Month: November 2017

Finland finally gets some teeth and bans the neo-Nazi PVL

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In a historic decision on Thursday, the Pirkanmaa District Court banned the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement (Pohjoismainen vastarintaliike, PVL) with links to far-right groups in the Nordic region, according to YLE in English. PVL is a racist hate group that aims to do away with Nordic democracy and replace it with national socialism. 

The district court based its decision to ban the neo-Nazi PVL because it “flagrantly violated the principles of good practice.”

Writes YLE in English:  “The court ruled that it was a violent group that exhorted followers and members to violent acts. The court said that the group was not entitled to freedom of speech protections as its actions violated the human rights of others.”

One of the latest cases of violence by the PVL is its member Jesse Torniainen, sentenced to two years in prison for aggravated assault.

Jimi Karttunen died at the age of 28 in 2016 after he received a furious kick in the chest from PVL member Jesse Torniainen. Cartoon by Sira Moksi.

Migrant Tales applauds de Pirkanmaa District Court decision because it is a step in the right direction. Neo-Nazi groups and their racist and populist allies have no place in our society and are an insult to our values.

The interesting matter to watch now is the silence coming from far-right parties like the Perussuomslaiset.*

* After the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13 into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. Despite the name changes, we believe that it is the same party in different clothing. Both factions are hostile to cultural diversity. One is more open about it while the other is more diplomatic.

A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

For some asylum seekers Kemi, Finland, is a dangerous place after 8 pm on Saturdays

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Some asylum seekers in the northern Finnish city of Kemi claim that they do not leave their homes after eight pm on Saturdays because it’s too dangerous. One asylum seeker, who got a residence permit, said that this was advice that he received from the Red Cross.

“There are many drunks on Saturday night, and this could lead to problems,” the former asylum seeker of Kemi, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Migrant Tales. “We still get a lot of mean looks from strangers [in the city] and sometimes they give us the finger as they drive past in cars. I would say that 5%-10% of the inhabitants [of Kemi] don’t like us.”

Feelings of insecurity in Kemi was fueled by the 2016 shooting of an asylum seeker and by the Soldiers of Odin, who harass and broke another asylum seeker’s finger.

The city of Kemi is located in northern Finland near the Swedish border. Source: MTV.
Read the full story here.

Virpi Pakisjärvi, the head of the Kemi asylum reception center, denied that the Red Cross gives instructions to asylum seekers about leaving their homes on Saturday evenings.

Continue reading “For some asylum seekers Kemi, Finland, is a dangerous place after 8 pm on Saturdays”

Imam Ka: Discour de Cancre aux Relents Paternaliste

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Des leaders mentalement castrés,qui n’ont de castro,que du glaçon ou de la graisse à la place du cerveau,j’en ai des crampes au ventre à force de penser à mon peuple et mon continent.

Meme les 98 cm du petit Nicolas avait fait mieux en declarant que l’Afrique n’etait pas suffisament rentre dans l’histoire.On le savait con mais pas aussi con que le con qui avait conquis la conquete coloniale du Congo.

Aujourd’hui Macron ose se tenir debout au pays de Thomas sankara pour nous jeter en plein figure que que notre probleme de developpement est lie au faite que nous sommes trop fecond et apparament les abrutis d’etudiants futurs cadres du pays des hommes integres etaient tellement contents qu’ils ont tous applaudis et montres leurs 32 dents en signe de soumission.

Pourquoi parler de la surpopulation de l’Afrique alors que la Chine et l’Inde, deux pays, sont chacun plus peuplé que l’Afrique qui est un continent.
Aujourd’hui la France se félicite d’avoir le taux de fécondité le plus élevé de l’Ue mais quand c’est l’Afrique c’est un problème. Les pays riches sont égoïstes et ne veulent pas que leur prospérité et leur mode de consommation fondés sur le gaspillage soient menacés par la démographie des pays pauvres.Des néo-conservateurs adeptes de la suprématie blanche travaillent même à déclencher une grande guerre ou à créer des virus et des vaccins pour décimer ou limiter les populations des pays du Sud surtout celles de l’Afrique.

Continue reading “Imam Ka: Discour de Cancre aux Relents Paternaliste”

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Racism in Finland today and yesterday

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In the 1980s, when the population of the foreign community was tiny numbering about 12,000, some asked if there was racism in Finland. One typical answer was that racism hinged on the color of your skin. The darker your skin color the more racism you would experience. While this may be a simplified answer to the problem,  there was and still is racism against Russians who are white.

It is a fact that racism and hate speech is on the rise in Finland and elsewhere. But let’s be clear: Racism always existed in Finland irrespective if there are few or many migrants and minorities.

