Month: September 2011

Verkkolehti: Maahanmuuttokielteisyys on Suomessa vasta alullaan

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment:  This interview with researcher Pertti Joenniemi on this week’s Verkkolehti left me concerned. Joenniemi believes that the anti-immigration sentiment we are witnessing in Finland today is only the beginning and will get worse.  Joenniemi has lived in Denmark for the past 15 years.

According to the researcher, Denmark does not have any outside enemies and in order to bolster their national identity, some Danes have found that new “enemy” in immigrants and refugees.

In Finland the situation is different since we have a defined enemy. “Thank God we have such an enemy in Finland,” he said. “There is a mutual agreement (among Finns) that Russkies are Russkies full stop. We don’t have the same problem as Denmark since there is a foreign other. Our identity as Finns is clear since we know what does not and what does presumably threaten us.”

Joenniemi believes that the anti-immigrant sentiment will get worse in Finland before it improves. “In order to understand what is happening and to get ready for what awaits, it would be important to get acquainted with (what is happening) Denmark,” he said. 

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Jarkko Mänttäri

Tanskan kokemusten pohjalta erikoistutkija Pertti Joenniemi ennustaa, että maahanmuuttokielteisyys on Suomessa vasta alullaan. Pahempaa on tulossa.

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NCB confirms arrest of two suspects in Finland for supporting terrorism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The National Bureau of Investigation (NCB) have confirmed to have arrested two people suspected of supporting terrorism abroad, reports MTV3.  The two suspects are speculated by evening tabloid Ilta-Sanomat to be Somalians with Finnish citizenship although this was not confirmed at a press conference Saturday by the NCB.

The skimpy information that the NCB has released suggests that Finland was not a target but terrorist groups operating outside the country.

I took a quick look at some popular blog sites in Finland right after noon like Uusi Suomi and the finger-pointing has started. One of these bloggers thanked former minister for immigration and European affairs, Astrid Thors, for bringing terrorism to this country.

While some members of the Persussuomaliset (PS) party and others are ready to round up a lynch mob before these two suspects are tried in a court of law, terrorism does not only arrive from abroad but within our own ranks like Anders Breivik demonstrated.

Are Norwegians being accused of being mass killers due to what happened on July 22? Certainly not.

Those whose worldview is tainted with prejudice and who cannot find anything good to say about certain immigrant groups will try to use this opportunity to give more credibility to their Islamophobic opinions. It will be as well an opportunity to pile more justified hatred and hostility towards certain immigrants.

Terrorism is a serious matter that should not be taken lightly. Even though this is the case, in our world people are innocent before they are proved guilty. We should now allow the law to take its due course.

HS.fi: Pekka Haavisto: Rasismi pilaa Suomen maineen

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Comment:  When looking at a social ill like racism, we have to ask a very simple question:  Will we grow richer or poorer because of it? Green Party MP and presidential hopeful, Pekka Haavisto, answers that timely question. According to him, racism and its growth in Finland will not only ruin our image abroad but will scare off skilled people that we need to keep our country growing and prosperous.

Finland is competing for skilled labor with other European nations. Why would a newcomer want to set foot on this country if he or she knows that their children will not be accepted? Why would foreign investment come to Finland, a country with an adverse anti-foreign climate? The end-result is clear: our own racism will impoverish us economically, politically and socially.

Denmark is a perfect example of what can happen to Finland. There, the far-right populist Danish People’s Party (DPP) has played a key role in tightening the country’s immigration laws for the past decade while former right-wing governments have promoted a pro-business environment. Anti-immigrant and pro-business have not helped turn Denmark into a model of economic growth.

Writes Bloomberg: “The smallest Scandinavian economy is struggling after emerging from a recession in 2009 amid declining employment, a slump in real estate and widening deficits,”

The question we should as in Denmark today is if it is today a Nordic democratic model of social and economic prosperity or a society that has turned inward and spiteful of others?

The Perussuomalaiset party has hailed the DPP as a model for Finland. If we set on that path which Denmark is now leaving, the result will be the same: economic, political and social impoverishment.

Haavisto said in the HS.fi interview that having a negative image abroad will end up hurting businesses.

“The majority (of Finns) must fix this (racist) image in Finland as well as abroad,” he said.

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Vihreiden kansanedustaja ja presidenttiehdokas Pekka Haavisto on huolestunut suomalaisten arkuudesta rasismin ja syrjinnän edessä. Hänen mielestään Suomessa on tullut luvalliseksi sanoa mitä tahansa, kenelle tahansa, kenenkään siihen puuttumatta.

Read whole story.

Spiegel Online International: Anti-Roma Protests Turn Violent in the Czech Republic

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Comment:  The racism and the prejudice that the Roma minority face throughout Europe is a shameful reality of our times.  It is a grim reminder of the fate that some immigrant groups and their descendants can face in this part of the world.

One of the matters that has always surprised me about racism is that it is one of the worse forms of cowardice because you are attacking in many cases the most defenseless members of society.

