden ja yksinelävien arjessa. Näitä puheenvuoroja ei ole kuultu.
Read on »Migrant Tales update I: A PS councilman’s “justified” racism
Perussuomalaiset (PS) Rovaniemi city councilman Hemmo Koskimies’ blog entry, ”Justified racism – a ‘nigger’ lives alone in a 75m2 home,” still appears without any correction despite emails to Uusi Suomi’s editor-in-chief Markku Huusko and owner Niklas Herlin. A number of phone calls were made to Huusko but they were never returned by him.
Read on »Finland immigration debate: The reponse is the problem
I read this neat quote at a conference I am attending in Ireland. In my opinion, it could apply perfectly to what is happening in Finland concerning the debate of its ever-growing and present cultural diversity.
Read on »Aamulehti: Kohuvaltuutetun lausunto: Muslimitytön tappaminen ”positiivinen asia”
Muslimisynnyttäjen tappamiskirjoituksella kohua herättänyt kotkalainen kaupunginvaltuutettu Freddy Van Wonterghem sanoo Helsingin Sanomissa, ettei koe syyllistyneensä väitteellään rikokseen.
Read on »Was the Garden of Eden Finnish?
Most Finns know that this is a preposterous statement but some would agree that Adam and Eve were Finnish. This minority claims that since Finns have not mixed with anyone culturally never mind ethnically, the Garden of Eden must have been Finnish.
Read on »Leave my multicultural Finnish identity alone!
Many of the arguments used by the anti-immigration camp in this country is based on myths from nineteenth century Finnish history. When these groups declare war on multiculturalism what they are revealing is their denial of our cultural diversity.
Read on »Aikalainen: Tyhmää kansaa valistetaan
Mediakulttuurin professori löytää persujen suosiosta vasemmiston heikkoutta ja identiteettipolitiikan nousua. Perussuomalaisten nousun syynä on vasemmiston heikkous ja kyvyttömyys miettiä identiteettipolitiikan kannalta esimerkiksi maahanmuuttoa. Näin arvioi Tampereen yliopiston mediakulttuurin professori Mikko Lehtonen kevään eduskuntavaalitulosta.
Read on »The dark side of Finland that has me concerned
When historians look at this period and study how the ogre of racism got such a big foothold in Finland, they will probably conclude tha it was always there but found one of its homes in the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party. When the point out how some Finns tried to make xenophobia and racism a “normal” matter in Finland, a long list of PS politicians will emerge.
Read on »Helsingin Yliopisto: Populismin juuret ovat kaukana historiassa
“On selvää, että äärioikeiston kannatuksen kasvu on yleiseurooppalainen ilmiö”, sanoo Suomen Akatemian tuore tutkijatohtori Inari Sakki. Monien muiden Euroopan maiden tavoin populistipuolueet ovat moninkertaistaneet kannatuksensa viime vuoden aikana myös Suomessa ja Ruotsissa. Vaikka ilmiö on näkyvä, Inari Sakin mielestä uutta tietoa aiheeseen tuo sosiaalipsykologinen näkökulma.
Read on »PS’ recipe for failure: nationalism, xenophobia and isolationism
It is pretty incredible how a minority like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) that got 19.1% of the votes are blackmailing the rest of the country with their anti-EU policies. It not only wants the majority to join its anti-EU bandwagon, but has among its ranks MPs like Jussi Halla-aho, who are trying to give bigotry a respectable name in Finland.
Read on »A PS city councilman’s “justified” racism
Perussuomalaiset city councilman Hemmo Koskimies is a good example of how some politician have lost touch with fairness and become the leaders of social-media lynch mobs. In a blog entry headlined, “Justified racism – a nigger lives alone in a 75 m2 home,” is an example of how low a PS politician can stoop to promote hatred.
Read on »Iltalehti: Tutkijat: Rasistiset teot kumpuavat myös politiikasta
Tutkijoiden mielestä poliittisen kentän uudet tuulet ovat vaikuttaneet ihmisten asenteisiin maahanmuuttajia kohtaan. STT:n haastattelemat rasismin ja politiikan tutkijat näkevät yhteyden, jota on eduskuntavaalien jälkeen spekuloitu kahvipöytäkeskusteluissa ympäri maan.
Read on »Ten fallacies of the PS’ anti-immigration arguments
When I was a kid growing up in California we used to say phony baloney when a fellow classmate exaggerated or lied. If we look at the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party’s mindset and claims on immigration, I would certainly be one of the first to let out a vociferous cry: “Phony baloney!”