 

Jewish Community of Helsinki: Hate speech is directly responsible for the rise of anti-Semitism in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Yaron Nadbornik, the president of the Jewish Community of Helsinki, said that the rise in online hate speech has caused great insecurity of Helsinki’s small Jewish community. The Jewish Community of Helsinki launched this week a campaign to raise 15,000 euros in 48 hours to finance increased security needs. 

The Jewish Community of Helsinki uses 200,000 euros for security annually.

Read the full story (in Finnish) by Helsingin Sanomat here.

“I will not say that it is only the extreme right that is directing this [online] hate speech against the Jewish community,” said Nadbornik.”Let’s just say that they are people from different ideologies that write online thousands of hate comments against Jews.”

Continue reading “Jewish Community of Helsinki: Hate speech is directly responsible for the rise of anti-Semitism in Finland”

Exposing white Finnish privilege #43: White versus dark skin

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Brown is beautiful just like black and white are beautiful, right? Add to the latter equation power and privilege and a more sinister picture emerges: White is beautiful but brown and black aren’t. 

Finland is such a racialized country and so conscious of its whiteness that it only sees people through a very narrow lens: white Finns or non-white Finns.

Whiteness is such a powerful matter in Finland that some non-white children learn not stay under the sun too long for fear that their skin won’t become too tanned.

Some, like Rosa Emilia Clay, Finland’s first African-born naturalized Finn and primary school teacher, kept her African background a secret from her children.

Clay’s granddaughter, Normalee Johnsson, wrote in a letter in 2009 that was partly published in Helsingin Sanomat:

“When mother died, we learned her secret: we had African blood in our veins! Finally we understood why mother always wore a bonnet and long sleeves in the summer. What we could not understand is why she kept our African, Arab, and English heritage a secret. For a while it was shocking that I didn’t know who I really was.” 

Those who know a little about Clay’s life in Finland, are well aware of the racism she faced and suffered.

Like hundreds of thousands of other Finns, Clay emigrated to the United States in 1904.

She never returned to Finland.

 

Various shades of brown. Source: Citizen by Chance

White Finnish privilege #43

Racism and white privilege are such powerful forces that some people spend their lives passing as white, according to a story in the Washington Post.

Continue reading “Exposing white Finnish privilege #43: White versus dark skin”

We have only to blame ourselves for the rise of vigilante gangs, racism and fascism in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

                                                                                              Shortly, we’ll look at this period as the lost decade where we openly and shamelessly flirted and sided with racism and fascism.

Remember these quotes about the vigilante white supremacist Soldiers of Odin? They were made by public servants that should know better. In a Facebook posting, the far-right vigilante group is threatening (surprise, surprise) Africans, Arabs, dark-skinned people, vegetarians gays liberals, humanists and others with acts of violence. 

Any sensible person could have seen the writing on the wall: Groups like the Soldiers of Odin are white supremacists supported by other white Finns and the establishment.

Their rise is similar to the Perussuomalaiset* (PS), whose ascent to political power was assisted by the media, politicians (and I wouldn’t be surprised by Russia’s troll army). The fact that too many don’t see these groups as a threat to our Nordic democracy and society is the best indication we have of our denial of the issue.

Is it a coincidence that the police service gave support to such vigilante groups when they started to show up more in Finnish cities and towns? This year, an openly racist Facebook page was uncovered with over 2,800 police or about one-third of the country’s police service. Does a survey in 2016, which reveals that 80% of the police see asylum seekers as a threat, say anything about racist attitudes. What about if 25.1% stated that they voted for an openly anti-immigration party like the PS?

Let’s look at these public representatives that are supposed to defend our society but failed miserably in the task:

Detective Chief Inspector Markku Tuominen. Marshall Carl Mannerheim’s portrait as commander of the White Guards is highly suggestive. Source: Nurmijärven Uutiset.
  • Detective chief inspector of southern Finland, Markku Tuominen, surprised a lot of people In January 2016 when he was quoted in the media as saying that Finns should avoid contact with foreigners. In December, we even read that the police service of Häme welcomed street patrols in the town of Asikkala, according to Hämeen Kaiku.

Deputy Police Chief Ilkka Koskimäki. Source: Twitter.
  • Finnish deputy chief of police of Helsinki, Ilkka Koskimäki as saying in January 2016 in the Daily Telegraph: “This phenomenon [sexual harassment] is new in Finnish sexual crime history. We have never before had this kind of sexual harassment happening at New Year’s Eve.”

Really? Have Finnish women ever before been harassed sexually by Finnish men?

National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen and Minister of Employment Jari Lindström. Sources: Uutismaailma and Turun Sanomat.
  • National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen and Minister of Employment Jari Lindström openly supported in 2016 vigilante gangs while Interior Minister Petteri Orpo was skeptical.

