March 2016 - Page 3 of 4

Recovering Afghan who attempted suicide wants to leave Finland

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Migrant Tales

The 23-24-year-old Afghan, who attempted to take his life Friday night, is recovering at a hospital and wants leave Finland after he recovers, according to a source contacted by Migrant Tales.

Two hours after the attempted suicide by the Afghan another asylum seeker at Luona’s Kutomotie reception center tried to commit suicide after hearing that his brother died in Iraq in a bomb explosion.

The source, who spoke to the suicide victim’s roommate, said that the Afghan was depressed by those asylum seekers who didn’t get a residence permit to stay in Finland.

“He’s disappointed with Finland,” the source said. “Some believe that the poor treatment they endure at Luona [asylum reception center at Kutomotie 9 in Helsinki] is the same attitude that the whole country has of them.”

Migrant Tales has written about the racist and inhumane treatment that asylum seekers have suffered at the reception centers managed by Luona. Some of the employees that treat asylum seekers poorly aren’t white Finns but Palestinian and Kurdish staffers who are naturalized Finns.

Many of the employees that Luona hires are unqualified and “blindly exploited by the company’s managers,” according to another source.

Continue reading “Recovering Afghan who attempted suicide wants to leave Finland”

Two new suicide cases involving asylum seekers in Finland not reported by the media

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Migrant Tales

After the tragic news of two asylum seekers that tried to take their lives on Friday at Luona’s asylum reception center in Espoo, Migrant Tales has learned of two suicide cases that occurred and weren’t reported by the media.

The first happened in December when an asylum seeker, believed to be an Iraqi Kurd, wanted to throw himself off the roof of Luona’s Robert Huberin tie reception center.

“The young asylum seeker was mentally unstable and suffering from war trauma,” a source told Migrant Tales. “Sometimes he’d wake up in the evening thinking that his pillow was a chopped off head.”

An employee working for Luona convinced the asylum seeker not to take his life.

“When I told the morning shift manager about what happened, he didn’t care one bit for the person that needed medical [psychiatric] attention,” the source continued. “The manager said that he didn’t care if the asylum seeker died.”

The second case took place in January. It involved a young Afghani man threw himself off the bridge above Kehä III located right across the Jumbo Shopping Center in Vantaa but was saved by a life net.

“The police and fire department arrived in time,” the source said. “Fortunately, he was saved.”

Continue reading “Two new suicide cases involving asylum seekers in Finland not reported by the media”

Racism Review: Protestors force cancelation of Trump rally in Chicago

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Migrant Tales

Jessie Daniels

The activists at University of Illinois-Chicago, where Trump had scheduled a rally, effectively shut it down yesterday. When the rally was abruptly canceled at the last minute, Trump supporters and protestors clashed. Several people were injured.

This brief video puts the events of last night into some context of Trump’s escalating remarks at recent rallies (12:50 with a :30 advertisement at the beginning):

Read full story and see video clip here.

Continue reading “Racism Review: Protestors force cancelation of Trump rally in Chicago”

Abuses at Luona’s asylum reception centers continue – two refugees tried to commit suicide

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Migrant Tales

The right-wing Finnish government, and especially the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, which shares power with the Center Party and National Coalition Party (NCP), have tried their hardest to find ways to deport some 20,000 of the 32, 476 asylum seekers that came to Finland in 2015.

The reception that these asylum seekers have gotten in Finland is not only shameful but has added to their suffering. Private companies like Luona, which runs eight reception centers in Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Hyvinkää, and as Migrant Tales revealed in numerous stories, treat asylum seekers in a racist and inhumane manner.

Since there is some kind of a pattern, one wonders what type of silent complacency there is between the Finnish Immigration Service (FIS) and the government to turn a blind eye to such abuses.

Such degrading treatment, which is in conflict with our Nordic values, takes its toll on people like two cases that happened Friday.

One Afghani asylum seeker at Luona’s Kutomotie reception center yesterday evening tried to commit suicide by sliting his wrist. (The Kutomotie reception center will be closed in August by the Finnish Migration Service (FIS) due to deficiencies that came to light in February.) Two hours later another asylum seeker from Iraq at the same reception center tried to take his life by jumping out of the window.

According to reliable sources, both men wanted to take their lives because of the inhumane treatment they have suffered in Finland and “in particular by Luona.”

Fortunately, both asylum seekers were stopped in time and are no longer in harm’s away.

Continue reading “Abuses at Luona’s asylum reception centers continue – two refugees tried to commit suicide”

Denying the rise of racism and fascism in Finland

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Migrant Tales

Even if Finland denies that it has a serious racism and fascism problem, the country cannot go forward and the situation for migrants and minorities in Finland will get worse until we get a grip of these social issues.

