September 2013 - Migrant tales

PS MPs like Juho Eerola don’t know how closed Finland used to be to the outside world

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Juho Eerola wrote in 2010 that he was attracted to Benito Mussolini’s fascism. He argues that it is a model that we could learn a lot from. Such a statement not only shows his fascist political credentials, but his ignorance of Finnish history. The Restricting Act of 1939 (law 219/1939), which was in force until 1995, kept Finland closed to foreign investment.

The Restricting Act of 1939 prohibited foreigners from owning real estate and acquiring a majority stake in Finnish companies – limiting this to 20% normally and 40% under special permission. The Act stipulated that foreigners could not own shares in sectors such as forestry, securities trading, transportation, mining, real estate and shipping.

So what gives, Eerola? Didn’t you know that Finland was a near-closed country to foreign investment during most of the last century?

There were very few immigrants that moved to Finland during the cold war era as well. The country’s tiny immigrant population peaked in 1928 with 29,685 foreigners but started to retreat after the 1930s, plunging to 5,483 in 1970, according to the Migration Institute.

Why did the number of immigrants, which was small to begin with, plummet? Just like the Restricting Act of 1939, which aimed to restrict foreign investment, it was Finland’s aim as well to restrict and make it as hard as possible for immigrants to move to this country.

Finland got its first Aliens Act in 1983, sixty-five years after its independence in 1917.

Apart from not being able to own land, organize demonstrations never mind start a publication, immigrants didn’t have the right to appeal deportation decisions.

The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) spied on immigrants as it does today. Even if one of their worries was finding out who were working for the KGB, they kept close tabs on many immigrants, recording things like how many demonstrations you attended.

Finland wasn’t, however, a fascist state like Mussolini’s Italy although it was a geopolitically isolated country during the cold war era.

Eerola forgets to mention the dark side of Mussolini’s fascist state. Il Duce was an autocrat that took his country to war and brought great destruction and ruin to his people.

Mussolini was executed with his mistress, Clara Petacci, on April 28, 1945.

His lifeless body was strung up by his heels with other fascists in Piazzale Loreto in Milan.

Few Italians long for his style of politics never mind his economic model.

Juho Eerola Hommaforum July 6, 2010: I myself am attracted to Benito Mussolini’s fascism, and in particular the economic policy [the country] pursued. Entrepreneurship was encouraged but it was under strict government control. Vital large corporations could not be owned by foreign investors but were firmly in government hands. Italy achieved during those times full employment and strong economic growth. We could learn a lot from such a model.

Thank you Christine Bergström for providing the link where Eerola made his quote about Mussolini.

Abde Hussein shows there is more than one way to put racism on the defensive

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Migrant Tales

There’s more than one way to put intolerance on the defensive. Abde Hussein wrote on Thursday an encounter he had with a young unemployed white Finn, who said in public that he was a “monkey” and “living off welfare.” A discussion ensued but to make a long story short, the young white Finn turned out to be the monkey (no insult intended to these primates).

Without getting hot under the collar, Hussein turned the insults hurled at him against the young man, who was ignorant of Finnish grammar, unemployed and living off welfare.

The encounter, published on Abde Hussein’s Facebook wall, has attracted over 9,440 “likes” and 1,565 votes.

Just like Ricky Ghansah’s encounter with a racist, who insulted him at a bus stop but forced him to apologize in public after paying his bus ticket, Hussein’s posting shows that we can beat the crude racists at their own game.

If there were a school to learn how a social ill like intolerance happens in our society, Ghansah’s and Hussein’s cases would be discussed in the elementary course.

Exposing intolerance in the intermediate and advanced levels of the course, however, would be more complicated.

At the advanced level, you’d study institutional racism, politicians, public officials and common people expressing their intolerance but in such a way that it is difficult to make out. At this level you learn that intolerance exists because there is a system that is maintained by our prejudices and fear of losing power and privilege.

This post on Abde Hussein’s Facebook wall had over 9,440 “likes” on Sunday.

Just like social media brought some Perussuomalaiset (PS) politicians to the attention of the media and public before the 2011 parliamentary elections, we can beat intolerance with the same tools.

