If we look at the many stories of job discrimination that we have published in Migrant Tales, one factor links them: despair and the police, which too often look the other way.
Considering the underwhelming effort the police have made in challenging human trafficking, labor discrimination, hate speech, and other social ills, why would a victim trust the police?
There are too many cases involing the latter social ills and too little done by the authorities. If the situation is dire, and employers can get away relatively easily with exploitation of workers and human trafficking, imagine when more labor migrants come to Finland. Will the police continue to bury its head in the sand and will the media take labor discrimination and exploitation seriously apart from an occasional story?
Migrant Tales has written scores of stories about an ongoing problem: slow due justice.
After the disastrous showing of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* in Sunday’s regional election, the far-right party aims to win next year’s parliamentary election and have its chairperson, Riikka Purra, as prime minister.
Good luck with that, especially after the big election setback.
Even if the regional election will turn out to be a watershed for the PS, why would Finland want to have a prime minister from a party that openly promotes and spreads racism?
In one of the debates, Purra went as far as to say that Finland should exclude foreigners from getting social welfare. While most people know this would be unconstitutional, none of the media reported the comment by Purra.
PS Chairperson states in a nutshell: “Shouldn’t we little by little start to believe that mixing people, religions and cultures in the West is SINGULARLY A GOOD MATTER? Mass migration from developing countries and hostile cultures IS A PROBLEM. Beheading is only one expression.”
The regional election result must have sent shivers up the PS’ spine. Near-fool proof campaign Islamohpbic and xenophobic themes did not help the party.
The National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) won Finland’s first regional elections after capturing 21.6% of the votes, according to Yle. Apart from the low 47.5% voter turnout, there were two big surprises: the good showing of the Center Party and the abysmal result by the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*.
During the past decade, much of the PS’ success hinges on Islamophobia and racist soundbites.
Even if the regional election was supposed to be about health care and emergency services, the PS campaigned on high petrol prices at the pumps and anti-Muslim racism.
The party’s poor showing is a big blow to Riikka Purra, her first as chairperson, and raises an important question of whterther the hostile racism of the party has finally lost its appeal among voters.
SDP leader Sanna Marin said that the good result of the Kokoomus, her party, and the Center Party marked a return to the ‘big three’ in Finnish politics after the PS’ good showing during the last decade.
“In my opinion the forecast shows that this election was a return of the big three and the return of traditional politics,” Marin was quoted as saying in Yle News.
Another factor contributing to the PS’s poor showing was Purra’s lack of charisma and racist talking points.
The National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) got 21.6% of the votes with the Social Democrats and Center Party getting 19.3% apiece, respectively. If the good showing of the Center Party was a surprise, so was the poor showing of the Perussuomalaiset, which captured a disappointing 11.1%. The second table is of the seats that each party won. Source: Yle
The recent poll on the regional elections shows eveals and exposes the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, who suffered a 3.3 percentage point fall, as a one-issue party. The regional elections, which will be held on Sunday, will transfer power from municipalities to regional councils, which will manage health care and emergency services.
Sunday’s election appears to turn out as a disaster to the PS and a stinging blow to Rikka Purra, who is leading the party for the first time as chairperson.
The PS’ campaign has been deceptive by bringing up issues like gas prices at the pumps, immigration, development aid, or issues that regional councils do not have the power to change.
Moreover, Purra’s performance at debates has been disappointing, to say the least.
The PS campaign has been hit from all sides. Two firms, ST1 and Finnair, which the party used in its commercials are asking to refrain from using their logos or products.
When everything starts to fail and the popularity of the PS heads south, it’s clear that the party reverts to its old lifesaver: Muslim and migrant bashing with a strong odor of toxic nationalism.
In the PS mindset, it is time to turn on the racist ads like the one below.
The claims that money is a value issue. “Three Somali migrants already cost the public sector annually more than hiring a nurse. How do you want your tax revenues spent?” Source: Twitter
A stomach-churning ad, no?
