This year has been disastrous for the populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)* for several reasons. The first hiccup came in last year’s municipal election, when the party, guided by promising opinion polls, expected to win but came in fourth place. Then came an even worse wreck: the county election in January, when its support dove to 11%. Despite these…
Month: March 2022
Our willingness to help “women and children” Ukrainian refugees is code for anti-Muslim racism
Think about it. Finland’s far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party has had a total change of heart about refugees, which it has attacked and fed its popularity. Not only the PS, but other parties like the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), Center Party, and a “taxi party” Liike Nyt, according to Yle. A taxi party is one where…
Exposing white privilege in Finland #84: Suomineidot offers refuge to privilege, white power, whitewashing, the far right and racism
Comments about the Yle television series on far-right young women, Suomineidot (Finnish Maidens), went viral, and for a good reason. Apart from revealing how much in the dark Yle is about racism and the far right, it also exposes white privilege in Finland. In a nutshell, the series is about three young women: One of…
(Migrant Tales 2015): Nunca más: 24 de marzo de 1976 y Rodolfo Walsh
Este 24 de marzo, conmemorando a esta fecha infame en la historia argentina, dedico este humilde escrito a Rodolfo Walsh quien murió un día después del primer aniversario de la dictadura militar de Jorge Rafael Videla. Aquí publicamos su “Carta abierta a la Junta militar en 1977, al cumplirse un año del golpe de Estado de 1976:”…
Suomineidot is another example of how much Yle is in the dark about racism and the far right
Here is the plot of a new TV series Suomineidot (Finnish Maidens): Meri is a far-right ethnonationalist who hangs out with neo-Nazis. Jasmin is an avid follower of Pentti Linkola, who promoted population decline. Liisa is a member of the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. Apart from the radical political views of the three participants, YLE launched…
Join us! Migrant Tales turns 15 years!
Migrant Tales, the oldest anti-racism blog in Finland, will celebrate its 15th anniversary on May 30. We are planning to publish an online magazine to commemorate the event. Apart from a section with greetings from people and associations, we will publish poetry, pictures, drawings, essays from our activists and readers in Finland and abroad. You…
How will we treat Ukrainian refugees in Finland?
The interior ministry estimates “tens of thousands” Ukrainians moving to Finland as a result of the war in that country, according to Yle News. There are about 7,000 Ukrainians in Finland, but Anna Rundgren, a ministry of interior senior specialist, believes that the actual figure is several times higher. In 2015, the country saw a record…
Twitter (Ndéle Faye): Systematic racism in Finnish early childhood education
Ndéle Faye is a Finnish Senegalese writer and journalist.
Hitting refugees below the belt
I talked to a group of students from different national backgrounds today. Two things unite them: they are mostly Muslims and present or past asylum seekers in Finland. While Europe is opening its arms to 2.809 million refugees from Ukraine since Sunday, according to the UNHCR, the two sets of rules for refugees reveal how…
A racist explanation by the chair of parliament’s foreign affairs committee of Finland why Ukrainian refugees are better than other ones
Despite all the objections to racism and Islamophobia in Finland, the silence and sub-rosa nods why such social ills continue to take root in the country. The chair of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Jussi Halla-aho of the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, explained why Europe should open its arms to Ukrainians and shut the door on refugees…