Thanks to the mixed statements by the police, Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government and President Sauli Niinistö concerning asylum seekers, we have today as well vigilante groups like the Soldiers of Odin and neo-Nazi Kansalinen Vastarinta patrolling our streets. Many of the members of these vigilante groups have criminal and far-right backgrounds.
Month: January 2016
Finland’s wishful thinking of populism and racism
Compared with four or six years ago, the level of xenophobia and anti-immigration sentiment has reached fever pitch. There is so much news against asylum seekers and our ever-growing culturally diverse community that it’s on some weeks difficult to keep up with what is being said.
Does Luona treat asylum seekers with dignity or as livestock?
Finland saw a record number of asylum seekers come to the country last year. These 32,500 people that traveled far from countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia, have found temporary housing in asylum reception centers. Who watches over, never mind defends, their rights?
BOX STORY: Mohammed Saleh Muhsin
Mohammed Saleh Muhsin, 26, is one of the many thousands of young Iraqi asylum seekers that came to Finland in the fall. Like many of his countrymen, he too speaks of the violence and strife strangling Iraq. He spoke to Migrant Tales about his treatment at two of Luona’s reception centers. “I arrived on September 23…
Was the death of an Afghani asylum seeker at Luona’s reception center due to negligence?
Migrant Tales published on Friday a story where it asked about the circumstances of the death of an asylum seeker, Jayyed Abbas Jaffari (1995-2016), in early January that was staying at Luona’s reception center in Espoo. Was there negligence or not by the private company that runs reception centers in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa?
What Finland lacks to become a successful culturally diverse country like Canada
Anti-immigration populists and ultranationalist use the code term “immigration policy” to mean that they don’t want non-EU nationals especially Muslims from the Middle East and Africa to move to their country. Finland is no exception and they point to Canada as an example of successful immigration policy that we could emulate.
Migrants and minorities of the Nordic region: It’s time to organize and face the rude music
Europe is in a moral quandary these days. It’s ironic that the more it attempts to implement security through the building of higher and tougher outside boundaries and treat people who flee war, strife and poverty with disdain, the more it feeds our sense of insecurity.
Migrants’ Right Network: Saving the gains of the Schengen agreement requires European solidarity on protection for refugees
Much of the news commentary on Europe seems to assume that the Schengen open borders arrangement will vanish in the next few months. That would be a disaster. Saving it will require a reversal of the current refusal of solidarity with countries at the frontline of the refugee flows.
Does Finland treat asylum seekers with human dignity or as livestock?
Ever wonder why the media, the government never mind private companies running asylum reception centers in Finland are so quiet about the people they are giving shelter, food, and temporary protection? The mere fact that we know so little already raises a lot of questions like the Suomen Kuvalehti story about the death of an asylum seeker in early January.
Swimming hall in Finland bans all asylum seekers until the end of January
A good example of how some Finns label Others and how the media fuels the “us” and “them” mentality is when a teenage asylum seeker on Thursday was caught watching naked women taking showers at a local swimming hall in the Finnish town of Haukipudas, located 640km north of Helsinki.