Read on »We must stand up against racism in Finland for the sake of future generations
If the Perussuomalaiset (PS) enter the next government what will it mean for Finland and for the immigrant community in particular? Will anti-immigration rhetoric start to pick up and the attacks against anyone who is not white start reach alarming heights?
Read on »Who is responsible for the rise in hate crimes in Finland?
Apart from the usual social-media lynch mobs on the net, we have seen since the April 17 election a rise in hate crimes in Finland. The issue has escalated to such proportions that President Tarja Halonen has expressed concern over this problem.
Read on »Iltalehti: Suomalaisnäyttelijä joutui oudon rasistisen hyökkäyksen kohteeksi
Jos rakastat -musikaalista tuttu näyttelijä Chike Ohanwe joutui rasistisen hyökkäyksen kohteeksi tiedekeskus Heurekan liepeillä Vantaan Tikkurilassa keskiviikkona.
Read on »Your example is the best weapon against racism
We cannot change the world we live in but we can influence with our example those that live next to us. In the same way we can change matters for the better there are other people who can with their example impact society adversely.
Read on »Malicious insinuation of minorities in Finland
In one day Finland’s image changed in the eyes of many people and the world. On April 17 the racism and malicious insinuation of minorities in Finland achieved a beachhead because our lack of resolve. That weakness has now spoon fed a right-wing populist party that is threatening values like social equality for all.
Read on »MTV3: Rasistit joutumassa uuden hallituksen silmätikuiksi
Rasismin rajoittaminen voi saada uusia aseita seuraavassa hallitusohjelmassa. Kovempia otteita vauhdittaa muun muassa viimeaikainen julkisuuskohu perussuomalaisten kansanedustajan Teuvo Hakkaraisen lausunnoista.
Read on »Finland’s Tahrir Square is located on Facebook
How deep in denial is Finland concerning the Perussuomalaiset (PS) and the values they represent? It’s pretty clear that the shameful racist gaffes by PS MP Teuvo Hakkarainen and the party’s public statement on Thursday condemning all forms of racism are fuelling Finland’s Tahir Square on social media sites like Facebook.
Read on »HS: Rasismia ei torjuta etuja purkamalla
Perussuomalaisten eduskuntaryhmä ilmoitti keskiviikkoiltana julkilausumalla tuomitsevansa kaikenlaisen rasismin, syrjinnän ja väkivallan. Perussuomalaisilta oli vaadittu kannanottoa siksi, että yksi puolueen kansanedustajista on toistuvasti käyttänyt maahanmuuttajista ilmauksia, jotka luokitellaan rasistisiksi. Eduskuntaryhmä antoi samalla edustajalleen huomautuksen.
Read on »HS: True Finns renounce racism, discrimination, and favouritism
True Finns MP Teuvo Hakkarainen was chided by his Parliamentary group on Wednesday for recent racist comments. The group also made public a statement condemning all types of racism, discrimination, and violence.
Read on »Denying racism is rejecting Finland’s cultural diversity
When one looks at some topical issues being debated in Finland, like the role of cultural diversity, and tries to understand them, it is essential to dig deeper behind words in order to see the big picture. What do the most anti-immigration voices of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) say when they are against multiculturalism?
Read on »HS: Ilta-Sanomat: Soini ottaa Hakkaraisen taas puhutteluun
Perussuomalaisten puheenjohtaja Timo Soini joutuu taas puuttumaan kansanedustaja Teuvo Hakkaraisen (p) ulkomaalaispuheisiin, kertoo Ilta-Sanomat.
Read on »Finland has been challenged by an anti-EU, anti-immigration and anti-Islam party
If I were the head of Finland’s secret police, Supo, I would have sent a long time ago my best agents to investigate whether there is a connection and well-orchestrated plan by far-right groups in Europe and Suomen Sisu to the Perussuomalaiset’s (PS) election victory in April.
Read on »Jealous and spiteful behavior towards immigrants in Finland
The jealous and spiteful behavior of some Finns and especially politicians belonging to the Perussuomalaiset (PS) is nothing new. Even after Finland ceded for the second time Karelia in 1944 to the former Soviet Union, some Finns were very hostile and spiteful of the over 400,000 Karelian refugees that were relocated here.
Read on »Finland’s Hommaforum fuels much of the anti-immigration sentiment on the net
On Friday’s Pressiklubi hosted by Ruben Stiller there was an interesting debate on the rise of racism in Finland. Columnist Kaarina Hazard and Saska Saarikoski, the head of Helsingin Sanomat’s culture section, threw some hard questions at Matias Turkkila, head of Homma ry and PS MP Jussi Halla-aho’s campaign manager.
Read on »Post-April 17 Finland: A protest vote against whom?