  • Add to the above the complacent silence of politicians like former PS leader Timo Soini and a long list of others and a clear picture emerges: It’s fine for white folks to be racist and fascist as long as they are hostile to Muslims and other non-white groups they scapegoat.

  • Another worrisome phenomenon that helped fuel the rise of vigilante groups was the Finnish media’s fascination, their toothless editorials and lame reaction to vigilante groups and the rise of racism and fascism in the country.

I consider Pohjolan Sanomat of Kemi as one o the best examples of media fascination for racism and fascism. Today we know that the vigilante group has a lot of members with criminal records. Read the original story here.

Continue reading “We have only to blame ourselves for the rise of vigilante gangs, racism and fascism in Finland”

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Finland’s lost decade

Posted on by Migrant Tales

I asked a Finnish MP in the mid-1980s why she didn’t speak out against racism if she knew it was an issue. Just like the hatred of the Soviet Union and Russians made us go to bed with Nazi Germany in World Wr 2 (1941-44), the same hatred permits us to be racists and bigots today. 

Over 20 years later, we saw the rise of the Perussuomalaiset*, the first political party in modern Finnish history to capitalize on racism. The result: their numbers swelled to 39 MPs in the parliamentary elections of 2011 from 5 MPs in 2007. Our rendezvous with racism and fascism gave us a lost decade. Instead of building “us” we were tempted to polarize and fuel “them.” 

It is a very high price to pay to grasp that racism and fascism are hazardous to a country’s health and well-being. 

* After the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13 into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. Despite the name changes, we believe that it is the same party in different clothing. Both factions are hostile to cultural diversity.  One is more open about it while the other is more diplomatic. 

A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS

Cultural appropriation of Saami in Northern Europe: “Make as much noise as you can”

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The most recent case of cultural appropriation in Finland was seen in October when a Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) host put on a Native American feathered hairpiece. To add insult to injury, the YLE TV host aired on the same programme a clip of a Finnish 1960 “comedy” with blackfaced actors.

Politicians are another group that were named and shamed this year for cultural appropriation. In Norway, the country’s finance minister, Siv Jensen of the right-wing populist Progress Party (FrP), landed in hot water in October after posing with a Pocahontas dress at a ministry costume party. In the spring, Finnish Social Democratic Party MP Satu Taavitsainen posed on Instagram wearing a fake Saami costume and this caused a vigorous debate in social media between the MP and representatives of the Saami community.

If there is something that unites Jensen and Taavitsainen it is their hostile views of minority and migrant rights. Jensen has gone as far as to call for the dismantling of the Saami Parliament, an elected body, in her country.

 

 

The the full posting here.

In 2012, Jensen stood on a podium of the Saami Parliament and vowed to shut it down. The FrP minister said that the building would make a beautiful museum and that such institutions hinder the development of North Norway.

In the face of these hostile speeches coupled with a long history of encroachment and assimilation policies in the Nordic region, Petra Laiti, Chairperson of the Finnish Sámi Youth Organization believes that cultural appropriation cases that pop up offer an opportunity to bring to public attention a number of issues facing the Saami today.

“While unfortunate, recent cases [of cultural appropriation] offer an opportunity to raise awareness in public about the issue [as well as our struggle for greater rights],” said Laiti. “Cultural appropriation is about power and minorities are never consulted. Our costumes are sacred and are the only thing we have left.”

Continue reading “Cultural appropriation of Saami in Northern Europe: “Make as much noise as you can””

Asylum seeker in detention cell 406: “…I’m happy to be free again”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

After being detained by the police on October 23 in Mikkeli, the twenty-one-year-old Iraqi asylum seeker in detention cell 406 was released from detention in Joutseno* this afternoon at 4:40 pm. All in all, his detention in Mikkeli was from October 23-27 and from October 27-November 23, or a total of 32 days. 

“I don’t know what to say because I’m so happy because I’m happy to be free again,” he said. “I don’t have any words to describe what I’m feeling. It’s a bit confusing.”

Before and after. Photo of mourning dove by Nicole Beaulac.

The asylum seeker said that Thursday a policewoman and man broke the news to him.

“I felt nervous, and I asked if it’s good or bad news,” he continued. “One of the police smiled and told me to wait for the interpreter, who told me that I would be released.”

The asylum seeker still doesn’t know what his fate is in Finland.

“I applied for a new asylum case and got a swift rejection from Migri,” he concluded. “I don’t know what is going to happen to me.”

* The asylum seeker who was locked up in this cell thought he was in Lappeenranta but in fact he was at the Joutseno immigration removal center located 20km away.