Mika Koskinen is an Iltalehti reporter for a tabloid that likes to write sensationalist stories about migrants, especially asylum seekers.
Usually citing himself and other unreliable sources, Koskinen was at it again when he tried to figure out in a column how much do asylum seekers cost Finland.
In a video interview in mid-January, he falsely claimed that Finland was naive in allowing over 30,000 asylum seekers in 2015 because there is “evidence” that suggests that such people are prone to committing sexual assault crimes.
Of all the hysteria that his writing caused and which played right in to the Islamophobic rhetoric of far-right parties like the Perussuomalaiset*, only eight people of color were sentenced to prison terms in light of the sexual assault cases in Oulu.
Koskinen’s brand of journalism is shameful and racist. It resembles the clarion call of a social media lynch mob.
In the same way like Koskinen, we could ask how much does racism cost tax payers? If you spread lies and suspicion about asylum seekers and migrants, there chances of finding employment is hindered. Unemployment means social benefits.
The paper that was used to print this column could be used as toilet paper.
*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.