One reads and hears less these days about the reasons why the Perussuomalaiset (PS) scored such a big election victory in April. While voting and protesting are positive signs that our democracy functions, what did the voters actually contend? Political corruption? Immigration? Refugees? Mandatory Swedish? Ever-growing income gaps and social inequality?
Read on »A voice was sounding: This Finland is your Finland
A few weeks before the election in April, I visited a group of third-graders at a local elementary school in eastern Finland. Like many schools in this country, the class was made up of a few kids with African, Middle Eastern and other European backgrounds.
Read on »Xenophobia and racism are the poverty of Finland today
Some claim that ever-growing poverty and social inequality in Finland were the reasons why the Perussuomalaiset scored such a big election victory in April. We read in the media about ever-growing bread lines and how it has become more difficult for some people to make it through the month economically. Even so, does this justify growing xenophobia and racism in our society?
Read on »guardian.co.uk: While the European left dithers, the right marches menacingly on
Immigration: The longer the left’s response is confused, the more the populist right begins to make xenophobia acceptable. It is hard not to be very uneasy. Every month, there is another milestone passed in the ever onward march of Europe’s populist, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, nativist right.
Read on »HS: Perussuomalaisten nousu muuttanut kirjoittelua
(Camila) Haaviston tutkimusaineiston aikana perussuomalaisten nousu ei ollut vielä ehtinyt vaikuttaa tiedotusvälineiden maahanmuuttokirjoitteluun. Haaviston mukaan sävy muuttui vuoden 2008 kunnallisvaalien jälkeen.
Read on »Will the real Timo Soini and the PS please stand up?
Perussuomalaiset chairperson Timo Soini’s decision to sit out in the opposition should be seen as a hard blow and the failure of the party to cash in on its election gains in April.
Read on »The PS’ dangerous advice to the Finnish media
It was pretty surprising to read about Perussuomalaiset MPs like Jussi Halla-aho and James Hirvisaari offering the Finnish media lessons on how they should do their job. Whenever governments and politicians start to blame the media for their shortcomings we know there is something wrong.
Read on »BBC: True Finns leader Timo Soini explains his party ethos
In April Finnish nationalist party True Finns, which is anti-immigration and staunchly Euro-sceptic, saw a dramatic surge in support in the country’s general election. The party quadrupled its share of the vote to win 39 seats in the 200-member parliament.
Read on »Prosecutor General expected to announce Hakkarainen ruling “within days”
The Prosecutor General is expected to announce “within days” its ruling over whether PS MP Teuvo Hakkarainen should be charged for his racist remarks last month, according to the spokesman of the Ombudsman for Minority Affairs.
Read on »Talouselämä: Perussuomalaiset vaativat mediaa lopettamaan puolueensa kalvamisen
Perussuomalaiset ovat pahoittaneet mielensä kohtelustaan mediassa. Puolueessa toivovaan toimittajilta työrauhaa ja uutisvälineiden lopettavan puolueen kalvamisen.
Read on »Nelonen: Lipponen: Äärioikeisto asettunut perussuomalaisiin
Entisen pääministerin Paavo Lipposen mukaan perussuomalaisten äärioikeistolaiset on eristettävä, eikä heille saa antaa tuumaakaan periksi. Paavo Lipposen mukaan nykyiseen eduskuntaan on nyt asettunut äärioikeisto.
Read on »HS: Seitsemän kysymystä rasismista
Joskus ihmiset sanovat, etteivät ole rasisteja vaan maahanmuuttokriitikoita. Miten rasismi eroaa maahanmuuttokritiikistä?
Read on »Finland after April 17: Awakening phantoms of the past
What would Finland see if it took a long and deep look at itself in the mirror? Would it see racism? Xenophobia? The rise of right-wing populism? Denial?
Read on »Etelä-Saimaa: Persun kestäviä realiteetteja
Perussuomalaisten herrat Tossavainen ja Hakkarainen ovat kailottaneet kovaan ääneen, että Suomen pitäisi sulkea rajansa turvapaikanhakijoilta. Lintukotoomme voisi kyllä päästää sellaiset ulkomaalaiset, joilla on tänne tullessaan työpaikka. Kiintiöpakolaiset voitaisiin ottaa vastaan, pitkin hampain. Kumpikaan ei ole puhunut sanaakaan siitä, saako suomalainen tuoda ulkomaalaisen puolisonsa maahan.
Read on »Diversity and Finland: One and the same
There are many ways to face diversity. You can try to quash it with nationalism as is happening in many parts of Europe, or make it work for as many as possible for everyone’s benefit.