While there may be many ways to beat a social ill at its own game, silence is one method we should avoid at all costs.

If financial market suffer from bursting bubbles, like we saw with the Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy of 2008, so do political bubbles fed by xenophobia, anti-immigration and populism.

Political bubbles burst when we discover they are based on the opportunistic hype of politicians.

Hussein’s posting encourages us to believe that Finland’s darkest period in modern times isn’t invincible.

Thank you Amir Hassan for the heads-up.

Ana María Gutiérrez-Sorainen: Ihmisoikkeudet eivät ole neuvottelukysymys

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Ana María Gutiérrez-Sorainen*

Kansanedustaja Mikael Jugnerin avustaja Nasima Razmyar (SDP) lähetti julkisen kirjeen perussuomalaisten kansaedustaja Jussi Halla-aholle omassa Ilta-lehden blogissaan.

Tämä on jo toinen kerta, kun Razmyar osoittaa huomionsa perussuomalaisille. Jokainen saa kirjoittaa kenelle hän tahtoo, yksityisesti tai/ja julkisesti.

Koska tuo kirje on nyt julkinen, voimme me muut arvioida sitä vapaasti julkisestikin.

Ensiksi Nasima Razmyar ikään kuin antaa itsellensä jonkun maahanmuuttaja- ja pakolaisedustajan viran ja osoittaa tahtonsa neuvotella nyt Halla-ahon kanssa Syyrian pakolaisista. Nasima tahtoo hyvää, mutta, mutta…

Kuten olen sanonut aiemminkin, ei ole sellaista “maahanmuuttanutta”, joka edustaisi jotakin homogeenista maahanmuuttajaryhmää. Jokainen politiikassa toimiva henkilö edustaa itseään ja häntä äänestäneitä. Olisivat äänestäjät syntyneet Suomessa tai ihan Australian viimeisessä kolkassa.Yhdenvertaisina kansalaisina olemme osa yhteiskuntaa. Toki vähemmistöjen ongelmista ja haasteista ei pidä vaieta.

Kirjeessä Nasima Razmyar ei tuo uutta tietoa tai sellaista, mikä ei olisi ollut jo esillä julkisuudessa. Kuten itse Halla-aho on selittänyt televisiossa, hän vastustaa Syyrian pakolaisten vastaanottoa muun muassa siksi, että hänen mielestä lähtökohtaisesti Syyriasta tulevat pakolaiset eivät sopeudu suomalaiseen yhteiskuntaan. Jos kansanedustaja Halla-ahon kanta on sellainen jyrkän kielteinen, mitä järkeä on lähteä neuvottelemaan hänen kanssaan Syyrian pakolaisten auttamisesta? Ellei ole niin, että itse on valmis taipumaan Halla-ahon tahdolle. Oletan, että Nasima ei missään nimessä halua nyt luopua pakolaisten auttamisesta Suomessakin. Oletan näin, vaikka hän oli se, joka marssi puolustelemaan puolueensa puheenjohtajan maassa maan tavalla – lausuntoja.

Ihmisoikeudet eivät ole neuvottelukysymys Suomessa eikä muualla, ellei ole niin, että neuvottelu vie edistykseen ihmisoikeuksien hyväksi. Niiden kanssa, jotka polkevat ja haluavat jatkossakin polkea ihmisoikeuksia, ei pidä sopia.

Lopuksi siis voi vain todeta, että Nasiman kirjeellä on vain imagoarvoa, joka tekee hänestä neuvottelevan ja sovittelevan ihmisen. Nyt meni vain vähän överiksi. Jokaisessa ihmisessä on hyvää ja pahaa. Jokainen meistä päättää itse, miten tulee toimia ja antaako pikkusormensa tai ei.

PS: henkilökohtaisella tasolla ymmärrän Nasimaa. Ei se ole kovin imartelevaa kestää Halla-ahon seuraajien nettikiusaamista “kriittisyyden nimellä” vaikkapa Hommaforumissa. Puhun nettikiusaamisesta kokemuksella.

*Kansalaisaktivisti, entinen kunnanvaltuutettu, espanjan kielen opettaja, kääntäjä ja tulkki, blogisti, neljän lapsen äiti, Suomen kansalainen.

