Month: January 2012

Lip service or action by Finnish municipal authorities?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The role of accepting refugees in remote municipalities as a way of slowing the number of people who move out of the community is a half-way solution to the challenging demographic problem facing many parts of Finland. While there is a lot of good will to accommodate refugees in their municipality, many of these people end up moving to bigger cities like Helsinki after short stay. 

One of the problems why refugees and immigrants avoid small municipalities or stay a short while is because there are few opportunities, jobs and near-nonexistent immigrant community.

Another important matter that encourages such refugees to move out of such municipalities when possible is the lack of a clear idea by city officials of what these people’s role is in the community.  Directing them to their umpteenth Finnish-language course, employment office or to The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela)  are not effective ways of dealing with the issue but a method of brushing the problem under the rug.

While some municipalities do a better job than others at integrating refugees and immigrants, those that do a poor job are the ones who do no envisage any “real” place for them. By “real place” I mean hiring refugees and immigrants to work for the municipality and doing everything possible that they’ll work, invest and raise their families in our community.

Mikkeli (pop. 48,676) is a municipality located about 230km northeast of Helsinki.  It’s a typical city that faces serious demographic challenges (aging population) and needs outside investment to create more jobs.  What makes matters worse is that the city does not have any concrete plan or roadmap on how it plans to meet these future demographic and economic challenges.

Believe it or not, Mikkeli has no international director coordinating such efforts except for the assistant mayor.

Some estimates see Finland needing by 2040 two million immigrants to maintain the same age structure it had in 2007, when 17% of the population was over 65 years.  Since such a large number of immigrants are needed to maintain the present age structure, the role of immigration can only slow the process of aging at municipalities like Mikkeli.

In the region of Etelä-Savo where I live, 2040 is already here in some municipalities. In Puumala, 29.3% of the population is over 65 years while the average for Etelä-Savo is 22.7%. In Mikkeli, 19.1% of the inhabitants are pensioners.

In many respects the rise of an anti-immigration party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) comes at a very bad moment for Finland and regions like Etelä-Savo.

If local authorities are struggling to figure out the big picture for refugees and immigrants in their respective municipalities, they have to deal as well with ever-growing nationalism and anti-immigration sentiment.

Hiding one’s head in the sand is not a solution. Smaller municipalities throughout Finland need not only a viable plan that will promote mutual acceptance, respect, equal opportunities and most importantly jobs for refugees, immigrants and their local inhabitants, they need to implement such a plan now.

YLE in English: Finland tells gay asylum seekers to get back in the closet

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment:  Finland has deported between 2008 and 2010 ten homosexuals to countries where they could receive harsh punishment for belonging to such a sexual minority, according to YLE in English. 

The Finnish Immigration Service denies such allegations. 

Homosexuality is seen as a crime in over 70 countries carrying even the death penalty. 

“It was surprising that the decision’s are there with detailed information about the countries, but it was decided that people were not in serious danger and could be deported,” says researcher Outi Lepola.

It is not the first time that Finland has been accused of sending asylum seekers to countries where they could face harsh punishment. During the cold war, Soviet asylum seekers were deported back to the USSR, where they were interned in mental asylums or sentenced to hard labor.   

The Centre for Torture Survivors in Finland, has accused the Finnish Immigration Service (FIS) of deporting refugees who have suffered torture to their home countries. 

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Finland has deported asylum seekers to countries where they could be put to death for their sexual orientation, in violation of international agreements. Some have been told to conceal their sexuality to ensure they remain safe.

Read whole story.

Is Finland's path that of Hungary's?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

This is not a far-fetched question taking into account what is happening in Hungary and the rise of populism in Finland. How many in Hungary ten years ago could have envisioned what is happening today in that country?  

The architect of Hungary’s ever-autocratic grip over its democratic institutions has been  Fidesz party prime minister, Viktor Orbán. Daniel Cohn Bendit, the leader of the European Green group in the European Parliament, is not too happy in the video clip below about the reforms that have taken place under Orbán.

Says Bendit: “Europe was born in a struggle against totalitarianism and the basis of democracy, the basis of liberty, is quite precisely freedom of expression. And that disturbs. A democracy never died of too much freedom, democracies died through throttling freedoms.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X65AT_yJpAw]

Here is a link to a massive protest in Hungary by tens of thousands of people against the government’s reforms.

