Month: November 2019

Kotoutuminen #5: Perpetuating the Ulysses syndrome, a chronic stress disorder of refugees

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

You ask me my name. I shall tell you. My name is nobody and nobody is what everyone calls me.

Odyssey, Song IX

If a refugee suffers from fear, loneliness, enforced separation, a sense of despair and is struggling to survive in his new homeland, more salt is thrown on their wounds by the hateful rhetoric of Islamophobic and racist parties.

One of these in Finland is the radical-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, which labels such people “harmful” to our society while claiming that they don’t “integrate” into Finnish society.

But not only do anti-immigration parties make the lives of asylum seekers and migrants difficult, but government immigration policy is another culprit.

A new report by the EU’s Agency for Fundamental Rights reports that the integration of young refugees isn’t doing very well. It warns that there is a risk of creating a lost generation.

Do you see the problem? The PS tries to destroy their credibility and tear down that important shred of humanity in us.

Unfortunately, those who help and educate migrants to become members of our society have never heard of the Ulysses syndrome.

Since they have not heard of this disorder, some rely on simplistic answers to integration: learn the language and read the Kaleva.

While I’m facetious, the expectations that some of these educators have on their pupils, especially vulnerable ones fleeing war and failed states in the Middle East and Africa, are ineffective in their jobs.

When you ask such a person to assimilate (one-way integration) into our culture, it is like asking a person to stand upright after he or she broke his or her leg.

Ignorance is not the only matter that causes the integration process of a migrant to fail in Finland but standing on a high horse. The view that some have of the migrant is racist in the same way as colonial powers saw and exploited their subjects.

The Ulysses syndrome should be required reading for any person working with refugees and migrants.

See also:

*Kotoutiminen is the Finnish term for integration.

Perussuomalaiset: Onko suurin osa postinjakajista, etenkin pääkaupunkiseudulla, ulkomaalaisia?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

TÄMÄ JUTTU ON PÄIVITETTY

Viime aikoina on puhuttu siitä kuinka paljon poliitikot valehtelevat. Suomen lehdistö hyvin laiskasti seuraa näitä valheita ja kuka valheita kertoo. Puolue joka esittää vääristeltyä ja liioiteltua tietoa ja asioita, erityisesti silloin jos asia koskee maahanmuuttajia, niin perussuomalainen puolue kunnostautuu tässä.

Yhdysvaltain presidentti Donald Trump valehtele paljon. Washington Post lehdessä fakta-tarkastaa presidentin valheet. Valheet luokitellaan yhdellä, kahdella tai kolmella Pinokkiolla.

Virkaastuaisissa, Trump on tehnyt yli 13 430 valheita.

Migrant Tales otti selvää seuraavasta perussuomalaisten väittämästä: “Suuri osa postinjakajista, etenkin pääkaupunkinseudulla, on maahanmuuttajia,” sanoo Riikka Purra Jussi Halla-ahon ja Ville Tavion lehdistöttilaisuudessa.

Onko tämä totta tai tarua?

Posti vastasi: “Suurin osa (80 %) Postin työntekijöistä Suomessa (pl Transval) on suomalaisia” JA “Suuri osa, 70 %, pääkaupunkiseudun postinjakajista on suomalaisia. Poiminnassa mukana alueet: Hki; Espoo Kirkkonummi Kauniainen; Vantaa Tuusula Nurmijärvi.”

Halla-aho, Tavio ja Purra saavat vääristelystä kolme Pinokkiota.

Suuri osa postinjakaijista pääkaupungin seudulla ovat suomalaisia, eikä maahanmuuttajia.

Kuva: Turun Sanomat ja Pinokkio nenät Hamid H. Alsammarraee.

Why are some Finns still turned on by Nazism and Zyklon B

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In a bar in Lappila, located some 20 km from the city of Lahti, there is a sign on the wall the epitomizes all the hatred and mass murder committed by the Nazis: Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Sets you Free).

