Posts Tagged: police

Twitter @HerraAhmed: Assaulted at a restaurant

We are sorry to hear about what happened to you. Abdirisak Ahmed (@HerraAhmed) Tweets: This is what it looks when you are assaulted at a restaurant because of the color of your skin. Thank you #apolloliveclub bouncers for your quick response. I never thought I’d be in this situation being over 30 years old. This

Read on »

The Finnish police’s racism problem and ties with far-right groups like Kansallismielisten liittouma

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED Yle revealed in a story today that the far-right Kansallismielisten liittouma has distributed Green League Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo’s and Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen’s home address for harassment purposes. Moreover, Kansallismielisten liittouma chairperson, Tero Ala-Tuuhonen, has been in touch with “a Helsinki police sergeant” who has advised the far-right

Read on »

How the police, National Border Guards and white Finnish institutions keep visible migrants and minorities on a short leash

What would you say if the police, the National Border Guards, Regional State Administrative Agencies (AVI), Customs, Rescue Department, and City of Helsinki health inspectors came knocking on your door on a Saturday afternoon? Such a thing happened yesterday at the Puhos shopping center of Easter Helsinki, where the majority of customers are visible migrants and minorities.

Read on »

Police and other authorities carry out identification checks at the Puhos shopping center of Eastern Helsinki

On Saturday about 3 pm, the police, the National Border Guards, Regional State Administrative Agencies (AVI), Customs, Rescue Department, and City of Helsinki health inspectors started to ask foreign-looking people for their identification in Puhos, a shopping center in Eastern Helsinki frequented by migrants.  The big question that emerges is if this operation by the police

Read on »

Our image of Finland to asylum seekers is too rosy and full of myths that expose ethnocentrism and hypocrisy

As a sociologist, it’s interesting to note how Finland portrays itself to outsiders. One of these presentations is a three-volume Beginners guide to Finland published by the Finnish Immigration Service (FIS). Just like the populist catchphrase maassa maan tavalla, in Rome do as the Romans do, asylum seekers and migrants are being fed myths about ourselves.

Read on »

Muslim woman wasn’t admitted to the Finnish police training school because she would refuse to take off her headscarf

A Muslim woman, 38, was not admitted to the police training school because she would not take off her headscarf during working hours, reports YLE in English. The woman was so disappointed with the rejection that she even contemplated leaving Finland.   Read full story here. “In the [police] interviewer’s opinion it was not possible

Read on »

Suspected hate crimes in Finland fall by 20.6% in 2012

Suspected hate crimes in 2012 totaled 732, which is a 20.6% fall from 918 cases in the previous year, according to YLE in English. Of the total hate crimes reported to the police last year, 641 cases were classified as racist.  Read full story here. According to YLE in English, the most common offense investigated

Read on »

Finnish police to have new anti-ethnic profiling guidelines in force in 2013

Rainer Hiltunen, Ombudsman for Minorities head of office, told Migrant Tales that talks have taken place with the Finnish police to draft new guidelines and more effective monitoring to ensure that ethnic profiling doesn’t happen. The new guidelines are expected to be in force in 2013.  The Ombudsman for Minorities office expressed concern in spring about higher-than-average complaints from

Read on »