What we are seeing in Hungary last decade and especially today is of concern: The rise of Antisemitism, xenophobia, hostility towards the Romany minority, increased government monitoring of the media and other institutions like the central bank by the government to name a few.

The guardian.co.uk sums it up pretty well: “…the new constitution is the source of most anguish. It came into effect on 1 January, and, combined with at least 350 laws that have been rushed through during Fidesz’s 20 months in power, has, say critics, all but removed checks and balances to the power of the government and ruling party…There have been crackdowns on Roma rights, and funds for education and social care have been shredded, campaigners say.”

The question that I’d like to ask our bloggers is if Finland could ever follow Hungary’s xenophobic and increasingly anti-democratic path if a party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) got an absolute majority in the election as did Fidesz in 2010.

Fidesz election victory, which gave them two thirds of the seats in parliament, is as impressive as what the PS gained in April.

Another big winner of the 2010 election in Hungary was the Antisemitic and neo-fascist Jobbik.

If any party were to swing Finland on Hungary’s path, the place to start is the Constitution.

I am certain that there are a lot of sympathizers in the PS and in Finland of the anti-democratic reforms  in Hungary.

Thank you JusticeDemon for the heads up!

We can contain the PS' populist threat to Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The more I read about Timo Soini the more I am convinced that the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party is a threat to this country, especially to those who do not fit the PS’ narrow view of the world. I am not contesting the election result, which I respect, but what the  cat has brought in from the back door.

Marianne Lydén will publish in a few weeks a book, Jag är inte rasist. Jag vill bara ha främlingsfientliga röster [I’m not a racist. I am just out to get the votes of those who hate immigrants], that highlights the role of the media and political parties in fueling the rise of the PS,  according to HBL.

Fear = Hate forums in Finland (Hommaforum, Scripta and others), Ignorance = bloggers who visit these sites, and hate = hostility towards immigrants and visible minorities. Thank you Hannele Kosonen for sharing this very revealing cartoon with us.

While we at Migrant Tales have repeatedly criticized the media’s lack of teeth and the complacency of the largest political parties to the xenophobia and racism of the PS,  Lydén raises the important question again in her book.

If anything, the media and politicians can learn from their past mistakes and now see what can happen when we are too complacent to parties that hold in contempt the rights of other groups in society.

“We journalists did Soini’s work by spreading his hatred of foreigners sometimes unknowingly,” the staff reporter at the Swedish-language daily HBL is quoted as saying, “but if we wouldn’t have written about him we wouldn’t have been doing our job.”

Lydén points the finger in her book at the following politicians for boosting the PS: Kokoomus MP Ben Zyskowicz, Jutta Urpilainen and Eero Heinäluoma of the SDP as well as Center Party veteran politician Paavo Väyrynen.

While you’ll find the same anti-immigration hardliners in all Finnish parties as in the PS, it explains why a politician like Urpilainen can flirt with Soini’s one-way integration model for immigrants and why Wille Rydnman has been christened by his party as Kokoomus’ Jussi Halla-aho.

The HBL reporter shows how an Islamophobist like Halla-aho and Soini complimented each other in the historic April election.  “Without Halla-aho Soini would have never got the anti-immigration vote. Without Soini Halla-aho would not be chairing the administration committee,” she said.

Another important observation that Lydén makes is that nothing happens immediately or by chance in Finland. Racism has been festering in the undercurrent for a long time in Finland.  “What is it and nothing of the sort happens [xenophobia] in Finland was the normal answer,” she said of the 1990s.

I have worked as a foreign correspondent and journalist in Finland for a long time and totally agree with Lydén about turning a blind eye to racism, bigotry and prejudice. If you didn’t you were blacklisted by the foreign ministry which did everything possible to smear your good name.

I am certain that Lasse Lehtinen, Rolf Friberg, Pekka Karhuvaara and Finnfacts can give us more details about how the foreign ministry “worked” with foreign journalists during the cold war and tried to convince us that Finlandization did not exist.

We are in big trouble if we deal with this threat of the PS in the same manner as we did before the election.

However, I believe that Finland is slowly but surely learning a stinging lesson from its pre-April 17 mistakes.

Coming out into an identity: gay, lesbian, pariah…

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

There is one line of a film review of Pariah on Colorlines that really caught me:  “The film hinges on the belief that there’s no one way to be young, or black, or queer. And while it’s a struggle to come into any identity, those fights are always punctuated by moments of resilience and triumph.”

That resilience and triumph that the author speaks of is when when we take that giant step and succeed at accepting who we are.

