With poll ratings heading south and the municipal election approaching in April, parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are turning (as usual) to racism and bigotry. They do this because they are fascists to the core. The media in Finland is part of the country’s racism problem. Since it is white, it would care less for…
Mahad Sheikh Musse:* Kulttuurit törmäyksessä vai onko? Nuorten syrjäytymisen taustalla muutakin kuin kieli.
Maahanmuuttajataustaisten ja monikielisten nuorten kotoutuminen on usein esillä yhteiskunnallisessa keskustelussa, ja kieli mainitaan toistuvasti suurimpana haasteena. Pitkän urani aikana nuorisotyön ammattilaisena olen kuitenkin nähnyt, että kieli ei suinkaan ole se merkittävin este, jonka nämä nuoret kohtaavat. Haasteet ovat syvemmällä – ne liittyvät asenteisiin, rakenteelliseen syrjintään ja maahanmuuttovastaisuuteen, jotka vaikuttavat monien nuorten elämään. Kieli on vain…
Linkedin: Finland’s perilous watershed
While politicians of the Finns Party (PS) and National Coalition Party beat their chests every time Finland tightens its migration policy, the two minor government parties, the Swedish People’s Party and Christian Democrats, look the other way with shameful silence. The government, especially the PS, claims that its anti-immigration policies will make us stronger as…
Suspected hate crimes soar to a record level in Finland in 2023
THE STORY WAS UPDATED A record number of suspected hate crimes* were reported in 2023, rising by 28.99% to 1,606 cases compared with 1,245 cases the previous year, according to the Police University College. The author of the report, Jenita Ranta, blamed “societal factors” like the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and the poor economic situation…
Why does the Finnish government want to encourage migration from the Philipines, India, Vietnam and Brazil?
Watching a Yle news broadcast on the arrival of Filipino practical nurses at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, I could not hold back my concern for these migrants and how they could fall prey to greedy employers. It has happened too many times before. The government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, which continues to implement its racist and…
Mahad Musse Sheikh*: Vähemmistönuorten syyttely ei ratkaise mitään
Mahad Musse Sheikh Maahanmuuttajataustaisilla lapsilla ja nuorilla voi olla raskasta lukea jatkuvasti korkeassa asemassa olevien ihmisten levittämiä rasistisia tai syrjiviä viestejä. Tällaiset puheet saattavat herättää turvattomuuden tunnetta, ulkopuolisuuden kokemusta ja pelkoa. Kun lapset ja nuoret huomaavat, että heidän taustaansa tai oppimistuloksiaan käytetään perusteena leimata heidät ongelmiksi, he voivat alkaa epäillä omaa arvoaan ja paikkaansa yhteiskunnassa….
The rise of the far right exposes our failure and our propensity to racism
The rise of the far-right and their simplistic scapegoating of migrants and minorities reveals a sad reality hitting Europe. The rise of the far-right does not expose the obvious but the fact that we have failed to educate generations after the horrors of World War 2. If there is one matter that characterizes an autocratic…
Despite assuranced to the contrary, the Finnish government is a far-right homophobic, Islamophobic bad joke
THE STORY WAS UPDATED You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. The saying sits well with Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government. Can you teach a party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* to be civil and ditch their racism? For the PS to turn in a new political leaf and abandon their nationalist rants and xenophobia…
Yahya Rouissi: When only BURANA* helps to understand the political headache
In my opinion In Finland, the far-right can be understood as an underlying connection of ideological alignment shared between political parties, political groups within parties, individuals. Ideological outlooks that are characterized by extreme nationalist, anti-immigrant, and too often racist views. These groups typically promote the preservation of a perceived “pure” or “authentic” white Finnish identity,…
Finland’s international image suffers another blow
“I do not consider [Prime Minister] Petteri Orpo to be a racist. But the fact is that as Prime Minister he enables, legitimizes, and in a way I think incites that thinking in this coalition in Finland. Is that civilized? In my opinion, it is not.“ Kirsi Piha, a former National Coalition Party (NCP) MP…