Should the PS be charged for ethnic agitation again?
I do, and very vividly. Jari Sillantie was the deputy manager of the northern Finland Kolari asylum reception center that sacked him after some 140 asylum seekers protested his management style.
Even if his management style and Facebook “likes” did not reveal his attraction to the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, they did speak volumes about his anti-immigration views (see picture below).
After all of the asylum seekers at the reception center demonstrated on May 4 and forced the Red Cross, which managed the reception center, to sack Sillantie was deemed “unsuitable for the job.”
We learned more things about Sillantie: His heart is with the Islamophobic PS party, and he was convicted for tax fraud in 2018. He owes 666,000 euros in back taxes to the state.
Jari Sillantie, who was sacked as deputy manager of the Kolari asylum reception center in 2016, was not suited for the job. His “likes” on Facebook, which have now been deleted, are an assortment of far-right associations and politicianslike Laura Huhtasaari.
Sillanpää is a good example of the hypocrisy of the PS. He states in his campaign message all the racist talking points of the party. Migrants should follow the law but Sillantie and the PS have special privileges.
Sillantie’s message comes in loud and clear in his campaign poster: Vote for Finns first!
Thanks to the asylum seekers of the former Kolari asylum reception center, the media, and our work, we were able to expose Sillantie for what he was: a questionable person who wanted to make the lives of asylum seekers as difficult as possible.
Guess which party has the highest number of candidates charged with a crime? Correct, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*. According to Helsingin Sanomat, 6.3% (8.2% in the 2021 municipal elections) of PS candidates in January’s regional election have been charged for crimes during 2017-2021.
That was followed by the Left Alliance (3.0%/4.1%), Christian Democrats (2.2%/2.4%), National Coalition Party (2.1%/3.2%), Center Party (2.0%/2.5%), Social Democrats (1.2%/2.7%), Green League (0.8%/2.0%), and Swedish People’s Party (0.7%/2.1%).
Two one-MP parties, Power Belongs to the People (VKK) and Movement Now, had 6.1% and 7.4%, respectively, of their candidates in the regional election charged with a crime.
Apart from demonizing migrants, especially Muslims, the PS always finds ways to exclude Others.
Their latest prank is “Finns first.”
The Perussuomaliset campaigns for public services for everyone but claims that Finns should come first. When Pentti Karhunen, a candidate in Etelä-Savo was asked what he meant by “Finns,” he said anyone who has a Finnish citizenship. He was against offering services to unemployed foreigners. Source: Facebook
What the PS means by who is a Finn is a question for interpretation. Some PS politicians claim that even if a person becomes a naturalized Finn, he will never be a Finn.
The dehumanization and fear-mongering of people like Muslims explain the PS’ close ideological ties with a Nazi-spirited association called Suomen Sisu. At least five PS MPs are members of Suomen Sisu, which openly campaign for PS candidates.
Due process takes a long time in Finland as the landmark Johanna Vehkoo against far-right agitator Junnes Lokka, whom she called in a Facebook “a Nazi clown” and “a racist.” Surprisingly, a Rovaniemi appeal court upheld a prior Oulu district court ruling that Vehkoo had defamed Lokka.
Today’s ruling by the supreme court dismissed the prior ruling by the appeal and district courts.
“The supreme court ruling is important because members of Finland’s far-right and Islamophobic groups can also be criticized and fall under scrutiny. Moreover, the ruling reveals that some courts are not up to speed on racism and the threat of the far-right.”
Lokka’s case, if the supreme court had upheld the prior rulings, would have made it difficult to criticize politicians who use racism to advance their political aims.
While the Oulu appeal court ruled against Vehkoo because her comments were against Lokka’s person, the supreme court took a different view.
“In view of the derogatory and hostile statements made by Lokka in public, the terms used in the [Facebook post] text are not considered to have gone beyond what could be considered acceptable,” reported Yle News, citing the KKO stated in its judgment.
