July 2024 - Migrant tales

Finland’s and Estonia’s bullying of Russians

Posted on July 29, 2024July 30, 2024 by Migrant Tales

With no solution in sight to the end of the war in Ukraine, part of the collateral damage is the Russian-speaking community of Finland, by far the biggest language group outside of Finnish, Swedish, and Sami.

Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, there was a lot of hatred and suspicion of Russians. Even if Finland signed an armistice with the former USSR in 1944, it appears that too many Finns are still in the trenches.

Some, driven by their xenophobia of Russians, would be ready to take away their dual citizenship rights. One of the most enthusiastic is former President Sauli Niinistö. A December survey showed that 34 MPS, mostly of the hard-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and National Coalition Party, would want to prohibit Russians from having dual citizenship.

So great is the hatred of brown asylum seekers and Russia that in June Finland threw its good name under the bus as a Human Rights defender and upholder by lowering itself to the same level as Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania, which deny people the right to asylum.

A study by Hannes Viimarananta, Ekaterina Protassova, and Arto Mutajoki on Russian speakers in Finland, says that such a community is commonly misunderstood.

“Russian-speakers in Finland are framed, firstly, as an immigrant group, alongside other sizeable immigrant groups. Secondly, Russian speakers in Finland are commonly [and simplistically] perceived as representatives of Russia—a powerful, and at times threatening, neighboring country…” the authors write.

The Estonian-Russian border crossing at Narva. Sources: Helsingin Sanomat and Wikimedia.

Migrant Tales interviews an asylum seeker who was apprehended at the Evros River proving the deep corruption and violence at that border

Posted on July 25, 2024July 26, 2024 by Migrant Tales

THE STORY WAS UPDATED

It is usually the rule rather than the exception that everywhere EU’s Frontex polices with local border guards the border, “European values” are thrown under the bus or underwater in most cases. For this reason, some fear that Finland’s pushback law will be just another example of the corruption, violations, and death that characterize the policing of EU borders.

Migrant Tales was recently in touch with an Iraqi asylum seeker who was caught this month on the Greek side of the Ervos River. Migrant Tales took part of a documentary about the abuses and violations at the Evros River.

The point where the asylum seeker was apprehended, robbed, and beaten by the Greek authorities. Source: Asylum seeker.

He alleges:

“Yes, [I was beten] in my hand, in my head, and in my back. They put me on the ground and took off all my clothes. I was hiding money in my underwear, an amount of 5,000 euros, a wedding ring with my name and my ex-wife’s name written on it, name omitted, a ring, a silver bracelet, a watch that my wife bought as a wedding gift, and a phone. iPhone 11 Pro Max I bought it in Finland name of city omitted. My wife bought it for me as a gift and it contains a Finnish SIM card and phone numbers; I also bought a Galaxy phone from Turkey and headphones. They hit me in the head because I did not accept to open the phone for them and then they hit me again and I could not bear it and gave them the code. All of this was taken from me, all of this in front of the Greek Army.”

Migrant Tales Literary: Haluan olla perussuomalainen poliitikko!

Posted on July 24, 2024July 24, 2024 by Migrant Tales

Leo Honka

Perussuomalaisena poliitikkona voin sanoa mitä tahansa milloin vaan,
loukata ketä tahansa
ja nämä sanat eivät tule vainoamaan pahasti minua tulevaisuudessa.
Miksi? Koska olen perussuomalainen poliitikko.

Voin julkaista paljon rasistista roskaa kuten Jussi Halla-aho teki
ja tulla eduskunnan puhemieheksi.
Voin jopa uhata tappaa maahanmuuttajanuoria junassa ja päätyä valtiovarainministeriksi.
Voin sanoa paljon typeriä rasistisia asioita ja selvitä siitä kuten Riikka Purra.
Sisäministeri Mari Rantanen on ajanut etnonationalismia ja valkoinen ylivaltaa
Hän sanoi, “meidän ei pitäisi olla niin sinisilmäisiä, että pian emme ole enää sinisilmäisiä.” Voin kutsua turvapaikanhakijoita loisiksi ja raiskaajiksi, kuten Mauri Peltokangas
Voin jopa kutsua hallituksenministeritä, kuten Sanna Marinia, “perserei’iksi.”
Ja päätyä maahanmuuttopolitiikkaa neuvovan hallintovaliokunnan johtoon. Voin jopa ulostiaa housussa ja kuvata itseäni vaipoissa Senatin Torila ja tulla europarlamentaarikoksi. Kysykää vaikka Sebastian Tynkkynen.
PS:ssä on niin paljon rasismia, että se on pyyhkinyt rasismin pois muistosta.
Haluan silti olla perussuomalainen poliitikko!

