Migrant Tales has written about this before:
A new forecast by Statistics Finland tells us what we’ve known for a long time: We are in demographic hot water and our population will start to shrink and get older, according to YLE News. Net immigration will keep up present population levels at 5.6 million until 2035, but will decline to 5.5 million in the 2050s.
YLE News writes: “In 2010, the average number of births per woman in Finland was 1.87, compared to an average of 1.49 children per woman in 2017 — the lowest level in Finnish history. The overall fertility rate in 2018 is expected to decline to 1.43 and the last time that the birth rate declined as much in consecutive years was in the 1960s.”
As population forecasts show, Finland needs to take steps to increase its low birthrate and lure migrants to the country.
Using the roughly 35,000 asylum seekers that moved to Finland in 2015-2016 as an example, it’s clear that Finland and the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) have shown their usual hostile face to migration.
Even if common sense tells us that Finland needs more migrants, luring newcomers to the country is easier said than done.
At a European Network Against Racism (ENAR) general assembly in Brussels in 2014, I met an activist from Austria who runs Radio and TV Afrika in Vienna. Alexis Neuberg said something at the meeting that I have always kept close to my heart:
“If you have the opportunity to be near power don’t censor yourself. Use that opportunity to drive home your point.”
Go to the website here.
Today people of all backgrounds celebrated Father’s Day in Finland. A Johannes Sipola, who is the chairperson for Lapland of the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Youth, had another opinion and tweeted: “A happy Father’s day to all white fathers.”
It’s incredible to what lengths and ignorance some will dive in order get attention.
Sipola is a good example of the racism that inflicts Finland today.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, 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 never mind Muslims and other visible minorities. One is more open about it while the other says it in a different way. .
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.
I have never believed or trusted the Perussuomalaiset (PS),* even if some were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt after their historic win in the 2011 parliamentary elections. Some claimed that it would only be a matter of time when they imploded.
The implosion of the party happened in June 2017, or six years later.
Finland holds parliamentary elections in April 2019. This may mean the near-end of two parties that have only sowed divisions and hatred of migrants and minorities. They may become a taxi or mini-taxi party (all of its MPs can fit in the back seat).
Migrant Tales has always been highly critical of the PS because it is an anomaly in Finnish politics.
Blue Reform, the faction that split from the PS in 2017, is just as bad, if not worse because they are in government.
The former party likes to let racism hang out while the latter coats it with sugar.
Both are disgraceful examples of Finland’s political system.
We have said tirelessly since 2011: The PS, and after 2017 Blue Reform, are chronically xenophobic and Islamophobic parties openly hostile to those who are different from them.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, 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 never mind Muslims and other visible minorities. One is more open about it while the other says it in a different way. .
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.
When I moved to Finland over forty years ago, there were only about 10,000 foreigners living in the country. The biggest national group were the Swedes, who were mostly Finns who had become naturalized citizens of that country. One of the questions we asked back then was about the level of racism in Finland.
The consensus back then was that the level of racism depended on the color of your skin.
Back in the good old structural racism days of the 1980s, laws such as the Restricting Act of 1939 (law 219/1939), which became redundant in 1992, prohibited foreigners from owning real estate and acquiring a majority stake in Finnish companies—limiting this to 20% normally and 40% under special permission. Other “darlings” of that period were that foreigners weren’t allowed to establish newspapers, never mind organize demonstrations and be politically active.
At the time in Finland, there was no habeas corpus, no right to appeal your deportation, and no laws against racism never mind hate crime. Even Soviet citizens were forcibly returned to the former Soviet Union after requesting asylum.
In a country were immigrants were a rare sight but which had seen over 1.2 million of its countrymen and women emigrate between 1860 and 1999, racism and especially discrimination were like the egg-like objects in Alien that, when touched, were ready to attach a monster on the victim’s face.
Finnish social policy experts like Heikki Waris lived in academic denial in the cold war years of the 1960s. He claimed: “Racial homogeneity particularly characterizes the Finnish people who have practically no racial minorities…Consequently, racial prejudice and discrimination are nonexistent.”
Take a look as well at the discrimination of the Saami never mind the hostile exclusion of the Roma from our society.
Like in other countries, Finland suffers from denial. A person who is in denial responds to social ills, like racism and bigotry, with silence, which is a political statement.
Some people in Finland, even educators, believe there is no racism in this country.
But there is tons of evidence that proves the contrary. The media, which reflects who we are and our prejudices as a society, shines a light that should worry us.
Below are a poster and some stories published by the Finnish media below that expose just that.
If we remain silent than we have only ourselves to blame.
Raising your voice is a powerful statement. Don’t squander it with your fear and self-censorship.
Finland’s struggle against racism, bigotry and social exclusion is a long one but we must start today on that journey to replace those structures that relegate us to being second-class citizens of this society.
With parliamentary elections in April, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Vice President Laura Huhtasaari is busily fear-mongering us about how Finland is losing its identity and how Islam is on track of taking over Europe.
Don’t be fooled by her clean looks that hide a white supremacist behind her sinister kindergarten-teacher smile.
An avid mouthpiece of Islamophobs in Finland, she is also a blind follower of President Donald Trump and Hungary’s strongman, Viktor Orbán.
Huhtasaari has plagiarized her thesis and other people’s writings.
An excerpt of an opinion piece by her summarizes everything that she spews about migrants and minorities in this country.
She claims that the PS will keep Finland white nationalist so vote for that party in the April parliamentary elections.
Her concerns:
While these campaign promises are grounded in fear and racism, it is unfortunate that too few politicians in this country want to change those very structures that make racism, discrimination and Huhtasaari-like politicians possible.
The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017 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 never mind Muslims and other visible minorities. One is more open about it while the other says it in a different way. .
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.
Migrant Tales insight: How much do the Finnish court take seriously racist harassment and hate speech? From the case below, it appears that yelling the n-word to a woman by two young white Finns will get a light tap on the hand.
Incredible to write about these stories about Finland in 2018.
Migrant Tales insight: Aleksander Hemon states in his eloquent article about fascism that we should not waste any time debating but that “it is a set of actions to fight.” In the essay, he admits feeling guilty and ashamed of his cowardice and naivety that just talking to a fascist might bring him back.
In Finland, too many wrongly believe that by debating with fascists (like those found in the Perussuomalaiset party* in parliament) and racists will bring people back to their senses.
They won’t, forget it. The only way is to fight back and defend our values tooth and nail.
One teacher said that racists can make racist statements because “it’s how democracy works.”
True, but democracy requires you to stand up and defend those values that fascists and racists want to destroy.
* 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.