The violent attacks against the Roma in Hungary and now in the Czech Republic are clear examples that Europe still has a long way to go to resolve its serious ethnic issues.  Such violence in the Czech Republic is being perpetrated by neo-Nazi groups like the DSSS.  

There are an estimated 9 million Romany living in Europe today. Most of them (1.9 million) live in Romania.

A couple of week a Roma couple that I’ve known for many years dropped by for a cup of coffee at our home. Whenever we meet we exchange a few words about their situation in Finland. The man was very candid when I asked him why the Roma in Finland didn’t get more invovled in politics. “We have learned that lying low and being quiet is the best defense against our enemies,” he said.

This tactic does not appear to be working too well in countries like the Czech Republic, Hungary and others.

Finnish authorities have not done a good job in dealing with Eastern European Roma either that have temporarily moved to our country.

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For weeks there have been riots between Czech locals and newly settled Roma in northern Bohemia. What started as a series of brutal but isolated fights has grown into a popular movement in small towns along the eastern German border. Right-wing extremists have fanned the hatred.

Read whole story.

Spiegel Online International: Denmark To Get First Female Prime Minister

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Comment:  The Social Democrats have created election history in Denmark Thursday. They not only ended ten years of right-wing rule in Denmark and the role of the right-wing populist and xenophobic Danish People’s Party’s (DPP) in the passage of anti-immigration legislation,  but will give the country its first  woman prime minister.

The center-left alliance led by Social Democrat Helle Thorning-Schmidt won in Thursday’s election 92 of the 179 seats of the Danish parliament.

“We did it. We wrote history,” said Thorning-Schmidt.

Thorning-Schmidt, who has vowed to stem the influence of the DPP, which has divided Danish society and changed dramatically the political culture of the country. The DPP is the Perussuomalaiset’s unofficial mentor party on immigration and refugee policy.

Writes Spiegel Online International: “In recent years, the Danish People’s Party has been a regular fixture in the international headlines. At one point, the party calculated the total cost of foreign immigrants to the country. It also succeeded in forcing the government to implement permanent border controls, sidestepping the Schengen Agreement on open borders and alienating Denmark from its European Union neighbors. Most recently, party leader Pia Kjaersgaard pledged that all Danes would be provided with free supplies of pepper spray.

“There is a large consensus going deep into conservative Danish circles that the cooperation between the conservative-liberals and the conservatives in government with the right-populists ruined the country’s political culture,” the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten wrote in an editorial. “It was time for a new government. An era in Danish politics has ended.”

Pentti Joenniemi, who has lived as a researcher in Denmark for fifteen years, said in Kansan Uutiset Viikolehti that Denmark’s xenophobic streak stems from the lack of outside enemies. Immigrants have then become the “enemy,” according to him. Joenniemi believes that  Finland is following the same path as  Denmark. As Russia becomes less of a threat, xenophobia will begin to lift its head in Finland in the same way it has in Denmark.

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Danes awoke to a change of power on Friday after election results showed a narrow loss for the long-ruling center-right government. The country’s new center-left leader will be the first woman prime minister in Danish history, but Helle Thorning-Schmidt faces difficult coalition talks ahead.

Read whole story.

Elections in Nordic Region send clear message to Finland’s PS

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Anti-immigration populist parties in Norway and Denmark have suffered defeats in recent elections after mass-killer Anders Breivik went on the rampage on July 22. Both blows came this month. The first one was in the Norwegian municipal election, where the Progress Party (FrP) saw its support plunge by  6.1 percentage points to 11.5%. The second one happened Thursday in Denmark.

The neck-and-neck election in Denmark, which gave the left-leaning alliance led by the Social Democrats a victory, meant in effect an end to the pivotal role that the far-right Danish People’s Party (DPP) has played in the passage of strict immigration laws.

The election was historic since it will give Denmark its first-ever woman prime minister. The prime minister-elect, Helle Thoring-Schmidt, has said that she will refuse to work with the DPP and thereby stunt the influence of Pia Kjærsgaard’s party.

Even though Breivik forced voters in the Nordic region and Europe to think twice before supporting parties that use immigration as a populist ploy to prop up support, it was only a question of time when the anti-immigration message of the FrP and DPP would reach a dead-end. How long can people feed off xenophobia and simplistic views of other cultures and the world?

The big question to ask now is how the election results in Norway and Denmark will impact the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party in 2012, when Finland holds presidential and municipal elections.

Voters in Norway, Denmark and even in Sweden, where the far-right Sweden Democrats have seen their support decline in a post-Breivik world, have spoken: We don’t like hate speech, far-right nationalism and populism. It should not characterize our political system.

One of the reasons why the PS still does well in the polls in Finland is because it has become today an anti-EU party as opposed to one that is mainly anti-immigration. If PS MP Juss Halla-aho and his cronies would have gone on the anti-immigration rampage as they did before the April election, Timo Soini’s party would probably have seen a sharp fall in its popularity today.

