From 1 August 2023 to 29 January 2024 a total of 1,271 persons sought asylum at the Finnish-Russian border. Well over 90% of the refugees are from Muslim countries like Syria (491), Somalia (360), Yemen (120), and Iraq (57). The total amount does not include some 200 Russians in legal limbo awaiting an interview by…
Author: Migrant Tales
Migrant Tales Literary: The fight against terrorism
Photo: Enrique Tessieri The late evening streets of Buenos Aires bleed silently and I should be asleep and hide until day but I can’t. In my room, the keys of my typewriter are razors to the touch makng a short trip to hell and back. The night is alost at a standstill, now searchlights crisscross…
Ahti Tolvanen: Most of what Kimmo Kiljunen said is well substantiated
It is also obvious the non-action of the government on what their plan for the Finnish-Riussian border needs to be addressed. Just keepiing the Saimaa Canal closed costs the Finnish economy millions, now even billions if road transport is added to it. Not to mention the disrupted family lives from which the largest immigrant community…
Aleksanterinliitto ry:* Hundreds of Russian asylum seekers left in legal limbo
About 800 Russians who have requested asylum in Finland have been waiting for over two years for a decision on their residence applications from the Migration Service (Migri). The overwhelming majority are young people with higher education (some holding multiple degrees) who have a long working life ahead of them. However, due to their uncertain…
THE LONG READ – Joe Davidow: Realities of the Finnish National Health Service and the exploitive relationship of the private medical companies
I am an American Documentary filmmaker/composer who has lived and worked here in Finland over 40 years. Previously, I always admired the Finnish Health system and often described it to people in the US as an example of how a National Health Service could function. .. Unfortunately, these past years have been very alarming to…
Mahad Sheikh Musse:* Vähemmistöpoliitikkojen edustus ja haasteet Suomessa
Maahanmuuttajataustaisten poliitikkojen nousu suomalaisessa politiikassa on tärkeä ja tervetullut kehitys, mutta se ei ole ongelmatonta. Heidän asemansa vähemmistöjen edustajina on monimutkainen, ja siihen liittyy useita haasteita, jotka vaikuttavat sekä heidän omaan toimintaansa että heidän edustamiinsa ryhmiin. #Vähemmistöjen niputtaminen yhdeksi ryhmäksi– syrjivä ajattelutapa Vähemmistöjen niputtaminen yhdeksi homogeeniseksi ryhmäksi on yleinen ja haitallinen ilmiö. Kun erilaiset maahanmuuttajaryhmät…
Finland’s different shades of denial and racism
Racism is like a Cadillac, they bring out a new model every year. Malcolm X Few these days deny that Finland has a racism problem against Muslims, people of color and Third Worlders, the Romany and Russian-speaking minority, the third largest after Finnish and Swedish speakers. The serious student of society does not only look…
Linkedin: The Russians are coming!
The Finnish media, including Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, have attacked in mob fashion Kimmo Kiljunen, member of the Social Democratic Party and chairperson of the foreign affairs committee, for speaking candidly to representatives of the Alexander Union, a Finnish-Russian association, about the Finnish-Russian border as well as other matters. Today, an editorial by Helsingin Sanomat…
Linkedin: Finland’s Interior Minister Mari Rantanen: Liar, liar, pants are on fire, your nose is longer than a telephone wire
I’m surprised that the media and politicians are surprised by far-right Finns Party (PS)Interior Minister Mari Rantanen’s double-talk about favoring Christians over Muslims in next year’s quota refugee pick. Rantanen’s fishy denials that next year’s selection of quota refugees had anything to do with preferring Christians over Muslims, prompted the non-discrimination ombudsman to do some…
SomaliFinnPodcast #3: Build bridges instead of walls
In the podcast, Mahad Sheikh Musse, who has been a youth social worker in Helsinki for over 20 years, offers some sound advice on how why looking beyond stereotypes and our biases can help us to look past ethnic labels, which keeps us from treating youths with migrant backgrounds with for what they are: full…