Enrique mentions an interesting comment from a policeman in Mikkeli talking about racism, who compares racism to being hassled when he returns to his home town because he is now a policeman. The comparison is very poor, but it’s also very telling. It is from our mistakes that we really can learn the most. In…
Month: December 2012
Hate crimes increase in 2011 in Finland: And now, what?
What do the 918 suspected hate crime cases in 2011 in Finland tell us about ourselves as a society and what should our reaction be to such a social ill? And now, what? Considering that the majority of crimes go unreported, it’s clear that hate crimes reported to the police are only the tip of…
Police College of Finland: Hate crimes rise by 7% in 2011
A total of 918 suspected hate crimes were reported in Finland in 2011, which is a 7% rise from 860 cases in the previous year, according to the Police College of Finland. Compared with the previous years, suspected hate crime cases have not risen significantly, according to researcher Iina Sahramäki. “If we look the previous…
Finnish police to have new anti-ethnic profiling guidelines in force in 2013
Rainer Hiltunen, Ombudsman for Minorities head of office, told Migrant Tales that talks have taken place with the Finnish police to draft new guidelines and more effective monitoring to ensure that ethnic profiling doesn’t happen. The new guidelines are expected to be in force in 2013. The Ombudsman for Minorities office expressed concern in spring about higher-than-average complaints from…
What are immigrants supposed to adapt to?
One of the biggest questions when speaking of the integration of immigrants and visible minorities in Europe and Finland is what are they supposed to adapt to. In theory everything sounds perfect in our law books. What happens on the ground, however, is a totally different story. This abandoned Cadillac reveals the crude face of…
Is there such a thing as “age racism?”
Pro union chairman Antti Rinne branded as “age racism” (ikärasismia) a proposal by Juhana Vartianen, director general of the Government Institute for Economic Research (VATT), to lower salaries for workers approaching retirement age, reports YLE. Is there such a thing as age racism? Shouldn’t the correct term be age discrimination (ikäsyrjintä)? Read English-language YLE story here….
New World Finn: Different modes of travel*
The first thing we see as we travel round the world is our own filth thrown into the face of mankind. …
The Finnish media and their PS darling
Did anyone watch Thursday’s Pressiklubi show with Li Andersson of the Left Wing Alliance, Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman Timo Soini and Helsingin Sanomat politics and business editor, Marko Junkkari? Apart from Soini’s usual political blah-blah (sound colorful but don’t say anything), Junkkari’s comment about how the Finnish media saw the PS as their darling before the…
Monitori: Migrant Tales – vähemmistöjen ääni verkossa
”Meidän täytyy muuttaa jatkuva epäsuotuisa keskustelu maahanmuuttajia ja näkyviä vähemmistöjä vastaan Suomessa. Se voidaan päättää antamalla hiljaisuudellemme ääni ja kiitosta niille, joilla on rohkeutta puhua rasismia ja ennakkoluuloja vastaan.” Näin kirjoittaa suomalainen toimittaja, tutkija ja Migrant Tales -blogisivuston perustajaEnrique Tessieri. Hän on elänyt monissa eri kulttuureissa, mukaan lukien Argentiinassa, Iso-Britanniassa, Italiassa, Espanjassa, Kolumbiassa ja Yhdysvalloissa….
Taming the beast of right-wing extremism in the EU and Finland
Our reaction to racism should be first and foremost a reaction. A comprehensive report published recently by the Institute for Strategic Studies in Sweden not only exposes far-right or right-wing extremism in ten European Union countries, but its historical roots as well. While these extremist groups may have different names in different countries, they are all…