Month: November 2016

A sick Iraqi asylum seeker asks for mercy in a country that supposed to offer it

Posted on by Migrant Tales

As the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) makes life difficult for asylum seekers in Finland with the approval of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government, take a look at an Iraqi asylum seeker in the video below from the Pudasjärvi asylum reception center of northern Finland.

The man, Ali Mohammed Hussein, whose right hand is shaking as he speaks, asks for mercy as the police told him Tuesday at the asylum reception told him that he has seven days to leave and will no longer get any medicine, which the center paid. The man’s rollator will be confiscated as well by the reception center. 

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The action of the police is surprising considering that reception centers run by the Red Cross will not turn out anyone from their centers.

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See video here.

The man’s rollator, which he needs to walk, will be taken from him as well by the reception center. 

Hussein’s appeal against an earlier decision by Migri for asylum was rejected Tuesday by a district court.

He has suffered from a lot of pain in his stomach area for six months. Finally he was taken to a hospital whre he was operated three times. Each time, the doctors said that the operation didn’t succeed and they couldn’t pinpoint the problem.  

Continue reading “A sick Iraqi asylum seeker asks for mercy in a country that supposed to offer it”

Here we go again with the anti-immigration rhetoric – it’s election time in Finland!

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Here we go again, folks, it’s election time in April 2017 in Finland. The populist-nationalist Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is picking up its hostile attacks against migrants, minorities and our ever-growing and proud culturally diverse community. Their allies in these attacks are their government partners, the Center Party and National Coalition Party (NCP). 

You may rightly ask how it is possible for a government party like the PS to freely target our community with hostile and vengeful attacks? How is it possible that mainstream parties like the Center Party and NCP, which should know better, are near-silent to the PS’ anti-immigration rhetoric?

Even opposition voices like the Social Democrats, which use catchphrases like “we’re against racism,” it’s unclear how seriously the party wants to challenge structural racism and greater inclusion of migrants in the labor market.

You may ask how we have arrived at to this terrible juncture. The answer is simple: Too few people in this country care or believe in our Nordic rights that promote social inclusion and social equality.

Continue reading “Here we go again with the anti-immigration rhetoric – it’s election time in Finland!”

A small far-right Suomi ensin! demonstration again and the media cherishes a story

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Suomi ensin! (Finland first!) is a far-right group that goes to different places in Finland to stir up anti-immigration sentiment and hatred for migrants. Even if their demonstrations attract few people, they get a lot of attention in the national media. On Saturday afternoon their demonstration attracted 300* people to the eastern Helsinki neighborhood of Itäkeskus to listen to their xenophobic rhetoric. 

One of the matters that the Suomi ensin! demonstrators complained about was too many foreigners at public swimming halls, according to Helsingin Sanomat. The demonstrators didn’t lose the chance to warn listeners about Islamization and how the government’s immigration policy is synonymous to treason.

Suomi ensin! calls itself a nationalistic movement, which is code for fascism.

Taking into account how this group pesters and antagonizes migrants in Finland,  what would happen if a group of visible migrants went in front of the Perussuomalaiset* party’s headquarters and demonstrated in the same manner and make the same outrageous claims?

Ever wonder what kind of a media storm that would create? We doubt that the media would cover our demonstration in such a neutral manner as

We seriously doubt that the media would cover our demonstration in the same neutral news story manner as Helsingin Sanomat did with Suomi ensin today!

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Today’s demonstration at Itäkeskus. Note the two skinheads on the right. Photo by Migrant Tales reporter.

Continue reading “A small far-right Suomi ensin! demonstration again and the media cherishes a story”

The disgraceful stand of the government towards undocumented migrants in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Winter is rapidly approaching and Interior Minister Paula Risikko isn’t too enthused about the idea that the Evangelical Lutheran Church wants to give housing to undocumented migrants, according to YLE.

As everyone knows, the rapid rise of  undocumented migrants in Finland is the government’s own doing since it voted in spring to scrap granting residence permits on humanitarian grounds.

One of the direct impacts of the new law was that undocumented migrants in Finland would surge from a few hundred to thousands, according to various estimates.

One of the surprising matters about the whole issue is that it is purely political and originates in an anti-immigration party called the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, which shares power in government with the Center Party and National Coalition Party (NCP).

It is a good matter that the Evangelical Lutheran Church has not been swayed by the government’s anti-immigration populist rhetoric and taken a stand against leaving undocumented migrants to their own fates as permanent secretary of the interior ministry, Päivi Nerg, recently suggested.

Nerg was quoted as saying in Jyväskylä-based Keskisuomalainen that no emergency accommodation should be given to these migrants because “it would send the wrong message.”

What, Nerg, is the “right message?” Let these people freeze and die outdoors?