Alkuperäisen blogikirjoituksen voi lukea tästä.

Tämä blogikirjoitus julkaistiin Migrant Talesissä luvalla.

Why doesn’t Timo Soini make a clear split with its PS racists? Answer: political hara-kiri

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Columnist Yrjö Rautio of Apu magazine writes that if Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman Timo Soini doesn’t make a clear split with PS MP racists like Jussi Halla-aho and his followers, the party should make official that it supports the following values: “paranoia, hatred and human evil.”

Read full story (in Finnish) here.

Rautio makes a valid point. The real question, I believe, is why Soini hasn’t rid its party of its racists, especially those that have been sentenced for ethnic agitation.

The answer to the latter question is self-evident and clear: The PS would commit political hara-kiri if it rid its party of its racists.

We all know that intolerance is learned and based on ignorance, lies and prejudice.

Another PS MP, James Hirvisaari, who was convicted for ethnic agitation like Halla-aho, posts a story written by Aalto University lecturer Kyösti Tarvainen. He’s the person, who using a pocket calculator, predicted that the Muslims would become a majority in Finland due to their high birth rates.

Since many of these type of arguments are exaggerated lies whose aim is to fuel hatred against certain groups like Muslims, it’s not clear when Tarvainen posted the blog entry. Hirvisaari doesn’t give us a clue either because his aim may be to show something that was written last year is still topical and new.

Tarvainen expressed concern in February 2011 by sending an email to prominent Green Party politicians protesting Hussein Muhammed’s candidacy. He said that the Greens have made a mistake by allowing Muslims to stand as candidates in the Green Party.

Just because a person has a PhD or is a lecturer at a university doesn’t mean that he doesn’t house racist ideas.

If you disagree, check out the academics that were member of the Nazi party and SS.

Saving one life, one refugee from Syria, IS important

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Arguing that accepting a few hundred refugees from Syria is not important because it is a drop in the bucket, is an outrageous statement made by Jussi Halla-aho, Vesa-Matti Saarakkala and others. The other point they are trying to drive home, that these people will be a burden on Finland, exposes their loathing and ignorance.

How many refugees can you name in history that fled to other countries and became model members of their new home countries? One of these was Albert Einstein, who fled Nazi Germany, a racist regime that rose to power by scapegoating minorities like Jews.

The argument, that refugees are a burden, is an insult to all the refugees of the world. Only an extreme egoist, who lacks feelings for the suffering of others, can make such a point.

These types of intolerant arguments are the same as those made constantly by anti-immigration and far-right politicians to drive home their point.

If you dissect their arguments, they are nothing more than typical anti-immigration sound bites spread with the help of the Finnish media, which gives them inflated respectability and importance.

Using such arguments to influence refugee and immigration policy, we could similarly ask why did Raoul Wallenberg or Oscar Schindler save tens of thousands of Jews if millions were murdered in Nazi concentration camps?

Stating that saving lives is futile because there are so many and makes no difference is similar to a racist trying to convince you that it is useless to oppose intolerance because nothing can be done.

If you accept that ludicrous argument, you have lost the war.

Saving one person is valuable and important.

If you disagree, why not ask the victims fleeing war and death.

PS MP Jussi Halla-aho put on the hot chair after his ridiculous arguments against Syrian refugees are exposed

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho was put on the hot chair on A-Studio, when he was asked about his and PS MP Vesa-Matti Saarakkala’s written question to parliament opposing government plans to give asylum to 500 refugees from Syria.

A good question to ask is why accepting 500 refugees from Syria is in the national spotlight? Sweden plans to accept around 16,000 Syrian refugees. Moreover, why do we give airtime to an MP who has been convicted for ethnic agitation? Why are Halla-aho’s anti-immigration views important?

If we had answers to these questions, we’d understand the nature of the xenophobic beast that has inflicted Finland.

Halla-aho and his band of PS anti-immigration followers have gotten this far in their political careers thanks to journalists and officials who have done little to nothing to question their inflated exaggerations and outright xenophobia.

