Month: October 2011

Separating urban myths from facts in the Finnish immigration debate

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

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.

I’m not speaking specifically of Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MPs like Teuvo Hakkarainen, who are walking political time bombs packed with ignorance. The source of your irritation may be more credible politicians who should know better but are spreading and enforcing urban myths about immigrants in their opportunistic bid to gain votes.

There is nothing “patriotic” about spreading urban myths about immigrants because great harm is done to Finland economically, socially and politically.

If you look at last year’s FIS report, we will see some startling facts that blow the cover off the urban myths that are fed like “facts” to the public by some politicians. Here it is (and it does not harm to repeat this fact over again): The main reason why foreigners moved to Finland in 2010 was for family reasons (31%), study (25%) and work (17%). Asylum seekers accounted for  only 10%.

While these figures attempt to give a clean-cut division of the reasons for coming to Finland, the issue is a bit more complex. Just because a person come to Finland due to family reasons, he can end up employed like the ones that came for work.

What does a mere 17% (3,030 people) of foreigners who got work permits last year on the grounds of employment and self-employment tell us?

For one, it reveals that too few skilled people move on their own will to Finland for work. It tells us as well another disturbing fact: We are far behind other countries in attracting skilled labor as our ever-growing army of pensioners swells this decade and the next.

While some politicians warned us in 2006 that the entire Estonian workforce, or half a million people, was ready to invade Finland, the truth is that we are no magnet for skilled labor.

Why would a skilled immigrant move with his or her family to Finland if there are easier and friendlier countries in Europe? Why would they move to a country where a right-wing populist anti-immigration party, the PS, gained 19.1% of the votes in April from 4.05% in 2007?

Why would a foreign company invest in this country and create more jobs?

While the recession may be an important factor why there were 25.2% less permits given to foreigners compared with 2009 for work and self-employment, other factors like the weather, high taxation, language certainly play a role.

What to do?

Send each politician an electronic copy of the FIS annual report and ask them why they distort the facts in order to hide the real issues, which is dealing with our ever-growing demographic challenges.

Note: There are other urban myths that I could have brought up. These can be discussed as well.

Digital Journal: Swiss Government Bans Video On Execution-Style Deportation

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Ever thought what it feels to be caught and deported from a country as an undocumented immigrant? The reconstruction of how people are deported from Switzerland these days was made by humanitarian group Augenauf (Open Your Eyes). The video clip was shortly banned after it was broadcast on Swiss television, according to Digital journal. 

After passage of a referendum in November, Swiss authorities can deport today foreigners if they are undocumented immigrants or foreign residents convicted of certain offenses. 

The humiliating way people are deported from Switzerland looks like a convict who placed on an electric chair. The Digital Journal continues:  “The procedure involves the shackling and gagging of deportees, presumably to prevent any effort to escape or protest or to make it as unpleasant as possible to return to Switzerland.”

 Augenauf claims that a Nigerian refugee died of heart attack when he was shackled. 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16He1I274Xk&feature=player_embedded]

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Digital Journal: Swiss Government Bans Video On Execution-Style Deportation

A documentary by humanitarian organisation Augenauf was banned shortly after it was broadcast on Swiss television. It depicts a reconstruction of the execution-style deportation practiced by Swiss Government.

Read whole story.

Ilta-Sanomat: Homot ja somalit Ahvenanmaalle asumaan

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP Teuvo Hakkarainen has come up with another one of his ideas on how to improve ethnic and minority relations in Finland. He was now quoted as saying in tabloid Ilta-Sanomat that homosexuals, lesbians and Somalians should be relocated to the Åland Islands.

Hakkarainen is a good example of what goes on inside the heads of some PS MPs. Imagine if people like him, never mind the PS as a party, would get a chance to rule Finland. This country would be a very sad and dangerous place to live for some people.

It should be clear that the only reason why PS MP Hakkarainen continues to make these types of racist statements is because he has the silent approval of the party.

Hakkarainen tells us as well the PS is a ticking time bomb that will polarize our society in to two camps: us (PS and like-minded conservatives) and them.

They are a direct threat to our way of life and our values as a society.

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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 whole story.

HBL: Lipponen tar ställning mot svenskfientlighet och slutenhet

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Even if some may disagree with Social Democrat presidential hopeful Paavo Lipponen, you have to give him credit for his stand against the far right wing of the Perussuomalaset (PS) party. It’s too bad that there are too few politicians in Finland that have the courage to follow Lipponen’s example. 

In the HBL story below, Lipponen does not directly blame the PS but the far-right faction of the party led by PS MP Jussi Halla-aho.

“A part (of the PS) wants to attack immigrants and the Swedish-speaking Finns,” he was quoted as saying. “I am of the opinion that the grand majority of Finns disagree with these extremists. We must actively challenge the far right (in Finland).”

