Month: February 2012

OP-Pohjola-Group Kangasniemi only serves customers in Finnish and Swedish

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Below is an incident that happened at the offices of insurance company OP-Pohola-Group in Kangasniemi, a small town located between Mikkeli and Jyväskylä. The letter, published on the www.kangasniemi.info website, is a complaint to the company for refusing to offer service to a man because he did not speak Finnish or Swedish.

Writes Lucien den Arend:  “Well… you can make your own decision. They don’t want to do business a family of five with many objects to insure, because, although the father speaks English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish and a little Russian, he speaks no Swedish or Finnish yet.”

Below is the letter sent to OP-Pohjola-Group by the couple:

 Dear Mr. Karhinen,

 We are writing you because we have not been able to get past your sub leaders (personel). It is about the fact that the members of our family of five are all Finnish except me. And that your representative in Kangasniemi let us leave her office after she told us that it is company policy not to speak English – only Finnish and Swedish. We had been invited to come and listen to OP Pohjola Group’s offer for insurance for our Kartano, island, five cars and art collection. My wife gave her information in Finnish and when it was my turn (I do not speak Finnish) the woman/girl, your representative, said (in Finnish to my wife) that she does speak English but refuses to because it is company policy to only speak Finnish and Swedish.

 So last week we had a very active discussion about this on the facebook group IESAF – or International English Speakers’ Association of Finland. In more than sixty posts we discussed this problem.

 How can it be that your company name is in English; and your website has English pages, but it is its policy not to converse with a customer who cannot speak Finnish or Swedish?

 And why do I get no answer to my question about this serous problem – posted on your site’s form last week Monday. And why does my wife not get a response to her question, in Finnish, posted one day later?

 Yours Sincerely,

Lucien den Arend and Marjo Heikkinen

*Thank you Sheri Mylene Chang for the heads up!

Police unlikely to pin hate crime on the death of a Somali in Oulu, Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The police announced Wednesday that the eighteen-year-old Somali national who died in hospital Tuesday slipped from the sixth floor while trying to escape three people who barged into his home Monday night, according to tabloid Iltalehti. Migrant Tales spoke with Seppo Leinonen of the Oulu police, who said it was unlikely that the death of the young man was a hate crime. 

The police will announce at noon Thursday whether they will imprison the three suspects.

One of the three persons, a woman, knew the victim. She apparently had a disagreement with the man and told her brother about it, who then went with a metal pipe to resolve the matter, reports Ilalehti. Since the victim did not open door, the brother kicked a whole in the door and opened it from the inside.

Both the brother and sister were under the influence of alcohol.

The victim tried to escape but fell to his death from the sixth floor.

JusticeDemon makes a good point on one of his threads by asking if what happened was a “Finnish honor crime?” Below are a list of sad examples of Finnish men mending their broken family with a shotgun, service revolver or knife:

November 2011, Tyrnävä
October 2011, Varkaus
April 2011, Ikaalinen
February 2010, Lappeenranta (fortunately nobody was killed)
December 2008, Lohja (that was a retired police officer)
November 2008, Hattula
October 2008, Helsinki
October 2008, Oulu
June 2008, Ylitornio
March 2008, Pori

Migrant Tales had got in touch with residents and acquaintances of the victim in Oulu. While they claimed the three entered that had apartment the victim’s home with a chainsaw, the police could not confirm this.

Somali victim of Oulu, Finland: The tragedy that brings us closer to the problem

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The reaction and threads concerning the tragic death of a Somali national in Oulu, Finland, Tuesday after three white Finnish suspects barged into his home reveals the strong divide between “us” and “them.”We still have a long ways to go as a society to deal with social ills like discrimination. Paradoxically, tragedies like what happened in Oulu bring us ever-closer to the issue. 

While we should give the Finnish police the benefit of doubt and trust their professionalism, there are many cases that show the opposite and undermine the credibility of law enforcement officials. Some that come to mind immediately are the decade-long coverup by the German police of hate crimes by neo-Nazi groups, and the infamous L.A. riots, when three policemen were acquitted in 1992 after being videotaped beating a black motorist.

The L.A. riots caused the death of 53 people and as many as 2,000 were injured. The cost of the riots was between $800 million and $1 billion.

While the work of the police should reveal fairness and abiding duty to the cause of justice, factors like politics and prejudice do unfortunately get in the way.

If there are police credibility issues among Finland’s immigrant community, the police should find ways to increase trust.

While we believe in the professionalism of our law officers, we at Migrant Tales are concerned about the ever-worsening atmosphere for immigrants in Finland.  What happened in Oulu Monday night does not assure us that matters are getting better.

We do not have to venture far from Migrant Tales to grasp what is wrong with Finland today when it comes to the attitudes of some Finns. Here is one thread by Allan that is especially worrying: “Now if it so happens to be some gluesniffers on bad acid after drinking kärpässienikilju, where exactly are you blaming *them* ? No, you are blaming all Finns for having that as their social norm.”

Another blogger, Depressed N Worried Immigrant, writes: “I went to read iltalehti chatting room and i was shocked literally, there is no one single person condemning the death of this young man theye’re giving all kind of excuses…”

The police is one important source in resolving the tragedy that took place in Oulu Monday night.

It is the second incident so far in Oulu in a month where a person has fled perceived danger by jumping off the balcony. You can read the story (in Finnish) here.

 

Let’s wait for their verdict.