In the face of ever-incriminating evidence that Finland has the potential of becoming an Islamophobic country like Denmark or one that is at the alter with fascism like Hungary, it is a sign of cowardice that politicians and other community leaders in this country prefer to remain silent instead of challenge racism and its many poisonous forms.

The only way that Finland will be able to challenge these types of social ills is when parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are sent back to the mini political leagues. Since they are in government and have power, it’s clear that racism and xenophobia will get worse, not retreat, in Finland.

Even if the PS has risen to become one of the biggest parties, they have done this with the help of mainstream parties that think like them but aren’t too vocal about it.

The rise of xenophobia and parties like the PS is proof why hostility towards migrants and minorities has grown recently.

Kitee is a sleepy city in Eastern Finland that had a number of families who moved to Argentina in the 1920s. Today it is a city where hate crime towards asylum seekers and the Roma happens.

Writes YLE:

Three men were given fines for harassing foreign students in Kitee. Among other things, they painted swastikas on the [students’ home] walls, urinated on their door and threw objects through the students’ window.

How many politicians have come out to condemn what happened?

Continue reading “Denying the rise of racism and fascism in Finland”

A plea for help for a Syrian asylum-seeker family in Greece stranded at the Macedonian border

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales gets emails from readers who want to tell their story. This is perfect for us since it is our aim “to be a voice for those whose views and situation are understood poorly and heard faintly by the media, politicians and public.”

Thulfiqar Abdulkarim is an Iraqi national who recently got asylum in Finland. He writes:

“Good day Mr. Enrique, I’m one of your followers on migrants tales, Dear sir I’ve a friend in Espoo he’s an asylum seeker from Syria, his family is on the border between Greece and Macedonia for days. And for that reason he is on hunger strike, and it’s s his third day. His health is becoming worse and worse, please mr Enrique how can you help him to deliver his voice and situation to the human groups and organizations or the media, to help his family, All the best, Thulfiqar”

We answered by publishing Abdulkarim’s story and pictures of his friend, who is on hunger strike and hope to be reunited with his family in Finland.

The Syrian asylum seeker on hunger strike in Espoo.

The children of the man are 10 and 5 years old. They arrived with their mother in Greece on February 25. The man has lost contact ith his family for three days.

Continue reading “A plea for help for a Syrian asylum-seeker family in Greece stranded at the Macedonian border”

Onko meillä käynnissä sota pakolaisia vastaan?

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Reija Härkönen

Onko auttaminen mahdollista vain silloin, kun autettavat eivät liikaa häiritse omaa mukavuutta?

Miksi pakolaisten motiivit kyseenalaistetaan nyt, kun he ovat liikkeellä suurin joukoin? Eikö olisi silloin ollut tarpeellista kyseenalaistaa, kun paljon suurempi osa jäi kotimaihinsa? Eikö silloin ollut suuremmalla todennäköisyydellä niin, että siellä sittenkin pystyi elämään?

Käytän tässä kirjoituksessa sanaa pakolainen kaikista ihmisistä, jotka ovat jättäneet kaiken ja hengenhädässä lähteneet pakoon kodeistaan ja kotimaistaan.

Varsinaisen pakolaisaseman, turvapaikan ja siihen liittyvät edut saavat Suomessa vain tietyt kriteerit täyttävät ihmiset. Vaikka ei saisi turvapaikkaa, voi saada oleskeluluvan, jos ihmistä uhkaa omassa maassa kuolemanrangaistus tai epäinhimillinen kohtelu. Oleskeluluvan voi saada myös, jos ihminen voisi kotimaassaan joutua henkilökohtaiseen vaaraan aseellisen selkkauksen vuoksi. Myös ympäristökatastrofi tai esim. vaikea ihmisoikeustilanne voi oikeuttaa saamaan maassamme oleskeluluvan humanitaarisen suojelun perusteella.

Kun hätä on tarpeeksi suuri, ihmiset lähtevät joka tapauksessa pakoon. Tapa, jolla he nyt ovat paenneet, on jo selvästi osoittanut, että he eivät ole enää nähneet muuta mahdollisuutta. Hukkumalla Välimereen ei ole saavuttanut turvapaikkaa, mutta on ainakin yrittänyt. Heittämällä lapsen raja- aidan ylitse voi saada pienen toivonkipinän, että edes hänet joku löytää ja ottaa hoitoonsa.

