Writes Ahti Tolvanen, Migrant Tales board member: Paco Diop, a Senegalese Finnish kindergarten teacher who is running for Member of the European Parliament (Left Alliance), spoke at the demonstration in front of the Finnish Parliament on UN Anti-Racism Day March 21st organized by AFARS r.y. (Africans in Finland Against Racism ry). “Dear listeners, It’s time…
Month: March 2024
The Finnish media and its stenography journalism on writing about migrants and asylum seekers
“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” Malcolm X Day in and day out I see nothing more these days than hostile and negative news about migrants, especially asylum seekers, who are wrongly called “illegal” migrants. These…
Finland’s spectacular fall from grace
In 2011, when the Islamophobic and anti-EU Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party won 39 seats versus 5 in the previous election, did anyone foresee that we’d end up here? Wreaking havoc are Prme Minister Petteri Orpo’s National Coalition Party (NCP) and the PS with their two government coalition partners, the Swedish People’s Party and the Christian Democrats….
Interioir Minister Mari Rantanen and her “hybrid invaders”
We’ll Never Know.Yes, what Interior Minister Rantanen was thinking in introducing a law to stop “hybrid invaders” from Russia. Our ́́ investigative media` will never ask the right questions. So we can only try to imagine: Scene: “Hybrid invaders.” Inside the Interior Ministry. Cue Rantanen.Rantanen (enters): Our press conference is in half an hour. Any…
Finland sleepwalking into fascism
The new “pushback” law made public on Friday by the government shows the perilous human rights path of Finland. While the new law may pass in parliament, the question is what will the government do next to undermine Finland’s commitment to human rights. If the law is passed by a two-thirds majority, it is the…
Let the asylum seekers in and help us solve our demographic woes
THE STORY WAS UPDATED There is a strange logic that is counterproductive, like shooting oneself in the leg. Finland has a labor shortage that is going to get worse. According to some sources, Finland will need up to 50,000 migrants a year to plug the deficit. I wonder why these types of estimates haven’t been…
Any Russian asylum seekers? Migrant Tales wants to contact you.
We are seeking to speak with any person who has in any way been sent by Russian officials to Finland since August 2023 as an asylum seeker – or anyone who knows such a person. As you know the Petteri Orpo government is seeking to adopt a law to turn such persons away at the…
Finland’s slippery slope
On Friday, the government revealed its plan to subvert our constitution, international agreements, and human rights by denying people escaping strife and poverty asylum. Even if the government does not use the term push back, it is exactly that: a law that allows Finland to deny and push back people seeking asylum. What is most…
Finland and its government stoop to a new human rights low
The right-wing government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo wants Finland to enforce a pushback law that will deny refugees the right to asylum. According to legal experts contacted by Helsingin Sanomat, they cannot recall a case in which a law sent to parliament is so clearly in conflict with international treaties signed by Finland. The…
CALL FOR ARTICLES FOR A NEW VERSION OF STRANGE DAYS
CALL FOR ARTICLES Contributions invited on the real-life dilemmas of immigrating to Finland for a sequel to the book Strange Days (1984). Send in your proposals for including an article of 6 to 10 pages to [email protected]. Short summaries will be used to invite writers to draft an article for the book to be published…