Finland’s immigration policy has been for decades racist by design

Posted on July 21, 2024July 21, 2024 by Migrant Tales

Claim: The deportation law has nothing to do with migration policy.

Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, among other Perussuomalaiset* politicians

Migrant Tales: It has all to do with migration policy!

The pushback law has not only brought several pressing questions about how Finland respects Human Rights, its Constitution, and international agreements, but it continues to reveal a decades-long policy on how to keep out certain national groups like Muslims from Finland.

Finland’s migration policy has been enforced to look at outsiders with suspicion. In the 1970s, when thousands of Finnish migrants were moving to Sweden, the government considered bringing labor migrants to compensate for the huge loss in man- and womanpower.

The government decided against such a move and today we are paying a big price for such a decision.

Let’s look at the present government’s immigration policy, with the support of government coalition party members National Coalition Party, Swedish People’s Party and Christian Democrats. The long-term policy has been to keep migrants, especially Muslims and blacks, out of Finland.

Thus especially today the immigration policy of the government is racist by design.

Even if this poster is for the UK, it could apply to Finland. Source: Migrants’ Rights Network.

Karolina Budzisz: Tales of our own

Posted on July 20, 2024July 21, 2024 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales insight: Throughout the years, Migrant Tales has received a lot of recognition. The latest one is from Karolina Budzisz, who wrote her thesis on anti-racism voices in Finland. During the past seventeen years, we have kept true to our goal: It aims to be a voice for those whose views and situation are understood poorly and heard faintly by the media, politicians, and the public. Migrant Tales has published 5,293 posts from over three hundred contributors to date. We stopped taking comments a few years ago, but there are 32,172 of them. We are proudly one of the anti-racism voices in Finland fighting against social ills like the Perussuomalaiset, racism, and discrimination.

Recognition of our work is the greatest reward we can get.

Abstract

Immigration remains among the most salient topics in the socio-political debate in a dynamically transforming Europe, which is reflected in the scholarly interest in the theme. However, as this thesis argues, the attention paid to anti-immigration and pro-immigration poles of the debate is not equal and the agency of immigrants in providing knowledge on the issue pertaining to them directly is relatively neglected in academia.

Read the full thesis here.

“Tales of Our Own” strives to explore the characteristics of pro-immigration and immigrant-made discourses and investigate their relationships with the dominant hostile narratives around immigration emerging in the context of the current populist upsurge. The thesis conceptualizes populism as an antagonizing mode of articulation that provides a stylistic framework for arguments inciting the process of othering. Immigrants in these circumstances constitute perfect ‘Others’, excluded through many novel narratives guising straightforward xenophobia under the mask of neoliberal values. Exploring an underdeveloped discursive frontier with regard for its authorship contributes to the study of the immigrant response and substantial argumentation in the debate. Moreover, it follows the objective of reclaiming immigration as it recuperates the voices of the very actors of it – those ‘on the move’.

Finland should ask the EU to ditch Human Rights altogether. Why should we care less for refugees?

Posted on July 19, 2024July 19, 2024 by Migrant Tales

The depths of Finnish hypocrisy continue to find new records with President Alexander Stubb. Finland entered uncharted waters a week ago after the pushback law was passed, which compromised the country’s human rights, the Constitution, and international agreements.

The president’s hubris and anti-Russian sentiment were exposed for everyone to witness when he said that the pushback law would serve as a good model for other countries to copy.

Stubb signed the new bill into law on Monday. He was a bit apologetic: “I understand the legal and humane considerations associated with this act. The debate is an indication of Finnish people’s strong commitment to national security and the rule of law.”