Why hasn’t any newspaper asked the owner of the bar, Juha Koskinen, if he will take down the Nazi sign? Migrant Tales has called numerous times. Koskinen does not answer the phone return calls.

This notorious slogan stood at the entrance of death camps like Auschwitz and Dachau.

In Finland, there is a lot of neo-Nazi sentiment these days. So much so, in fact, that small bars in small towns can place Nazi-era signs with near-impunity.

What can you expect in a country where the biggest party in the polls has sympathies and ties with neo-Nazi groups.

See the original tweet here.

Steen Pramming summarizes why Nazi sympathies are still found in Finland these days, even if this country signed the armistice with the former Soviet Union in September 1944.

Just like Islamophobia and racism, our education system has failed in ridding our society of these social ills.

Finland tries to put itself as a special case, when, in fact, it wasn’t. We did not fight a separate war against the Soviet Union but were up to our necks in World War 2 and allied with Nazi Germany.

It was only this year when Finland finally acknowledged that Finnish SS recruits took part in the Holocaust in Russia.

We are making progress as a nation but slowly.

The “migrant problem” shouted in Finland by the PS is a panacea to all of our problems

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Every voice raised against racism chips away at its power.

Reino Eddo-Lodge

Watching last Thursday’s parliamentary question time was a repulsive experience. If the opposition Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party is to be believed, all of Finland’s problems hinge on migrants.

An article in Verkkouutiset claims that since Prime Minister Antti Rinne’s government began its mandate on June 6, nine of the eleven weekly parliamentary question times have dealt with migrants and or immigration policy.

Such political tactics by the PS are a blow to the institution’s credibility and its elected members.

One reason why the PS is leading the opinion polls these days is because they are feared and due also to ignorance or denial about racism in Finland. They believe that if they are too outspoken against their lies, they will scare away voters.

We at Migrant Tales have never let down our guard or given such a racist party the benefit of the doubt as the Finnish mainstream media too often does.

My views of the PS have not changed. It is a racist and far-right party that is today taking the county towards the path of Viktor Orbán’s Hungary. Read the original story here.

These are the constant lies that the PS spreads about migrants on Thursday’s question time:

  • Migrants are taking money away from white Finns;
  • The government puts the priorities of migrants before white Finns;
  • Migrants are a menace to society;
  • Migrants commit more crime than white Finns;
  • We must not allow Finland to turn into a Sweden when it comes to migrants;
  • Blah blah blah blah…

While all these claims are exaggerated lies, the strategy of the PS is simple: Finland’s most pressing problems hinge on migrants. Get rid of migrants and, presto, problem solved.

When you watch politicians of the PS making their anti-immigration cases in parliament, they don’t tell us whom they are speaking of and how many.

If they were to mention these two things, we’d understand that they are explicitly targeting asylum seekers who are Muslims and only about 10% of all migrants living in Finland.

EU Court of Human Rights reinforces Finland’s inhumane asylum policy

Posted on by Migrant Tales

At present, there are several things that are giving Finland a bad name: Islamophobia, the hostile environment, and hardline asylum policy.

The latest setback to Finland’s image was handed down by the European Court of Human Rights for violating Article 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Article 2 states that everyone has a right to life, while Article 3 of the Convention prohibits torture and inhumane treatment.

Read the full story here.

While the ruling reinforces what anti-racism activists have been saying for a long time about the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), we must not forget that Finland’s immigration policy has a long history of committing human rights violations.

We could begin with some recent examples of repatriated Iraqi asylum seekers who were killed. Migrant Tales documented two cases as well as other ones.

Let’s not forget that the former government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä gave the political support to Migri to declare some of the most violent countries like Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq as “safe countries” to deport asylum seekers.

When an asylum seeker is killed on his return, Finnish politicians like former Minister of Interior Kai Mykkänen offer “sad-and-tragic” consolation in the same empty way like politicians in the United States offer “thoughts and prayers” after a home-grown terrorist kills innocent people.