Recently, two xenophobic associations, Suomen Sisu and Suomalaisuuden liitto, have challenged the role of Swedish-speaking Finns in the country. Many of the members of these associations are card-carrying PS members. Suomalaisuuden liitto chairman Sampo Terho is a PS EuroMP. 
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Peter Buchert

– 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 whole story.

 

Immigration and world without borders

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

When looking at a problem, I have learned that the answer is usually found under one’s nose. There are many factors that impair our ability to see under our noses. Take a serious challenge like building a world without borders and tackling effectively poverty, hunger, strife and chronic social inequality.

A question always stares back and haunts us no matter how much we’d like our societies in the developed world to be Mr. Nice Guys: In order to be that nice person t home we must pillage and spread misery on most of the world’s population. We act like Dr. Jekyll at home but are enraged and out-of-control Mr. Hydes in other parts of the world.

It would be hypocritical for me, who has a multicultural background thanks to the restlessness of many of my relatives who were immigrants, to deny access to our society to people who are fleeing poverty and strife. Many times I wonder where I’d be today if countries like Finland, the US, Brazil and Argentina would have refused my late relatives entry.

Why is immigration seen as a threat today? Why have we failed to build a better world without borders?

In order to find the answer to those questions, we’d have to figure out what interest groups profit from the culture of fear of the outside world in which immigrants form one component.

US President Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1960), a Republican and former commander in chief of the US forces in Europe during World War 2, warned us about the dangers of the military industrial complex.

He states in the video clip below: “The conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence, economic, political, even spiritual, is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need of the development yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications, our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved…”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY]

If we look at only this last decade and the strife that has torn our world apart, the impact of the military industrial complex is clear.

Past presidents like Abraham Lincoln (1809-65)* warned us about the danger of too large corporations: “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”

Karl Sharro, an architect, offers an interesting talk* about building a society without borders. Is this possible and why and how we must accept the challenge.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZZOer0Y2_c&feature=youtu.be&t=56s]

*Thank you @mahilena and Migrants Rights Network for the heads up!

ESS: Ylen romaniohjelma sai palkinnon

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Tero Koskinen won the European Parliament Prize for Journalism this year for his documentary of Eastern European Romany who moved to Helsinki, Finland in search of a better life.  These people, who are escaping poverty and persecution in the EU, are no different from other immigrants who are searching for opportunities and a better life for their families. 

The plight of the Romany minority in Europe has been to say the least disgraceful throughout history.

Can Finland offer them a better life and help restore their dignity?

A better standard of living yes. Even though they won’t be attacked in Finland like in their home countries in Eastern Europe, prejudice will unfortunately continue to follow them like a somber shadow. 

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Ylen A-studion juttu Romanien paluu on saanut Euroopan parlamentin tämän vuoden journalismipalkinnon. Toimittaja Tero Koskisen ohjelma kertoo romaniaikuisten ja -lasten oloista karavaanialueella Helsingissä. Palkintoraati katsoi, että aihe on mielenkiintoinen tämän päivän Euroopassa. Se myös kiitteli siitä, että ohjelmassa annettiin puheenvuoro romaneille itselleen ja valotettiin paikallista näkökulmaa. Palkinto jaettiin neljässä eri sarjassa: lehdistö, internet, televisio ja radio. Romanien paluu esitettiin A-studiossa 21. huhtikuuta 2010.

See the whole interview.

HS.fi: Valtaosa pääkaupunkiseudun vanhemmista haluaisi kiintiöt maahanmuuttajaoppilaille

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: This story on HS.fi has me perplexed: We speak of the importance of growing up in an international environment but we do not want our children to attend schools where children of immigrant backgrounds are a noticeable minority never mind majority.

A poll published by Helsingin Sanomat, the country’s largest daily, showed that 57% of parents who have children (ages 7-16) would like to place limits on the number of children of immigrant backgrounds at school. Twenty-eight percent were against such caps.

Migrant Tales has reported on this issue in January and February. One of the questions that these polls earlier this year ask is if public servants like teachers can limit or choose whom they’ll teach? Can the police do the same? Is segregating schools by placing caps constitutional?

These type of polls show how new cultural diversity is in Finland. While some Finns may claim to want their children to grow up in an international environment it is quite another thing in practice.

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Enemmistö pääkaupunkiseudun peruskouluikäisten lasten vanhemmista haluaisi koulujen rajoittavan maahanmuuttajataustaisten oppilaiden osuutta luokissa. Vanhempien kanta ilmenee Helsingin Sanomien TNS Gallupilla teettämästä mielipidemittauksesta.

Read whole story.

Myths help cover up an injustice or crime

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Just like the light from distant suns allow us to see events that took place billions of years before present, history plays the same role but in  humbler terms. Many of the problems we face today are the result of the injustices and crimes that took place a long time ago. 