Finnish Red Cross manager Kalle Löövi showed that we don’t need to sit back in silence and can question and expose Halla-aho’s ideas. He calmly but firmly told Halla-aho that his stance was wrong and said that Finland was accepting 500 needy refugees that are in danger of dying.

And what’s wrong with helping people fleeing war? We should be proud that our country has the opportunity to help others who may repay us one day in kind.

Arguing that accepting a few hundred refugees doesn’t mean anything is probably the most outrageous statement made by Halla-aho and Saarakkala. Saving one person from a terrible conflict like in Syria is valuable and important.

Why then does Halla-aho oppose bringing Syrian refugees to Finland?

If we uncover the red herrings, the real reason lies in the fact that Halla-aho loathes Muslims, is vehemently against cultural diversity and is running for Euro MP.

Migrant Tales Literary: Foreigner

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Migrant Tales

By Musimenta Dansila

you call me

in your eyes a foreigner

I am to mother earth

are we not all?

as a foreigner

I stand declare

mother earth to be mine

as a foreigner

you despise me

you segregate me

you scorn me

but isn’t mother earth for all?

as a foreigner

I refuse to be caged

I shall sough my seeds

they will be kissed

by the sun

all over the earth

a foreigner’s seed

will expand

embrace,

feed your heart

with warmth

foreigners we all are

to mother earth!

Äärioikeistolaista sananvapautta ja ihmisoikeuksia

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Susannah

Monet ovat nähneet kuvia Heteropridesta, Helsingissä 21.9. 2013 pidetyn mielenosoituksen. Se poiki jo perussuomalaistenkin leirissä kohun; Jani Viinikaisen erottamisen 22.9.2013 Kangasalan kunnanvaltuustosta, ja Viinikaisen oman eron perussuomalaisesta puolueesta. Syynä tähän oli kyseenalainen materiaali mielenosoituksen jäsenistössä ja Viinikaisesta otetut, facebookissa levitetyt kuvat tekemässä natsitervehdystä hitlernaamari päässään tapahtumasta palatessaan.

Susannahin mielenkiintoa herätti myös tämän tapahtuman järjestäjä, salolainen varakunnanvaltuutettu, perussuomalainen Jani Salomaa, joka istuu myös Sote-lautakunnassa. Salomaa on oman facebookseinällään ja eri ryhmissä lietsonut äärioikeistolaisia kavereitaan ilmiantamaan jo useita äärioikeistoa vastustavaa ryhmää “ilmiannoilla” poistetuiksi. Mukana olivat mm. Jussi Halla-ahon sanansa syömiset – ryhmä (, joka keskittyi äärioikeiston kritisoimiseen ilmiönä), sen seuraana Sanansa Syömiset – ryhmä, ja Paljastettu 1 – ryhmä, kuten myös profiili Nauretaan Äärioikeistolle. Noissa Heteroprideen liittyvissä kuvissa esiintyy niinikään ilmiantonapin väärinkäytöstä vastaava Klaus Elovaara, joka Leon Degrellen, tunnetun belgialaisen natsimielisen sota-ajan henkilöllisyyttä käyttää väärin facebookissa. Ilmiantajien tyyli on kuin haamu vanhasta Itä-Euroopasta, Stasi ja kaikki sen kaltaiset systeemit yhdessä.

Niin, heteroylpeys äärioikeistolaiseen tapaan (ihmisvihalla kuorrutettuna) on siis sukua sananvapauskäsitteelle, jossa vain äärioikeistolla on sananvapaus. Kaikki muut äänet tulee vaientaa ( vaikka sosiaalisen median heikkouksia hyväksikäyttämällä “ilmianto” – toiminnoissa) . Jokainen voi toki itse mennä lukemaan Paljastettu 2 – ryhmää facebookissa: https://www.facebook.com/paljastettujhakss?fref=ts Ja jos äärioikeistolaiset saavat senkin kaadettua, http://www.jhakss.com/, twitterissä: https://twitter.com/JHAKSSKootut Äärioikeisto ei voi viedä kaikkien muiden ääntä yhteiskunnasta!

Why did a Finnish court absolve two policemen of apparent racist conduct?

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Migrant Tales

When reporting some stories, denials and what is not said are the spotlights that reveal the real story. A flat denial by the police that ethnic profiling doesn’t occur suggests that it is probably more widespread than we think.