Even Interior Minister Mari Rantanen showed a rare commodity of her personality: I hope the new law will never be applied, she said.

During these difficult times when Finland has ditched its human rights obligations, we should not forget one matter: The new law is incompatible with Human Rights, the Constitution, and international agreements. Article 30 of the Human Rights Convention states:
“Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.”

Even if Stubb portrays strength, some consider him a wishy-washy politician who could care less for migrant and minority rights. Read the full story in Finnish here.

Human Rights in Finland should be our struggle’s clarion call

Posted on July 16, 2024July 16, 2024 by Migrant Tales

“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.”

Nelson Mandela

The passage on Friday of the pushback law with the support of the Social Democrats, demonstrates that we have entered uncharted waters. We should not be naive to think that the shelving of human rights, undermining our constitution, and turning our backs on international agreements will be a one-off matter.

Even if Human Rights form part of our Constitution, one may ask why so little regard for such rights. One reason is that Finland saw Human Rights as subversive during the Cold War since it undermined relations with the former Soviet Union.

In Argentina, my country of birth, we used human rights as an ever-growing rallying cry against one of the most sanguinary military regimes in our history. The matter was sounded by groups like the Mother of Plaza de Mayo whose loved ones had disappeared.

At first, they were called the “Crazy” Mothers of Plaza de Mayo because no one dared to stand up against the military régime.

The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo still demonstrate on Thursdays at the Plaza de Mayo right in front of the presidential palace. Their first march took place in April 1977, the month I started my conscription in the army. The Mother of Plaza de Mayo was one factor why the military regime could not murder with impunity. People like me are eternally grateful for their bravery and example.

The fact that Human Rights took a big blow in Finland thanks to the pushback law, it’s clear that we cannot rely on the government or the Social Democrats to defend these rights. We therefore need a social movement that raises awareness of Human Rights.

In Argentina, Human Rights violations were one factor that brought the military regime down. We must do the same to vote out this terrible government that wipes its rear end with Human Rights.

Some may ask why do I make such a fuss about Human Rights.

The answer is simple: I lived in a country where Human Rights were shelved that was followed by Illegal detentions, torture, and death.

Aleksanterinliitto:* Turvallisuus poliittisten päämäärien verhona – perhe ja ystävät jäävät rajan taakse

Posted on July 16, 2024July 16, 2024 by Migrant Tales

Muistan taannoin lukeneeni Voima-lehden pääkirjoituksessa Maslow’n tarvehierarkiasta. Tämä hierarkia tulee usein mieleen, kun seuraan nykyistä Suomen politiikkaa. Lyhyesti tarvehierarkian ensimmäisellä tasolla on fyysiset tarpeet ja seuraavalla turvallisuus. Ja mitä kaikkea turvallisuuden nimessä tehdäänkään nyt, ehkä kiitos siitä että suomalaiset ovat myös varsin turvallisuushakuisia. Maailmassa on paljon ylikierroksilla käyviä asioita ja monta konfliktia: Gazan ja Ukrainan sodat, ilmastonmuutos, hallituksen tekemät leikkaukset. Silti asiani ei koske suoraan yhtään näistä, ja keskimäärin asia saattaa kuulostaa vähäpätöiseltä. Mutta se on silti osa isompaa kuvaa ja mitä kaikkea Suomessa tapahtuukaan turvallisuuden nimissä, että populistista ja konservatiivista politiikkaa saadaan ajettua eteenpäin. Seuraavassa lyhyt kertomus ja mielipide, miten itärajan sulkeminen on vaikuttanut minuun ja haluan toki puolustaa samalla oikeusvaltiota ja turvapaikanhakijoiden oikeuksia.