Timo Soini kirjoitti blogissaan 20.9.2015 otsikon ”Maahanmuuttolinja kiristyy huomattavasti” alle seuraavasti: ”Perussuomalaiset ovat jo vuosia varoittaneet sekä moraalittomasta europolitiikasta ja löperöstä maahanmuuttopolitiikasta Euroopassa, myös Suomessa. Minua, EU-politiikasta ja Jussi Halla-ahoa maahanmuuttopolitiikasta, on arvosteltu rajusti. Vääriksi väitteitämme ei ole todistettu”.
Timo Soini blogissaan 20.9.2015
Tuohon päivään mennessä perussuomalaisten rasistinen ja uusfasistinen henki oli jo moneen kertaan pulpahtanut pintaan, tankit oli lähetetty Kreikan kaduille, rikostutkintoja ja tuomioita kansanryhmää vastaan kiihottamisesta oli ollut useita ja Facebookiin perustettu ryhmä: Perussuomalaisista erotetut. Kaikki me tiesimme, että perussuomalaisista erottaminen tapahtui vain silloin, jos rasistinen möläyttely oli niin törkeää, että siitä nousi sosiaalisessa mediassa riittävän suuri kauhistelu tai perussuomalainen ei osannut tilanteessa olla riittävän nöyrää poikaa johdon suuntaan. Tuomio kiihottamisesta kansanryhmää vastaan ei ole ollut riittävä syy.
Turvapaikanhakijoiden mustamaalaaminen oli ja on määräävä osa perussuomalaisten toimintaa. Se pitää vain osata tehdä riittävän hillitysti. Riikka Purrakaan ei siihen kykene, vaikka media on hehkuttanut perussuomalaisten nyt hänen johdollaan sopivan entistä paremmin hillittyä rasismia suosivan kokoomuksen hallituskumppaniksi.
Riikka Purra Twitterissä 2.1.2020
Kun nyt turtiaislaiset ovat päässeet median huomion kohteeksi, on syytä muistuttaa, että Ano Turtiainen ja hänen sihteerinsä eduskunnassa, James Hirvisaari, ovat molemmat näitä perussuomalaisista erotettuja tai ”eronneita” ja he jatkavat perussuomalaisen politiikan tekemistä. Hommaforumilla sovittiin jo aikojen alussa, että yhteiselle asialle kelpaavat myös kokoomuslaiset rasistit ja kaikki, jotka ilmaisevat halunsa ”islamin invaasion” estämiseen. Hirvisaari oli Soinin mukaan ”itseohjautuva” ja Turtiainen nousi julkisesti Mestaria vastaan.
Suomalainen media ei vieläkään, toisin kuin vaikkapa ruotsalaiset, pidä perussuomalaista puoluetta rasistisena eikä ota puoluejohtoa kunnolla kiinni puolueessa ilmenevästä rasismista. Törkeimmätkin rasistisen retoriikan käyttäjät ohitetaan olankohautuksella. Ano Turtiaisen hörhöilystä voitiin nyt tehdä kunnon paljastusartikkeli Helsingin Sanomiin, kun siinä ei loukata paria suurta eduskuntapuoluetta, niiden rahoittajia ja vaalikansaa. On muka kysymys pienestä hörhöjoukkiosta, vaarallisesta, mutta ei kunniallisiin rasisteihin kuuluvasta.
Kun vain äänestäjät huomaisivat sen, että samalla edistetään Perussuomalaiset rp:n rasistista politiikkaa. Perussuomalaiset ovat Timo Soinin ja Jussi Halla-ahon johdolla jo päässeet ensimmäiseen tavoitteeseensa: rasistinen puhe on arkipäiväistetty. Hyvin nopeasti se johtaa siihen, että se on totta. Siitä ei sitten olekaan enää pitkä matka väkivaltaisuuksiin.