It would be naive, however, to think that the PS has now shifted course on its anti-immigration message. It is still there as an undercurrent ready to  surface when the political situation is opportune.

Voters in Finland, like those in Norway and Denmark, should make it clear next year that we in Finland want a civil debate about immigration not one characterized by free-for-all hate speech.

Newsday: Danish exit polls show opposition winning election

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment:  Exit polls in Denmark show that the left-leaning opposition Social Democratic Party leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt winning a majority int he 179-sea parliament. The best news to come out of Denmark is that this puts an end to the right-wing populist Danish People’s Party (DPP) role in forcing the country to have the strictest immigration laws in Europe.

Since 2001, minority right-wing governments have relied on the support of the DPP. 

If Thorning-Schmidt’s bloc wins the election, she will become the first woman to lead the Danish government.

The Social Democrats have refused to work with the DPP and have said publicly that they will stem the influence of Pia Kjærsgaard’s party.

Migrant Tales will publish more on the Danish elections later on.

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Danish voters appeared set to elect their first female prime minister Thursday and end 10 years of pro-market reforms and a hardening of immigration laws.

Read whole story here.

YLE: Halla-aho suspended for two weeks

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment:  The big question concerning the suspension of Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho after his statement in Facebook on Wednesday is who won the row: Halla-aho or PS party leader Timo Soini? It is quite clear that Halla-aho did.

Soini gave his answer in a quote on Iltalehti: “I wasn’t humilitated (by the decision).”

If I had my way, I would have suspended Halla-aho for good or for at least a month for making such an undemocratic statement. The PS, and especially the far-right faction led by Halla-aho, are like the bully at school who is constantly testing his limits to see how much injury he can cause on his victim.

Considering the racist gaffes by PS MP Teuvo Hakkarainen and all the revelations that have arisen about him recently, it is clear that the PS doesn’t care too much about the spread of racism in Finland nor about de facto regimes popping up in EU countries.

The biggest loser is not only Soini’s credibility but that of Finland’s as well.

It is, however, a thumbs up to all the anti-immigration and far-right fanatics in Europe.

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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 whole story.

Uusi Suomi: Halla-ahon ryöpytys jatkuu: ”Rasisti”

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Comment: Media culture Professor Mikko Lehtonen calls Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP Jussi Halla-aho a racist. “Halla-aho encourages in his blog to ponder what he writes and ask if he is a racist,” Lehtonen was quoted as saying on Uusi Suomi. “I took the challenge seriously and it took me three minutes to conclude that Jussi Halla-aho is a racist.”

Lehtonen does not stop here: “In light of his writings, Halla-aho is anti-immigration and a racist.”

If there is someone who has done a lot of harm to the immigrant community in Finland that person is Halla-aho and his cronies. He has done a lot to soil the good name of immigrants and refugees in this country  with his provocative arguments based  on stereotypes and racism.

But there is one matter wrong with Halla-aho: His false arguments about immigrants and racism have caught up with him. Sensible people are asking if they are true.

Halla-aho is directly administrates Scripta and is involved closely with Hommaforum. 

Lehtonen, who was interviewed on Wednesday, said that while anti-immigration groups attempt to dress their racism by arguing that they are the defending “genuine” Finnish culture, the best that one can do is accept that our society will be more diverse in the future.

We have said it many times on Migrant Tales: Acceptance and inclusion are key in creating a successful and dynamic culturally diverse Finnish society.

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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 whole story.

YLE: Soini demands temporary explusion of Halla-aho from Finns party parliamentary group

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Comment: It certainly looks like troubles are brewing in the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party after far-right MP Jussi Halla-aho took a bigger piece of his foot in his mouth than usual. With total disregard for a troubled EU member state and our European democratic values,  Halla-aho suggested on Facebook that Greece should install a military junta and suppress protestors with tanks.

PS head Timo Soini, who is upset by what Halla-aho said, is proposing expelling the MP for a month from the parliamentary group.

The controversial PS MP, who is chairman of the administration committee, has been known to make provocative statements in the past by insulting Muslims and our cultural diversity. He apparently does so to “awaken people” to his distorted view of the world. 

For a country like Finland, which prizes itself for defending human rights and promoting social equality, Halla-aho’s statement is a rude slap in the face to this country. It could be seen as a fleeting return to the 1930s, when fascism was on the rise in Finland and most of Europe.

Adding salt to injury, Halla-aho overlooked the painful fact for Greeks that they were ruled by a military junta in 1967-74. Probably this type of a de facto government, which has no respect for basic human rights, is the one that Halla-aho wants immigrants and minorities to live under in Finland.

The row between Soini and Halla-aho is the first of many public cracks that will cause the PS to lose credibility in the coming months. Certainly if the PS can be the PS without its usual dose of xenophobia and conservative nationalism, Soini’s decision may even strengthen the party.

But the jury is out and the problems of the PS are starting to surface. It’s not a pretty picture.

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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 whole story.