Comments like the above, and many others, show us that we should not give the government and politicians the benefit of the doubt when it comes to immigration policy and handling undocumented migrants since most of them are driven by suspicion and opportunism against cultural diversity.

Disagree?

What did the youth leader of the PS, Sebastian Tynkyynen, suggest what should be done to these “migrants who stay illegally?” He stated that they should be interned in closely guarded camps in the forest, where they’d live in tents apparently in subzero temperatures.

Tynkkynen belongs to the PS, which is in government, but nobody in his xenophobic party never mind in the Center Party and NCP have any objections to what he said.

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Read the full story (in Finnish) here.

Even if the PS is the last party that doesn’t have a clue how to treat migrants in Finland fairly because they are driven by bigotry, anti-cultural diversity, and racism, it is disappointing to note the silence coming from the government in the face of this rhetoric.

Continue reading “The disgraceful stand of the government towards undocumented migrants in Finland”

How a well-managed asylum reception center should be run

Posted on by Migrant Tales

We have written a lot about poorly managed reception centers in Finland since January. We, therefore, thought it would be a good opportunity to pull together our expertise and offer some best practices on how a well-managed reception center is run. 

A poorly run center is the reverse of a well-run one. It boils down to poor management piled with racist and ethnocentric behavior by the staff.

Instead of serving and alleviating the suffering of the asylum seekers, you rub salt into their wounds.

Migrant Tales will publish more best practices by two experts in the field, Mikko T. Heminen and Wael Cheblak.

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Source: Mikko T. Helminen and Wael Cheblak.

Iraqi asylum seeker gets asylum application turned down as his family members are attacked by the militia

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) is planning to reassess the security situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia after an initial assessment in May deemed these countries to be safe to return asylum seekers.

Migrant Tales reported recently a shooting and two deaths of asylum seekers who returned back to “safe” Iraq. That was followed by a story published in Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday.

In spite of assurances that countries like Iraq are “safe” to return asylum seekers, the latest pictures that we have received of violence in Iraq tell us a very different story.

Jihad Al Baghdadi* is an asylum seeker who arrived in Finland on September 19, 2015, and who got his asylum application turned down by Migri over a year later on November 3.

“Even if I was 80% certain that I’d get a negative decision [from Migri],” he said. “I was in shock for about a week. I have a  two-year-old daughter who lives in Iraq and I want to bring her to Finland away from the violence there.”

Al Baghdadi used to work for a security company in Iraq that is linked to the US Army.

The Iraqi asylum seeker said that he left Iraq because he didn’t want to spy for the Jaish al Madhy militia group or have anything to do with the extortion and killing of people.

According to Al Baghdadi, the militia wants to find his daughter so they can force him to return to Iraq.

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Jihad’s four-year-old nephew after he was run over by a driver belonging to the Jaish al Mahdy militia. The boy needed two operations and stitches on his face.

The militia stepped up its pressure on Jihad’s family from June. They questioned his father and asked about Jihad’s daughter. He was beaten up by them on the street and suffered rib injuries as a result.

Continue reading “Iraqi asylum seeker gets asylum application turned down as his family members are attacked by the militia”

Finland faces a challenge with the rise of undocumented immigrants

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Finnish society will remain divided on immigration. It is an issue that transcends the traditional left-right paradigm that keeps erupting. Should undocumented immigrants become documented? If so which ones?As a group and at the risk of causing a fuss, should they be offered preferential treatment? Or should they be encouraged with financial incentives to return back to their home countries or forced to leave?

It’s clear that the present state of Finland’s immigration policy is in disarray with our asylum policy being even in worse shape. Both are cynical and costly policies out of step with other countries’ asylum policies and work against the interests of world refugees.

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Since 2016, Finland’s immigration policy was designed to satisfy the special interests of immigration lawyers, private medical companies, private housing companies and other special-interest groups. Sharks in Finland are sucking taxpayers’ money at the cost of non-profit organizations, which have a smaller role. This is clear when looking at the Finnish Immigration Service’s (Migri) decision to close down asylum centers. Private companies are prevailing over non-profit ones. 

A number of stories have been published by Migrant Tales concerning special interests that profit from the refugee situation.

We are now going to face a new problem: undocumented immigrants. Where are these asylum seekers going to go after they’re kicked out of the asylum reception centers that Migri decided to close? Where will these asylum seekers end up in and in which shark’s belly?

Continue reading “Finland faces a challenge with the rise of undocumented immigrants”

Iraqi asylum seeker in Finland: A journey that began in a tormented land

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales is very happy to receive mail from readers. Below is a story about an Iraqi asylum seeker that lives in Finland. These types of stories are important because they offer a human face to asylum seekers and their lives. 

