Twenty-six years ago in 1984 Strange days, the experience of foreign students in Finland, was published by Gaudeamus. The book was the first-ever published by foreigners in Finland over the arbitrary treatment they received by the then Alien’s Office, the police and by the country in general. See part two as well.
Month: May 2010
(Another) poll on what Finns think of future immigrants
When will these end and when will these what-Finns-think-of-immigrants polls stop? Name me of a country where a native believes there are too few immigrants and therefore wants more foreigners to come? Why are these types of polls important?
Finnish bigotry has deep roots in ignorance
The fate of two grandmothers, Eveline Fadaylin of Egypt and Russian Irina Antonovan, is a scandalous situation that shows how civil servants and politicians run away from responsiblity and hide behind shoddy laws.
Social Democratic interim report on immigration policy strengthens old fears of the outside world
The title of an interim report on immigration policy published by the Social Democratic Party on Friday not only reveals the party’s greatest fears but strengthens age-old views of outsiders. Apart from the political malarkey that SDP sees immigration as an opportunity, it likes to use pet catchwords – like the populist anti-immigration True Finns – such as “controlled and/or regulated immigration.”
Raseborg: To headscarf or not?
I was very surprised to read that the educational board of Raseborg, a town located in southwest Finland, had retracted apparently grudingly from a decision to ban headscares at school. The Raseborg school district is the only one in the country that had in force such restrictions.
The origins of modern Finnish xenophobia and racism
Modern Finnish racism has two sources: nationalism imbedded deep in our history coupled with low self-esteem.
SDP MP Eero Heinäluoma’s fearmongering now and then
When it comes to instilling fear among Finnish workers, SDP MP Eero Heinäluoma is no beginner. Apart from his incredulous claim in Swedish daily HBL that new immigrants will cause racism because they will take jobs from Finns, he has been a skillful fearmonger for quite some time.
All quiet on the Finnish anti-immigration front?
There are some encouraging signs in the Finnish immigration debate recently. So-called “critics” such as Jussi Halla-aho, Eero Heinäluoma and others have been strangely quiet on this front. Even ultra-critical immigration bloggers such as Tiwaz have vanished. One of the best pieces of news was that hate website patriootti.com ceased to exist from Monday.
On The Road To Success blog: Finland has not ratified the UN Convention of Migrant Workers Rights
Our friend Zuzeeko of On The Road To Success blog has published an interesting article on the impact of Finland not ratifying the UN Convention on Migrant Workers Rights and how this may affect immigrant workers in the country.
Thank you Social Democrat MP Eero Heinäluoma
Thank you Social Democrat MP Eero Heinäluoma for spreading hatred in this country towards immigrants. Some students told me that people stopped to speak to them in public to tell them that they should not be in Finland because there is no work for foreigners.