Some cases that remain as permanent dark spots in Finnish immigration history is the deportation of Ingrians and Estonians after the Continuation War (1941-44) and Soviet citizens during the Cold War.

Our past immigration policy continues to bring shame to us. It is unfortunate that we always return to it.

*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.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: The Finnish media and fueling the hostile environment

Posted on by Migrant Tales

When I was a young journalist, the editor of the Buenos Aires Herald approached me and gave me some sound advice.

“Remember,” I recall him saying to me, “words are like bullets. Fairness in reporting a story is important. You don’t need a bazooka to kill an ant.

Following what the media is writing about Abdirahim Husu Hussein, this golden rule of responsible and fair journalism could not be truer. Destroying people with bazookas in a hostile environment against migrants and minorities is opinionated and racist journalism.

The media is part of Finland’s racism problem.

Exposing Finnish white privilege #66: Abdirahim Husu Hussein and dealing with racist passengers in a racist environment

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

Helsinki City Councilperson Abdirahim Husu Hussein has been in the eye of a storm over a passenger who harassed him in a racist manner and who he was planning to leave the car at a bus stop but took the person to his final destination.

Hussein posted on Facebook on Sunday that he left the passenger by a bus stop in the freeway but all of this didn’t happen on the day he claimed.

“Only last week,” he said, “a passenger insulted me in a racist manner. I should have asked him to get out of the car, but I didn’t.”

Hussein has filed charges against the passenger who insulted him in a racist manner a week ago.

Even so, and for this mistake, the Helsinki city councilperson has been lynched by social media and print media, which has branded him “a liar.”

That’s not all. The media has put Hussein under scrutiny. One article questioned the veracity of a story that happened a long time ago to him when he woke up in a hospital after being hit with a baseball bat.

The media is not only attempting to take away his credibility but to break and destroy him as a person. The Finnish media uses a bazooka to kill an ant.

Finnish white privilege #66

Racist attacks and near-constant microaggressions and racist remarks against migrant and especially black taxi drivers are a sad fact. Hussein knows this too well.

A Helsingin Sanomat article wrote about the near-constant racist abuse suffered by a Ghanian taxi driver, and most recently, about a Somali taxi driver. There is also the case of a Somali driver who was assaulted. Etonians, who are white, suffer racist abuse from some passengers, too.

But what does Taksi Helsinki say about these cases and the fact that their visible migrant drivers get harassed in a racist manner by passengers?

No media has yet asked the company’s CEO, Jari Kantonen, if it has guidelines for those that drive for them in case a passenger starts to insult them in a racist manner.

Since Friday, I have without luck attempted to get in touch with the Taksi Helsinki CEO. He has not returned my calls.

“There are no such guidelines or training [how to deal with a racist passenger] offered by the [Taksi Helsinki] company,” said Hussein.

Gathering by the reaction of the media, members of his Social Democratic Party (SDP), and public opinion, there is one matter that stands out: The hatred of some white Finns of black people, especially outspoken ones like Hussein.

While I am certain that foreign taxi drivers, especially black drivers, are targets of racist abuse, there is no discussion going on in the media now about such a problem and how taxi companies guarantee their employees safe working spaces.

Even parties like the Social Democrats, of which Hussein is a member, appear to worry more about their poll standings than the rise of racism in Finland and of a racist party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS).* The party’s image is paramount now for the SDP.

The latest opinion poll published by Yle last week showed that support for the SDP had sunk by 1.7 percentage points to 13.9%, with the PS gaining 2.1 percentage points to lead the polls with 23%.

I wrote in May about the hypocrisy and double standards of the Finnish media when it came to another SDP politician, MP Hussein al-Taee. The SDP MP’s and Hussein’s cases expose the dark side, a blind spot of our collective denial of racism in our society and how we treat people of color.