Read on »Spiegel Online International: Strict Immigration Laws ‘Save Denmark Billions’
Denmark’s strict immigration laws have saved the country 6.7 billion euros, a government report has claimed. Even though Denmark already has some of the toughest immigration laws in Europe, right-wing populist politicians are now trying to make them even more restrictive.
Read on »HS: Kiviniemi vappupuheessaan: Pelottelulla moni sai ääniä
Keskustan puheenjohtaja Mari Kiviniemi sanoi toivovansa, että keskustelu maahanmuutosta jatkuu aiempaa monipuolisempana. Kiviniemen mielestä vaalien alla keskustelua käytiin pitkälti kriitikoiden ehdoilla ja erilaisilla nimimerkeillä internetissä.
Read on »El País: El ocaso de la tolerancia nórdica
La victoria electoral de los Auténticos Finlandeses ha supuesto una pequeña revolución en el país nórdico, pero sobre todo ha hecho saltar todas las alarmas en una región en la que hasta hace bien poco era casi impensable escuchar argumentos tan extremistas como los que ahora circulan por los Parlamentos nacionales de la zona. Los partidos de extrema derecha y populistas nórdicos ya no pueden ser ignorados porque les respalda una parte del electorado nada despreciable. En Finlandia y en Dinamarca han sido la tercera fuerza más votada. En Suecia han aflorado de la semioscuridad y han entrado en la cámara parlamentaria.
Read on »Thank you PS MP Teuvo Hakkarainen of Finland for exposing yourself!
If we had to draw the face of racism that has lurked in Finnish society for decades, I would start by drawing Perussuomalaiset MP Teuvo Hakkarainen’s face. He may sound to those that voted for him like a nice country boy from Viitasaari in Central Finland,but if you scratch the surface you will find that racism and ignorance that lives in some Finns. If you think that that Hakkarainen is the only PS MP who has strong opinions on immigrants and refugees, you better think twice.
Read on »Perussuomalaiset: The end of imaginary Finland
The Perussuomalaiset have a long way to go before the majority of Finns, never mind immigrants and minorities, begin to accept them as a “normal” Finnish party. The racist outbursts of PS MP Teuvo Hakkarainen and PS MP Jussi Halla-aho’s pledge to tighten even more the screws on immigration policy, have got people concerned about what kind of a Finland we will be living in a few years down the road.
Read on »YLE: Hundreds Rally for Tolerance
About 1200 members of the public gathered in front of the Parliament in helsinki to rally their countrymen to respect tolerance and multiculturalism.
Read on »HS: Sofi Oksanen rinnastaa perussuomalaiset Hitleriin
Kirjailija Sofi Oksanen arvostelee vaalivoittoon nousseiden perussuomalaisten poliittisia näkemyksiä italialaislehti La Repubblican haastattelussa. Oksanen sanoo lehdessä, että perussuomalaisten puolueohjelmassa on selviä vaikutteita natsijohtaja Adolf Hilter ideologiasta.
Read on »The kiss of death of Finnish right-wing populism
The election victory by the Perussuomalaiset could be attributed to a number of factors and bears all the signs of the same illness spreading in Europe these days: right-wing populism that is anti-EU, anti-immigration and above all anti-Islam. The PS could have never dreamed of such success in the last election without the help of Kokoomus, Social Democratic Party and Center Party.
Read on »Perussuomalaiset: True, Basic or Elementary Finns?
I called the Perussuomalaiset’s party today in Helsinki and asked them what their official name in English was: “True Finns is the official adopted name,” a male voice said. Migrant Tales’ oldest bloggers, Jonas, has mentioned a number of times the contradiction between the Finnish and English translation of the word perus. I apologize to Jonas for not debating more thoroughly the translation.
Read on »Halutaanko Suomi umpioida?
Tulevien huhtikuun 17. päivän vaalien myötä on nousut paljon keskustelu maahanmuuttajien ja uusien tulokkaiden roolista yhteiskunnassamme.
Read on »PÄÄKIRJOITUS: Kuinka suuri on tietämättömyys maahanmuutajista?
Jotkut väittävät, että pitäisi antaa anteeksi niille suomalaisille, jotka ovat esittäneet ihmeellisiä kannanottoja maahanmuuttajista ja pakolaisista, koska se johtuu heidän tietämättömyydestään asiaan. Jos on vakavia puutteita kotouttamisohjelmassa, niin siinäkin voidaan syyttää tietämyksen puuttumista.
Read on »Joutsen puolue in Finland – old suspicions die hard
It is always a healthy matter when new parties emerge and take part in the debate on immigrants in Finland. One of these is the so-called Joutsen puolue being spearheaded by Jussi Halla-aho, who is presently standing trial for incitement of hatred against an ethnic group and defamation of a religion.
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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