Aleksanterinliitto

Noniin, varmaan 90%:llä suomalaisista (oma arvioni) ei ole ollut yhteyksiä Venäjään suoranaisesti ennen sodan alkua tai varsinkaan sen jälkeen. Venäjä on etäinen maa varsinkin länsi-Suomen asukeille ja varmasti keskimääräiselle helsinkiläiselle. Demokratia on siis toteutunut, kun suurin osa kansasta on sitä mieltä, että hyvä kun raja on suljettu – hybridisodankäynnissä on saatu torjuntavoitto, Suomen hallitus on toiminut mallikkaasti. Näin mediasta saatu kuva. Ja kuka ikinä haluaisi käydä maassa, joka on niin sekasortoinen ja vaarallinen kuin Venäjä on (ehkä vain saidat bensaturistit ovat saattaneet käydä)? Itse olen yksi poikkeus.

Olen lukenut joitain haastatteluita rajavartioviranomaisten kanssa (Helsingin Sanomat), joissa on esitetty, että Suomi selviytyisi helposti suuremmistakin turvapaikan hakijoiden määrästä ja varmaa uhkaa ei voida todeta tällä hetkellä. Tilannetta peilattuna nykyiseen maahanmuuttovaisteiseen politiikkaan ei voi olla ajattelematta, että tässä ajetaan enemmän tätä politiikkaa sisään juuri turvallisuuteen vedoten ja tosiaan luodaan uutta lakia, jossa voidaan helposti käännyttää turvapaikanhakija takaisin, jatkossa mahdollisesti jopa lentokentällä. Turvallisuusuhkaan perustuva narraatio on mainio katalyytti ajaa tätä lakia maaliin asti.

12 July 2024 was Finland’s day of infamy for Human Rights and the rule of law

Posted on July 13, 2024July 13, 2024 by Migrant Tales

Finland’s controversial pushback law received in parliament the needed two-thirds majority to turn away people seeking asylum at the border. One hundred sixty-seven MPs voted for the law while 31 voted against it.

Critics of the law argue that it conflicts with the Constitution, Human Rights, and international agreements signed by Finland with the United Nations and the EU.

Below, Mats Uotila, a Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party member, wanted to ridicule those MPs who voted against the law. They are the few brave ones who stood up against the fear-mongering and ultranationalistic attacks by the PS, National Coalition Party (PS), and others.

One of the most jaw-dropping pictures in parliament today was PS Fiance Minister Riikka Purra and Interior Minister Mari Rantanen. The law when approved, which puts in harm’s way migrants seeking asylum and a better life, makes Rantanen cry and hug Purra.

What is wrong with these people? They get emotional when they succeed at stripping people of their Human Rights?

Minister Purra and Rantanen hugging and shedding tears after Finland threw under the bus Human Rights, the Constitution, and international agreements protecting asylum seekers.

The pushback law will be remembered as a day of infamy for Human Rights in Finland

Posted on July 12, 2024July 12, 2024 by Migrant Tales

Finland’s parliament will vote today for the pushback law law that should b seen as another nail in the coffin of Finland’s experiment in being a more open country based on Human Rights. After Finland became an EU member in 1995, many monumental legal changes changes were made, like the drafting of the new constitution strongly grounded on Human Rights.

During the Cold War, Human Rights were never held in high esteem. The reason was Finland’s policy of appeasement to the former Soviet Union. Speaking out for Human Rights, never mind joining the Council of Europe back then, would have been unthinkable because it would put in jeaoparty Finnish-Soviet relations.

Many of the politicians in Parliament, like NCP MP Ben Zyskowicz, served during the Cold War era and explains why he doesn’t place a lot of importance on Human Rights and is ready to ridicule legal experts who have spoken out against the pushback law.

It should not be a surprise that parties like the radical-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, and National Coalition Party (NCP) with the cheerleading of the Christian Democrats, Swedish People’s Party and Center Party, are watering down the civil right gains made after EU membership.

It is not only the purshback law what will chip away at our fundamental rights, but other ones already promosted by the government. These include labor rights, social security and migrant rights. Since we are on a slippery slope, is the next step to take away the dual citizenship rights of Finnish-Russians?

If there is one matter that surprises me the most about the present situation is how easy it is for the government to implement this dangerous development.

In a recent interview on an Italian TV program on the Finnish-Russian border, I mentioned that in many respects Finland resembles a small town. Add to the latter anti-Russian sentiment, and iyou have a winning argment.

Whatever the outcome of the voting today on the pushback law, today will be remembered as a day for infamy for Human Rights in Finland.