While Hussein has apologized for what happened, it seems that many want blood since he has been outspoken against racism in Finnish society and in parties like the PS.

Many may see this as an opportunity to climb back into their shells and reassure themselves that racism is not a problem in Finland.

Believe me, it is. And Hussein’s case proves it beyond any doubt.

Ali Jahangiri, Hussein’s radio host partner, puts what happened into perspective by tweeting: “#husugate is a good example of the power structures [in our society]. When a member of the minority makes a mistake, he ends up losing all his credibility. Then again, a person [Jussi Halla-aho] in power who dreams of killing homosexuals ends up becoming the head of his party.”

Despite what happened, anti-racism activism will not disappear in Finland but get stronger.

See also:

*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.

Kirje sometuomioistuimelle

Posted on by Reija Härkönen
Husun kirja

Kunnioitetut somekeskustelijat, poliitikot ja tavallinen kansa, totuuden ystävät.

Jos vaikkapa joku nyt oikeutta käyvistä toimittajista olisi kertonut samanlaisen valkoisen valheen, kuin tuttu taksikuski, ja jäänyt kiinni, olisitteko käyneet samalla tavalla hänen kimppuunsa?

Ette ehkä olisi.

Olisitte ajatelleet, että tuo toimittaja on hyvän asian puolella ja joutunut jo tähän mennessä kestämään valtavasti häirintää. Suvaitsevainen, hyvä ihminen, joka on aina uutterasti tehnyt hyvää työtä tasa-arvon ja oikeudenmukaisuuden eteen. Se hyökkäys, mikä häneen somessa kohdistuu, on hirvittävä ja kenelle tahansa täysin kestämätön.

Taksikuskista ette ajattele samoin. Hän on teille vain mamu, joka nyt on pettänyt teistä jokaisen henkilökohtaisesti, kun ei ole pysynyt lestissään teidän mallimamunanne ja toiminut niin, kuin te itse aina toimitte: rehellisesti, ilman minkäänlaista tarinoiden värittelyä. Perheenne, sukunne, ystävienne, koulutovereidenne, työnantajienne ja äänestäjienne tukemana. Taksikuski on teidän lisäksenne pettänyt puolueensa, äänestäjänsä, muut taksikuskit ja kaikki maahanmuuttajat.

Toimittajan kohdalla te olisitte ymmärtäneet, millainen hullunmylly siitä seuraisi ja kuinka paljon apua tämä oman somepiirinne ihminen nyt tarvitsee. Ura, työpaikka, perheen elanto, jopa mielenterveys olisivat voineet olla vaakalaudalla. Olisitte ehkä ymmärtäneet senkin, että hän valtavan paineen alla olisi yrittänyt puolustautua ja pysyä tarinassaan. Olisitte tukeneet häntä kaikkialla, missä häntä solvataan ja lähetelleet tuen ilmauksia ympäriinsä.

Abdirahimin jätitte korppien nokittavaksi. Te kirjoititte vain Facebookiin ja Twitteriin: ”Sehän valehteli, ja rasismista kerrottaessa ei saa valehdella.”

Fiktiivistä tämä mietintä tietysti on, eiväthän nuo tuntemanne ihmiset olisi missään tilanteessa liioitelleet tarinaansa tai käyttäneet valkoistakaan valhetta. Suomalainen ei valehtele.

Husun kirja

Jos olet jonkun puolella, puolustat häntä myös vaikeina hetkinä

Posted on by Reija Härkönen

Matkustimme 2000-luvun alkupuolella Espoon rannoilta bussilla Helsingin keskustaan. Oli kesä, ilta vielä nuori ja bussi puolillaan noin 14 – 15-vuotiaita ”hyvien perheiden tyttäriä”, jotka joivat näyttävästi keskiolutta ja pitivät ilmatilaa hallussa. Muutama matkustaja yritti heitä toppuutella, mutta sai vain röyhkeää sadattelua vastaukseksi. Matkan lopuksi menin kysymään kuljettajalta, miksi hän ei puuttunut tilanteeseen ja poistanut tyttöjä bussista. Maahanmuuttajakuski kertoi, ettei se ollut mahdollista, sillä jos hän tekisi jotain sellaista, vanhemmat nostaisivat metelin, soittaisivat joukolla bussifirmaan ja haukkuisivat kuljettajan, ja hänelle tulisi vaikeuksia.