A court ruled on Monday that the actions of two Helsinki policemen, who used excessive physical force to detain a Roma, calling the man “stupid,” “do things like a monkey” and that “you [the Roma] are always guilty [of something],” were not racially motivated.

On top of this, the evidence from the CCTV cameras at the gas station were lost after they were transferred to a memory stick.

The two policemen were, however, fined for using excessive force, according to an MTV3 story.

OK, fine. What constitutes a racially motivated crime or conduct by a public official in Finland? I’m certain that this is clearly spelled out in the law. How it is applied is another story.

In some stories that we’ve covered on Migrant Tales, there is the feeling that the police are sometimes more keen on playing down the role hate crime. Black February is a case in point.

But what can you expect from the latest court ruling? All the judges that made the ruling are white. So were the two policemen, who belong to a service that is 99% white. Pitted against these two power institutions is a member of the Romany minority, which has endured social exclusion, prejudice and racism in this country for five hundred years.

Add to the backdrop a classified internal investigation made public in August into the behavior of the Helsinki Court of Appeals, which showed some judges sexually harassed women at parties, used racist and sexist language during recesses and in meetings outside of the courtroom.

While we’re not suggesting that there is a connection with the classified internal investigation and the latest ruling, the report raises more questions than answers.

If judges in the internal investigation were guilty of discriminatory and unprofessional behavior, what about others like teachers, policemen and other public officials?

While I believe that Finland has the resources to put intolerance and discrimination on the defensive, our response to these types of social ills is still meek.

Read full MTV3 story here.

Why is our response to intolerance so mild?

We could shed light on that question by asking why do leading newspapers like Helsingin Sanomat still give so much space to the opinions of MPs that have been convicted for ethnic agitation?

The answer is simple: Institutional racism, which we defend consciously because we agree with the present ethnic order of things or subconsciously, because we don’t know better.

Some may ask how can some members of the Finnish police service be racist. Read about the Stephen Lawrence case and others in Britain. They offer disturbing proof of how ethnicity plays a key role in resolving “white” justice in the police service.

We’re missing the point when we close our eyes to racism and justice. Not only do we have the ability to destroy a person’s life because of his or her ethnic background, we miss an important opportunity to strengthen our values and institutions.

The police is a service that serves everyone in this society.

When the police service forgets this important fact, as it did in the MTV3 story, it does great damage to its credibility. If the Roma and other visible minorities mistrust the Finnish police because they consider their conduct racist and unprofessional, we ‘d have to agree that they have a valid point.

The fact that they are doing too little to address this issue reinforces the fact that intolerance is an issue.

Absolving policemen for making racist and derogatory remarks to a member of a minority in Finland sends the wrong message to those who are policing.

Thank you JD for the heads-up!

Thai berry pickers shed light on a much wider problem in Finland for immigrants

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Migrant Tales

The fifty Thai berry pickers, who are protesting against long hours, poor pay and huge risks they take when working for Ber-Ex, not only shed light on their plight but the poor job security that immigrants generally face in Finland.

While berry pickers are seasonal workers that come from Thailand, their issues reveal a much serious problem in Finland for immigrants that hasn’t been addressed effectively.

We all know that immigrant unemployment in Finland is 2-3 times higher than the national average. According to the latest figures by Statistics Finland, the unemployment rate in July was 6.6%. Immigrant unemployment in 2011 was 21.7%. according to the Finnish Immigration Service, citing employment figures.

Finding a permanent job in Finland with the same security that most Finns enjoy is quite a challenge for many immigrants who live in this country. If you are qualified and have good language skills, there is a risk that it will take much longer to get ahead in your career than if you were a white Finn.

If there is little acceptance of immigrants among some Finns, certainly employers will take advantage of the situation for their benefit. Employers are not the only culprits but unions, regulators and even immigrants in some cases are to blame for the present situation.

I met an immigrant who had been in this country for well over 10 years and was returning back to her home country. It’s not a novel story.

“I’ve had it with Finland,” the person said. “I’ve tried everything here but never got permanent employment. Who’s going to pay my retirement?”