Here is an Iraqi asylum seeker’s story that began in a tormented land: 

When Iraq collapsed after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government in 2003, I was a boy of nine living in the city of Babil, which is located in central Iraq. When the US invaded my country, people were happy with Hussein’s downfall. They thought the US will bring freedom and democracy to our country. Unfortunately, it was only a dream…

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The author is a young man like many who came to Finland in 2015.

At the age of nine, I was only a child with a simple dream to become an elementary school teacher. I loved to play basketball and I used to practice a lot at the local sports club. I felt that when the US took over my country, all my dreams would come true one day. I thought that I’d play on the Iraqi national basketball team and represent my country at international competitions. I thought that Iraq will be a safe country to live in with freedom. Unfortunately, all I have witnessed is death and killings every day and everywhere.

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Defining white Finnish privilege #31: The Solidiers of Odin and the Finnish media

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Soldiers of Odin are a vigilante group that hate asylum seekers and are white Finnish supremacists. One Facebook post on their page outlined a while back the aim of the vigilante group: “We are a patriotic group struggling for a white Finland.”

The Soldiers of Odin have omitted such a statement from their Facebook page for obvious reasons since it’s racist.

If we look at their Facebook page today under “about” we don’t find any information about any white supremacist rhetoric. On the contrary. The vigilante group claims today “to protect people, especially women, from criminal immigrants, but also ‘to help everyone regardless of their ethnic background.’”

Whatever the group claims, it is a white Finnish supremacist vigilante group that has changed its racist rhetoric to code.

I highly doubt that there are any visible minorities, never mind asylum seekers, who walk around with them patrolling streets.

Even so, it’s incredible how much fascination the national media continues to have for this vigilante group. We’d be grateful at Migrant Tales if we got a fraction of the media attention that the vigilante group gets.

The interesting question to ask is why a white supremacist group like the Soldiers of Odin gets media attention and why we don’t.

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Luona, Kolari, Villa Meri, Keuruu, Laajakoski asylum reception centers in Finland that are shameful examples

Posted on by Migrant Tales

When asked about how the government reacted to the 32,476 asylum seekers that came to Finland in 2015, the answer is simple: The government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä states that they did a good job in finding shelter for such people. Well, sort of…

Even if many asylum centers, their management, and staff did a good job, it’s clear that many didn’t.

One reason why the government isn’t too excited about talking about those asylum reception centers that have operated poorly is because it would be a political embarrassment. Close to a billion euros have been spent on taking care of asylum seekers. Has the government got what it paid for?

What a bad investment,no? First, you invest hundreds of millions of euros and then you proceed to kick two-thirds of them knowing that our population is aging and that we need labor. But hey, they’re Muslims, right?

Throughout the year, Migrant Tales has exposed a number of reception centers that have done a poor job in serving and helping asylum seekers.

After we started reporting more of these cases from January, the Finnish media started to get interested as well.

But before that, the national media wasn’t very keen at all. When we approached Helsingin Sanomat in January, a reporter turned down our findings because they were similar to what pensioners suffer at rest homes.

Little by little, Helsingin Sanomat started to report more about the abuses that asylum seekers suffered at some reception centers, particularly those run by a private company called Luona.

Some of the complaints from asylum seekers made about reception centers were that they were treated “like livestock” and that it costs money to live in what an asylum seeker called a reception center “hell.” One Iraqi in Helsinki said that the first word he learned in Finnish was vittu, or f**k, because the Luona staff commonly used such a word to address the asylum seekers.

There are many more shameful examples of abuse and unprofessional treatment that have gone unreported in Finland. Even so, we have exposed a number of cases: asylum reception centers run by Luona, which has reception centers in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Hyvinkää; a reception center in Kolari run by the Red Cross where asylum seekers were charged 0.50 euros for a tomato, among other serious issues; Villa Meri (private company Mehiläinen); and Keuruu (Red Cross), where people are not allowed to celebrate religious and cultural holidays.

In our attempt to give asylum seekers a voice, some of our efforts have paid off. One such case was the Kolari asylum reception center where the deputy manager was sacked in May.

Reports of abuses and poor management continue to reach us. The latest one comes from the Laajakoski asylum reception center near Kotka, where the management, among other complaints, allegedly tells asylum seekers to go back to their country if they don’t like it here.

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The Laajakoski reception center is located near Kotka in southeastern Finland. It started operating in January. Read the full story (in Finnish) here.

Migrant Tales has a recording of a manager of the Laajakoski reception center telling an asylum seeker who is crippled to go back to his country because the manager doesn’t want to give him a pillow and blanket.

Continue reading “Luona, Kolari, Villa Meri, Keuruu, Laajakoski asylum reception centers in Finland that are shameful examples”