Tilanne ei näköjään ole tuosta muuttunut. Nyt kuljettajien rasistinen kohtelu nousi esille Abdirahim Husu Husseinin julkaistua somessa kertomuksen kohtaamastaan rasismista taksikuskin työssä. Husu teki virheen ja kehuskeli poistaneensa rasistisen solvaajan kyydistä, vaikka olikin sitten heltynyt tai nöyrtynyt ja vienyt rasistin pyydettyyn osoitteeseen. Huomionarvoista oli kuitenkin, että hän uskaltautui kertomaan asiasta, harvoin näistä kukaan uskaltaa julkisesti kertoa. Tällä kertaa Husu oli niin ärtynyt ja väsynyt, että lähti taistelemaan tuulimyllyjä vastaan. Eipä siitä hänellekään mitään hyvää seurannut.

Olisi voinut luulla, että Husun kertomus olisi johdatellut yleisön keskustelemaan siitä, kuinka kuljettajille turvattaisiin mahdollisuus työskennellä ilman rasistista häirintää. Sen sijaan persukerho johdatteli aihetta siihen suuntaan, että Husulla olisi jotain tekemistä raiskaajataksin kanssa. Toisaalla alettiin tehdä salapoliisityötä ja etsiä aukkoa Husun hiukan epäloogisessa tarinassa. TaksiHelsinki läksi mukaan ja alkoi keskustella taksinkuljettajan työsuorituksista suuren yleisön ja skandaalimedian kanssa. Lopuksi myös maamme tunnetuin juorulehti, Helsingin Sanomat, liittyi rasistikuoroon ja vahvisti näyttävästi Husun valehtelijaksi.

Aiemmin mainitut asiat eivät ole kovin yllättäviä, media lähtee helposti rasistikelkkaan ja Helsingin Sanomillakin näyttäisi olevan erityisiä toimittajia tämän kaltaisten hykerryttävien tapausten varalle. Hyvin erikoinen oli kuitenkin älämölö, joka nousi Twitterissä poliitikkojen ja puolueaktiivien ja tavallisten kommentoijien taholta. Hyvin monella oli tarve tehdä päivitys, jossa tuomittiin jyrkästi Husun valehtelu ja katsottiin hänen vaikeuttaneen rasisminvastaista työtä ja pilanneen somaliyhteisön maineen. Ja nyt eivät olleet liikkeellä pelkästään rasistit, vaan vasemmistoliittolaiset, vihreät ja tunnetut rasismin vastustajat. Brigita Krasniqi oli yksi harvoista, joka toi selkeästi esille, mistä oli kysymys:

Kun vähemmistön edustaja on pahassa pinteessä, luulisi, että hän saisi edes hiukan tukea. Yllättävän monilla oli tarve edistää omaa poliittista uraansa tuomalla julki paheksuntansa ja ikään kuin poliittista tasapuolisuuttaan: nyt pitää joukolla tuomita, kun kerran valehteli, vaikka on mamu. Harva otti huomioon törkeän rasismin kohteeksi joutuneen piinaavaa tilannetta ja jatkuvaa varpaillaan oloa. Harva käy tuollaisella henkilökohtaisella tavalla Halla-ahon tai kenenkään rasistin kimppuun, vaikka heidän poliittinen nousunsa perustuu lähes pelkästään valehteluun ja rasistiseen kansanryhmää vastaan kiihottamiseen. Vähemmistön edustajaan on helppo iskeä, hänen on nöyrryttävä ja tunnustettava alamaisuutensa. Pieni liioittelu tarinassa ja heti olet petturi ja valehtelija. Valtuustoryhmä kokoontuu ja langettaa tuomionsa luopiolle.