Even if accepting who we are may be easier said than done, society must help by being acceptant and even encouraging diversity.  Advancing the rights of one group has a positive ripple effect on the whole of society, especially on different minorities.

The greatest threat to societies like ours in Finland and elsewhere doesn’t come from abroad but from within. Attacking and undermining the rights of others and retarding their acceptance have an adverse  knock-on effect.

Since selective hatred is a myth promoted by far-right, populist right wing and anti-immigration groups  for political and personal profit, we should be especially alarmed by such groups and people that hold in such contempt the rights of others.

Contrary to what these groups want you to believe, you cannot control racism, hatred nor can you contain it to impact one group. Selective hatred affects everyone.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=R0fZOxAcljQ]

By promoting gay and other minority rights we are advancing the rights of everyone in our society.

Community Village Activist: Teaching Children To Respect One Another

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: This story and video clip published by CNN and posted by Glenn Robinson, editor of the Community Village Activist blog, is high revealing and shows where and when the bud of racism should be nipped. 

If a child grows up in a society where 99.9% of his or her classmates, best friends and neighbors are white it must reinforce some negative perceptions of those who are different from her. If a child grew up at a school and neighborhood where people were pretty much equal and came from different ethnic backgrounds, would the little girl’s answers be different in the video clip?

But let’s add another matter to the story. What about if on top of the latter we’d teach informally and formally at the near-all-white school stereotypes of “others.”  Below is a children’s book used at Finnish schools still in the 1970s. What kind of perceptions did this seemingly “innocent” picture evoke about blacks?

The negro washes his face but grows no paler. 

What would you say if a black girl was asked to choose which of the two dolls, a black or white one, was prettier. What about if she responded that the white one was more appealing? What does her answer reveal about her perceptions of beauty, racism never mind self-esteem?

No matter how you look at it, racism and prejudice are pretty devastating for society and the individual since it does not permit neither of the two to realize their full potential.  

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Has anyone seen research where the researcher asks children, instead of a closed ended question like “Who is the smart one” but instead “Are all phenotypes equally nice and equally smart?” (Children may not know what a phenotype is but that creates a good opportunity to explain that a phenotype is only skin deep). Children can then be asked to explain their answer and where they learned their knowledge or stereotypes. Maybe they learned it from TV, radio, friends, students, family or even their parents.

Read whole story.

Thank you Glenn Robinson for the heads up!

The Council of Ethics in Advertising: A positive step in the right direction against racism and stereotyping in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

It’s funny how still some in this country like to tell the rest what is acceptable when it comes to labeling different ethnic groups.  The term ryssä, a derogatory term to place Russians in a negative context in the Finnish language is one of many examples. The Council of Ethics in Advertising  ruled  that using the term ryssimme as a verb from the noun ryssä on one of its cider beverages was unethical.*

The label ryssä is used by Finns as a derogatory term for Russians.

Even if some Finns like to constantly warn and remind us about the “Russian threat” to Finland and that of other groups as well, the truth is that the only ones that are a threat to this country are such people. They don’t build with their racist comments anything constructive but feed an old ogre of to Finns called hatred and suspicion of outsiders.

Another degrading label that we have brought attention to on Migrant Tales is the term mamu, the shortened word for maahanmuuttaja, or immigrant.

Stand-up comedian Ali Jahangiri mentions in the following video clip why his blood boils every time he hears the term mamu used by Finns.  Warning: The video clip uses quite offensive language and is recommended for viewers who are over 18 years old.

On a number of occasions we have debated on Migrant Tales about the use of the term neekeri  by Finns, which is highly offensive to blacks.

As a person with a Latin American background, I personally find it incredible how Mexicans  are portrayed, sometimes as toothless unshaven desperados outside of Mexican restaurants.  The Amarillo restaurant chain portrays a Mexican in a pretty suspicious manner.  Isn’t it funny that cowboys from the U.S. are never portrayed as Mexicans, who don’t even look human.

A dating website shows subjectively and even in a racist fashion how sexy women are portrayed in Finland. If the picture is anything to go by, the ideally beautiful woman in Finland has platinum-blonde hair, blue eyes and enjoys holding a red strawberry between her teeth.

Despite the racism and sexism we see in advertising in this country every day, the Council of Ethics in Advertising ruling on the usage of the term ryssä is a positive step in the right direction.