Pakolaisia Kreikan ja Makedonian rajalla I. Prickett UNHCR — Pakolaisia Kreikan ja Makedonian rajalla. Kuva: I.Prickett, UNHCR

Suomessa on ollut suuri älämölö siitä, että tulijoista niin suuri osa on miehiä. Nyt, kun äidit ja lapset ovat lähteneet liikkeelle, heidän edestään portit suljetaan kylmästi. Perussuomalaiset ovat jo pitkään toistelleet, että perheiden yhdistäminen on suurin uhka maallemme. Eivät he kustannuksia pelkää, vaan sitä, että täällä jo olevat väärän väriset ihmiset saavat tänne puolisonsa ja lapsensa, perustavat lisää perheitä ja saavat lisää väärän värisiä lapsia. Ja pian käy niin, että Suomen jalkapallomaajoukkue ei – heidän likaisessa mielessään – enää ole valkoinen suomalainen joukkue.

Continue reading “Onko meillä käynnissä sota pakolaisia vastaan?”

Abuse of asylum seekers at Luona’s reception centers continues despite assurances that they don’t permit “racist behavior”

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales understands that asylum seekers at Luona, a private company that manages eight reception centers, continue to suffer abuse. Luona employees with foreign backgrounds treat asylum seekers in “a racist and inhumane manner,” according to a source.

“Asylum seekers are forced and threatened to work and clean at Luona’s reception center [in Espoo],” the source continued. “If they don’t comply they are threatened by employees [with foreign background] that they will be sent to another reception center in Hyvinkää where they claim there is a pig sty.”

Migrant Tales has documented a number of cases of how asylum seekers are treated in a racist manner at Luona’s reception centers and the police, which can detain them for many hours for minor offenses.

After Migrant Tales and other media exposed how the company was treating asylum seekers to the public, Luona claimed last month that it would take steps to correct such abuses.

“We don’t permit racist or inappropriate behavior [from our staff] towards asylum seekers,” said Luona General Manager Milja Saksi. “We have made personnel changes if people aren’t suitable to work at our reception centers.”

We will publish more on this type of abuse later on in the day.

Human trafficking – get ready for another onslaught of xenophobia and labeling

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Migrant Tales

Should we be surprised that YLE is planning another one-sided “debate” in April on human trafficking? The problem with this type of “debate,” like the one before that on March 2 on how asylum seekers have fueled uncertainty in Finland, is that it follows a common narrative that white Finland has of Otherness: You are a threat and a problem.

Certainly we should be concerned about human trafficking but it is hypocritical to overlook the fact that it is our indifference and Fortress Europe mentality that have given human traffickers a good opportunity to exploit asylum seekers fleeing war and poverty.

Blaming asylum seekers, like anti-immigration parties do in Finland and Europe, is disingenuous. Such parties would care less about the plight of asylum seekers and their solutions for such people is frightening.

What is, even more, surprising about the article below is that it is being made by Kirsi Pimiä, the non-discrimination ombudsman. Nowhere in the story does Pimiä challenge that common narrative that migrants are a problem for Finland.

If I were the journalist writing the story I’d ask her why not one, yes, not one, minority representative is working for the non-discrimination ombudsman.

The YLE article below leads with the following statement:

Marriages of convenience are a new form of human trafficking also in Finland together with forced labor and sexual exploitation. In our country we are treating close to one hundred human trafficking victims.

With provocative leads like the above written in the present xenophobic context of Finland one questions that sincerity of the article and its concern for human trafficking victims.

The most effective way to stop human trafficking is to create humane and easier paths for asylum seekers to come to Europe. Stop labelling ALL asylum seekers and migrants and do something to stop human trafficking, which Europe is guilty of promoting.

Read full story (in Finnish) here.

Continue reading “Human trafficking – get ready for another onslaught of xenophobia and labeling”

Close to 80% of the police service of Finland sees asylum seekers as the greatest threat to security

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Migrant Tales

A poll showed that close to 80% of the police surveyed consider the asylum seeker crisis as the most serious threat to Finnish security, according to YLE News. Another important matter that the poll revealed was that 25.1% of those polled voted for the National Coalition Party (NCP) and 24.4% for the Perussuomalaiset (PS).*

The interesting and worrying question that the poll brings forth is what attitudes does the police service have towards cultural diversity? How do they see migrants and minorities in Finland?

The poll offers us as well an answer why the police, whose authority is rarely questioned in Finland, has fumbled the ball and given mixed statements concerning vigilante patrols, exaggerated alleged sexual harassment crimes by asylum seekers that didn’t pan out as they thought, and even singled out migrant entrepreneurs who sell pizzas for under six euros to name a few.

What does the police really think about migrants and minorities? Does it ethnically profile such minorities?

Doesn’t the police consider hate speech, arson attacks against asylum reception centers, and the rise of the far right in Finland greater threats?

Like Finland, the police too suffer from dear little cultural diversity among its ranks. There is only one black policeman in all of Finland. How many policemen and policewomen speak Arabic?

Read the full story here.

Continue reading “Close to 80% of the police service of Finland sees asylum seekers as the greatest threat to security”