I’m not going to expend a lot of energy on analyzing what Perussuomaliset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho wrote in a recent blog entry. All of what he writes about migrants, especially refugees, is demeaning and negative. One sentence in particular, however, caught my attention and which exposes the anti-immigration politician to a tee. Read full story…
Month: January 2014
FGM or female circumcision: Traveling from culture point a to culture point b without exploding into pieces
Fadumo Dayib, who writes a great blog called Somali Womanhood and is Migrant Tales associate editor, asked me a very good question when I spoke to her about what some call female circumcision and which the critics refer to female genital mutilation (FGM). “What new points of view can you bring to the debate,” she asked. A…
Attorney general inquiry confirms earlier internal investigation by the Helsinki Courts of Appeal
An inquiry commissioned by the attorney general confirmed an internal investigation scooped by MTV3 in summer revealed some judges of the Helsinki Courts of Appeal harassed women sexually at parties and used racist language, according to MTV3, which cites Helsingin Sanomat. Read full story (in Finnish) here. The internal investigation, which revealed that some judges acted…
To all the Other Finns like me: Nobody can deny who you are
After spending a brief moment of my childhood in Finland, and growing roots in other lands, I longed to move back to the country I was once from. I was fortunate and able to visit Finland every summer. Those days I spent as a child and adolescent in the company of my grandparents in the…
Draft law that aims to prohibit Russians from purchasing land is a sad sign of the times
In a country like Finland, which has a small migrant population compared with other European countries, intolerance and xenophobia usually reveal themselves as déjà vu. One of these real illusions came in the form of a draft bill in parliament that aims to prohibit real estate purchases by Russians, according to Joensuu-based daily Karjalainen. The same fear-mongering to…
Migrants’ Rights Network: Wanted: Truth and clarity about migration to the UK today
MT comment: Is it a coincidence that the same issues but in a different context are taking place in Finland and elsewhere in Europe? Even if elections are supposed to be a time when we celebrate our democratic rights, for some, like migrants and minorities, it has come to represent a day of uncertainty, even…
Migrant Tales Literary: When Finland kicked the shit out of tolerance
Dedicated to Eila Kännö (1921-2009)* By Leo Honka I lived in this land of Finland from a long, long time ago before it heard your steps when it could kick the shit out of tolerance and walk away with impunity with intolerance in the streets as soverign master Over anything that moved. You’d be shocked…
October 19, 1982: A day we should never forget in Finland
The first large demonstration ever held in Finland by migrants was on October 19, 1982. Before that historic march, some 100 Pakistanis marched from Helsinki to Turku in the early 1970s to protest that they didn’t get work in Finland. The second march in 1982, began in front of Porthania and ended at the doorsteps of Parliament. …
How do you explain labor shortage and high unemployment?
Sometimes Migrant Tales gets it right and many times we do. Our sharp associate editor, JusticeDemon, raised and shed light on a very topical issue that is constantly poisoning the debate about our ever-growing cultural diversity in Finland. In Mikkeli, which is located about 230km north of Helsinki, a Perussuomalaiset (PS) politician, who equates immigrants…
Fadumo Dayib: Don’t worship my hurt feelings for the road to FGM is paved with good intentions
Fadumo Dayib There is an angry mob ready to lynch. They’re gathering force, leaping over barriers, ululating, and blindly bulldozing civility in their wake. The drummers, hunched over the “SOS” drum, thumps out an angry condescending rhythm, rivers of sweat and recriminations running down their livid face. The steady drumming picks up pace, urging the…