*Mainostoimisto Kingin suunnittelemassa mainoksessa oli kuva Otto Greippi Lime -tölkistä, jossa sana greippi oli tavutettu virheellisesti grei-ppi. Mainoksessa luki ”Uudistimme maun, mutta ryssimme tavutuksen!”. 

Thank you Minun Suomeni on kansainvälinen – My Finland is International for the heads up!

guardian.co.uk: Stephen Lawrence verdict – Dobson and Norris guilty of racist murder

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: This story on guardian.co.uk highlights why it is important to tackle racism. If we’d ever have the tools to measure how much racism and prejudice costs society, I am certain that many would think twice about fueling such a social illness.  Apart from its high costs and adverse impact, racism can lead to death as was the case of Gary Dobson and David Norris, who were convicted after 18 years of racist murder.

Writes the guardian.co.uk:  “The [convicted] pair were part of a group of five white men who were suspected just hours after the murder in 1993, but had escaped justice through police failings and because some witnesses were too scared to come forward. New scientific evidence tied Dobson and Norris to the murder and exposed as lies their claims that they were not present when Lawrence was attacked. A covert video shot in the flat that Dobson rented in 1994 showed him and Norris bragging and fantasising about inflicting violence on ethnic minorities, using explicit racist language, and having close friends who handled knives.”

Certainly the death of an innocent teenager at the hands of a gang of white racists is alarming but what is more alarming is how the police fumbled this case.

The public has every right to be outraged.

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Two men have finally been convicted of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, 18 years after a white gang fuelled by hatred stabbed the black teenager to death. Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, were found guilty of murder on Tuesday by a jury at the Old Bailey. The crime had raised searching questions about racism in Britain.

Read whole story.

Toronto Sun: Multiculturalism Trudeau's gift to Canada

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Multiculturalism is a highly misunderstood concept today and on the defensive in many parts of the world except for Canada, where it was first introduced in 1971 by then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

One of the problems with the term is that it is defined differently by different groups. Far-right and populist anti-immigration parties define it as an immigration policy (sic!) that permits Muslims and Africans from moving to Europe.

Writes the Toronto Sun: “It was the first policy of its kind in the world, recognizing that while Canada had two official languages, the country hosted many other cultures.”

There are officially only three countries in the world that use multiculturalism as a social policy. These are Canada, Australia and Britain.

Finland isn’t officially a multicultural country (social policy) although Finns use the term to broadly mean a society made up of “many cultures.”

Peter Kivisto defined multiculturalism in the following way: “Multiculturalism refers to a view that ethnically or religiously diverse societies should protect and promote diversity and should be based on both individual and group rights.”

Thank you Sirpa Utriainen for the heads up!

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By Sharon Lem

TORONTO – Former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was a visionary about the way different cultures in Canada co-exist today,” says the CEO of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario (MHSO), Dora Nipp. As 2011 draws to a close, so does the 40th anniversary of the commencement of Canada’s policy of Multiculturalism, spearheaded by Trudeau and adopted in 1971.

Read whole story.

Racism Review: A Year End Review 2011

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Compared with Migrant Tales’ review of 2011, the one below by Racism Review shows an equally worrying picture of the year in the United States. 

Despite negative news like increased deportations, racism in presidential politics, racism in general and Islamophobia, the year was characterized by social campaigns and movements. Some worth mentioning are the Drop the I-Word campaign,  more research on racism and life in a so-called “post-racial society,” celebrating cultural diversity as well as social media campaigns.

In Finland immigrants, Finns and Finns with international backgrounds are beginning to take the lead. Facebook sites like My Finland is International and blogs like Migrant Tales have taken leadership and become a counter-voice. Even if this may be the case, there is still a lot of work to be done on the anti-racism front, especially during these economic times where far-right and populist groups are promoting racism and exclusion of immigrants and minorities. 

Racism Review asks, “what will you do  in 2012 contribute to the struggle for racial justice?”

We at Migrant Tales plan to continue the struggle until the menace of racism is corned and placed on the defensive in our society. We plan to continue the struggle and drive home the point that that racism is shameful and cowardly social behavior. 

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By Jessie

As the year 2011 ends, there are several good year-end reviews about racial justice, this video from Colorlines and this post from a David J. Leonard writing at New Black Man, are both excellent.  We here atRacism Review offer this as our own brief, and necessarily incomplete, recap of some of the notable events in the struggle for racial justice. Be sure to scroll all the way to the end, there are some victories there, too ~ and a challenge for you at the end.

Read whole story.