There is an interesting story on guardian.co.uk about the questionable legacy of the British Empire.

The daily writes: “Then tragically, and almost overnight, many of the formerly oppressed became themselves, in the colonies, the imperial oppressors. White settlers, in the Americas, in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Rhodesia and Kenya, simply took over land that was not theirs, often slaughtering, and even purposefully exterminating, the local indigenous population as if they were vermin.”

It’s interesting how able we are as humans at covering up the treachery we commit constantly on our most cherished values.

Myths help us to brush under the rug our barbarism. Myths are mortal as well and need to be constantly defended and strengthened with new myths and nationalism. Sometimes nationalism isn’t enough and an extreme steroid like xenophobia must be used to bolster it.

All types of wars and conflicts rely on the collusion of myths. If we couldn’t use myths to hide our dark side, how could we live with ourselves after taking part in an atrocity like war? Myths help to set in motion future wars and conflicts that will eventually be covered up by new myths.

How much do Finland’s myths of past wars and conflicts help to justify racism, prejudice of newcomers and suspicion of those 1.2 million Finns that emigrated mostly to North America and Sweden between 1860 and 1999?

If one of the aims of racism is to exclude other groups from controlling resources (work and economic well-being), myths ensure that minorities’ access to them will be hindered.

The real cuplrit behind power and wars are myths.

YLE: Yhä useampi rasistinen rikos tutkitaan

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Here is an interesting question: Why don’t some immigrants report hate crimes to the authorities? The YLE story claims that one reason is the fear that justice will not be served.

If YLE and the police are to be believed, Finnish law enforcement officials have the proper training and the will to treat immigrants as equally as Finns. “In my opinion, our media functions effectively enough (in reporting hate crimes),” said Maila-Katriina Tuominen, a journalist. “It (the media) not only brings to light those problems that have to be addressed, but does investigative journalism, which is needed for these types of cases.”

Even though a nice picture is being painted of the police and Finnish media without interviewing one journalist with an immigrant background, I would treat the YLE story with tweezers.

Does Finland want to raise the credibility of the police among immigrants and non-white Finns? Then make the police more ethnically diverse. I personally would ask the police to let their hair grow a bit so that some wouldn’t give the appearance of being skinheads.

For some immigrants, their appearance is already an issue.  Would you want to report a crime to a policeman who looks like a skinhead? 

Another problem that immigrants have in reporting hate crimes is that it is simply too difficult of a process. Calling the police and reporting the crime can be a long and winding road.

Migrant Tales was told in May by a policeman Pieksämäki that it wasn’t worth getting in touch with the police if they are harassed in public. Contrarily, the Ombudsman for Minorities said that harassment should be reported the police.

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Rasistisen rikoksen uhriksi joutunut tekee liian harvoin rikosilmoituksen. Yksi syy tähän on pelko siitä, että ei saa oikeutta. Tilanne on kuitenkin parantunut. Poliiseilla on edellytyksiä, haluja ja koulutusta toimia tasavertaisesti myös maahanmuuttajien puolesta.

Read whole story.

Timo Soini: “The PS do not hate anybody – not anybody”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

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 near-unanimously 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?

If we look at Soini’s political balancing actbetween the extremists of his party and those that like populism, it’s clear that the PS head is playing good-cop-bad-cop with the public. Soini may want to portray himself to the public as the “good cop” but one fact remains: he is a cop, or the head of the PS.

Does the right-wing populist party hate anyone? Does Soini conveniently forget what he has said?

PS city councilman  van Wonterghem wrote in June that it is a good matter when a Muslim girl is killed because there is one less to give birth to a new Muslim. Hirvisaari shed crocodile tears shortly after the mass killings in Norway but blamed poor immigration policy probably fueled killers like Anders Breivik to commit mass murder.

Even though the PS’ election victory on April 17 was historic, we cannot prove conclusively that it has fueled more racism in Finland. However, I don’t believe it has helped to undermine it either.

Soini claimed on Saturday that it was “ludicrous” to suggest that the PS was an extremist party since it has over 20% support. I wonder if the PS head has read history. There are many extremist parties that have gained power with over 20% support.

The PS’ greatest enemy are not as the party claims “the media and elitist political establishment” but itself. It’s own example and double-talk will cause it the greatest political damage.

Imagine what would happen to Finland if Soini were prime minister? Imagine what kind of society we’d turn into if the PS had its way?

Finland would turn into a shooting gallery with Soini’s cronies taking political potshots at immigrants, minorities and anyone else who doesn’t fit in their narrow-minded view of society.

As the shooting and laughs go on, Soini will assure us with a poker face and in colorful rhetoric that “the PS do not hate anybody – not anybody.”