Vieläkään kukaan näistä puhtoisista, valheettomista poliitikoista ei ole nostanut keskustelua jostakin näistä seikoista:

Kuinka saadaan maahanmuuttajakuskien työoloja parannettua? Kenenkään ei pidä noin raskaassa työssä sietää epäasiallista kohtelua.

Miten kuskin kuuluu toimia, jos joutuu rasistisen hyökkäyksen kohteeksi?

Onko asiallista, että työnantajan edustaja levittelee kuskin ajotietoja rasistimedialle?

Tekeekö liioittelu omasta käyttäytymisestä tukalassa tilanteessa ihmisestä huijarin, kun kertomus rasistisesta hyökkäyksestä on muilta osin totta?

Jos suomalainen poliitikko lisää pienen valheen narratiiviinsa, oletko yhtä lailla hänen niskassaan?

Millaiset ovat maahanmuuttajakuskin mahdollisuudet puolustautua, jos koko nettiyhteisö käy joukolla kimppuun?

Olisiko ollut mitenkään mahdollista, että valtuustotoverit olisivat keskustelleet aiheesta Husun kanssa ennen julkista sometuomioistuinkäsittelyä? Olisiko jopa tuomion voinut kertoa hänelle itselleen, eikä julistaa sitä somessa?

Onko SDP:llä mitään intressiä pitää huolta oman puolueen rasismin uhreista?

IMG_0030
Poliitikkoja olohuonetentissä vaalien alla v. 2015

Kotoutuminen* #4: Amalgamate, assimilate is the rule, two-way adaption is a pipedream

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In the ever exposed hypocrisy of Finland’s migrant integration program, it’s clear that two-way adaption is for the gullible. Do you believe in social fairy tales?

I don’t.

It is surprising why the Finnish school system has apparently done too little to look after children who are not white. As some studies reveal, schools are not safe places for non-white Finnish children but hostile and dangerous spaces.

For some, Finland is a very hostile country to children of color and other visible minorities. An Iraqi child looks out of the window from her detention cell in Joutseno. Source: Iltalehti.

With the hostile environment gaining pace in Finland, it’s clear that these spaces in school, which should be safe, will become ever-hostile.

The fact that the school system treats non-white Finns as second-class pupils, reveals a deep misunderstanding and ignorance of third-culture children and cultural diversity. Even if your child was born in Finland, has never visited his or her parents’ home country, and speaks Finnish better than their home language, the school system regards such pupils as of “foreign origin.”

Aminkeng A. Alemanji, a Cameroonian researcher who defended successfully in October 2016 his doctoral dissertation on anti-racism education, offers a solution.

“The issue in Finland is that we’re officially told that we are all [irrespective of our background] equal members of society but unofficially it is another story,” he continues. “If we claim that we are all equal, issues like racism cannot be tackled.”

According to Alemanji, a good example of the latter is the “appalling” treatment of minorities like the Somalis, who were born in Finland and are Finnish citizens and other non-white children who are often asked to go back home – when paradoxically their only home they know is Finland.

An Iraqi friend told me that at an elementary school in Mikkeli where both of his children are enrolled, the teacher recommended that he place “Finnish” as their mother tongue to avoid being in a special class with “foreigners.”

While this may be a pragmatic way to ensure that your children are put in the same class as white children, it is a step in the amalgamation-assimilation process. Speaking two languages or more at school is seen as a disadvantage that impairs your knowledge of Finnish.

The present system of classifying children at schools as “pupils with migrant origin” versus”natives” is outright discriminatory. It only serves to turn out second-class citizens with second-class rights.

See also:

*Kotoutiminen is the Finnish term for integration.