By Pia Grochwoski This month Six Degrees magazine ran multiple features on the theme of ethnic food and restaurants, “Dining with an Ethnic Twist: The popularity of ethnic restaurants in Finland continues to grow swiftly”. The proportion of ethnic restaurants in Finland continues to grow, making up 20% of the restaurant sector in Finland. It…
Month: January 2013
PS’ second vice president doesn’t condemn but “gives advice”to Jyväskylä’s neo-Nazi attackers
Perussuomalaiset (PS) second vice president, MP Juho Eerola, did not condemn the attacks in Jyväskylä by suspected neo-Nazi thugs but advised them how to do it more effectively, reports National Coalition Party’s online Verkkouutiset. Writes Eerola: “The next time don’t look like “patriots” when you plan to enter such an event. Don’t go as a group…
Interior minister: Far right isn’t “a big threat” despite what happened in Jyväskylä
Christian Democrat Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen condemned the attack by three suspected neo-Nazi thugs in Jyväskylä as an assault against freedom of speech and the right to assembly, reports YLE. She didn’t consider, however, the far right to be a threat to Finland but said that the authorities aim to do more work to address social…
Jyväskylä is (another) wakeup call to growing far right violence and intimidation
Wednesday’s attack by neo-Nazi thugs at a book presentation in Jyväskylä is a wakeup call to the growing menace of far right violence in Finland. Was what happened in the central Finnish city a surprise? The answer is no if you ask researcher Vesa Puuronen of the University of Eastern Finland. ”When we consider recent…
Suspected neo-Nazis attack book presentation event on the far right in Finland
A group of men with bottles and knives barged in a book presentation in the central Finnish city of Jyväskylä on far-right extremism, according to Yle in English. The men, who called themselves ”patriots,” injured one of the body guards who was taken to hospital. The attackers fled the scene. Members of the neo-Nazi Suomen Kansalinen…
What does Finland’s integration law reveal about our society and expectations?
A good question we can ask about Finland’s integration act is what it reflects about our views and expectations of newcomers. Can any law integrate people effectively? If you want to speak of one- or two-way adaption, one should ask some of Finland’s oldest minorities like the Roma and Saami what memories such a…
Labels that fuel discrimination and racism in Finland
When will Finns drop this discriminatory term: Finns with immigrant backgrounds? Many, I suspect, are and should be proud of their background. I am but what happens if these labels and terms ensure that you will continue to be treated as something less equal? What do you do if being labeled in such a way…
Migrant Tales literary: How high must a wall be to contain hope?
Dedicated to the EU and Donald Trump By Leo Honka No wall can contain hope. It’s a fact but go and build your high wall To hide the destruction you’ve reaped: pillaging riches, pillaging hope leaving people and whole nations devastated, without future. Source: Westmonster. Now we’re knocking on your door With a sentence in…
The social tragedy of the family reunification problem of Somalis in Finland
The Finnish Immigration Service states in a report (see page 4) that at the end of 2011 there were a total of 6,100 family reunification applications by Somalis living in the country. Even so, only 329 family reunifications took place on average annually between 1999 and 2010, according to the Refugee Advice Center. No matter how one…
Making torture and hate acceptable
Even if the media in the United States speaks of torture as something recent, the truth is that it has been going on for a very long time. These type of barbaric interrogation techniques were widely used in the last century in regions like Latin America. The CIA and the United States trained and promoted torture and state-sponsored terrorism in places like the School of the Americas.