Migrant Tales celebrates its sixth year as a blog today. Our blog has grown from a humble voice to one that gets noticed in Finland and abroad. Our aim is a simple: Migrant Tales is a blog community that debates some of the salient issues facing immigrants and minorities in Finland and elsewhere. It aims to be a…
Month: May 2013
Ombudsman for Minorities responds to Migrant Tales’ queries concerning phone operators and insurance companies
Migrant Tales spoke recently to the office of the Ombudsman for Minorities about two cases by Finland’s mobile phone operators and insurance companies. We asked as well if using the term students with immigrant backgrounds, or maahanmuuttajataustainen, at elementary and middle schools was discriminatory. The term maahanmuuttajataustainen appears to be so common in some Mikkeli schools that…
Finnish Swedish-speaking journalists and public figures receive death threats
Is it a surprise that prominent Finns belonging to the Swedish-speaking minority received anonymous hate mail and death threats this week? If you want to find the roots of such hatred, one place to look is the anti-immigration, anti-Swedish language and anti-EU Perussuomalaiset (PS) party. Members of the Swedish-speaking communities are not the only ones…
Dana: Am alone in a faraway land without my mom
Yes, it’s a few days since I got my citizenship, and you cruel ones got together. You hated me and my mother too. She is gone now. Dana _________ Am alone at home Alone in Finland I cannot cry I am standing in front of you, my enemies, and telling that you are very cruel….
Sweden and Woolwich reveal the eager face of intolerance
Be it the riots in Sweden or the tragic murder of a British solider in Woolwich last week, it’s always the eager face of intolerance that is ready to expose itself. The knee-jerk reaction to these events reveals something disturbing about us: our prejudice, intolerance and near-clueless answers on how to move forward in a…
ENAR press statement: Riots in Sweden – time for government to finally address ethnic minorities’ exclusion
Comment: As Migrant Tales has written on a number of postings, the riots in Sweden mirror the dire situation of some immigrant groups in that country and how marginalized they are from the rest of society. ______ Brussels, 28 May 2013 – The ongoing riots in Stockholm, Sweden are a strong wake-up call for…
Sweden riots: People cannot live off football, crumbs and destitute pity
In the face of the riots in Huusby, Sweden, which have now spread outside the northern Stockholm suburb, there’s one culprit we should pay close attention to especially here in Finland: The erosion of Sweden’s comprehensive welfare state system. Faced with a seven-billion-euro budget deficit, it isn’t surprising that few if any politicians in this…
Jouni Karnasaari: “Keski-ikäinen mies, oletko vaarassa sairastua rasismiin?”
Jouni Karnasaari Suomalainen keski-ikäistyvä mies joutuu monenlaisten pohdintojen ääreen kilometrien karttuessa matkamittariin. Kakkostyypin diabetekseen sairastumisen riski kasvaa, samoin sydän- ja verisuonitautien riski. Repsahdukset alkoholismiin muuttuvat yhä todennäköisimmiksi. Kaikkien edellämainittujen suhteen on olemassa tukiverkostoja, aikaisen havaitsemisen ohjeistuksia ja ennaltaehkäisevää toimintaa. Yhden kansansairauden osalta näin ei kuitenkaan ole. Rasismi kansansairautena on lisääntymässä siinä määrin että voitanee puhua…
Suurin uhka Euroopalle ovat he, jotka haluavat puolustaa meitä toisilta
Minua ei pelota kulttuurinen moninaisuus puhumattakaan terrorismi. Toisten kulttuurien olemisen kieltäminen globalisoituneessa maailmassa on sama kuin yrittäisi kieltää seksin. Kulttuurinen moninaisuus ja seksi ovat osa ihmisyyttä. On turhaa kieltää jotain niinkin luonnollista. Toki on paljon uhkia. Yksi niistä on äärioikeistolaiset, populistiset sekä maahanmuuttovastaiset ideologiat, jotka ovat hyvin yleisiä tämänpäiväsissä Euroopassa. Jos emme haasta näitä ilmiöitä…
Migrant Tales Literary: Helloless culture
By Dana Hello!? Well yes, hello! Hello! Let me tell you about a helloless culture.? What is wrong with greeting people anyway?? In Finland saying hello seems very difficult. ?It looks like they’re afraid to say hello even if u told them hello over and over again…and i’m wondering how many times i have to take…