Author: Migrant Tales

February 2018-2019: How a Pakistani family in Finland encountered and defied hate

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THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

A year has elapsed since Rashid H., a Pakistani migrant, was brutally attacked by three white Finnish youths in Vantaa on a Friday, February 23. The attack not only changed Rashid’s and his family’s life permanently, what happened also spread fear in the Pakistani community of Finland.

Rashid and his wife Sobia have two daughters aged six and one.

On visiting the couple, one of the matters you notice is not only the past but the future and their will to make the best out of a terrible situation. Rashid is recovering slowly and is on sick leave until the end of 2019.

“Rashid takes two types of painkillers and even Panadol if both don’t do the job,” she said. “On top of that, he also takes medicine for blood pressure and he is a diabetic.”

On the left, a statement by the police about what happened to Rashid. On the right is the profile picture of the new NGO, Anti-Hate Crime Organisation Finland, which founded in September thanks to Rashid and his wife. The picture on the right is of a man who was threatened by the Polish police.He did not want his face to appear in the picture. Source: Police and photo by Enrique Tessieri.

An important part of the recovery and healing process is getting support from psychologists, other health officials, family and friends. “Recovery sessions with the psychologist have helped us a lot but there is still a way to go,” she said.

March 2018

I met Rashid, his wife and daughters the first time at the Meilahti Hospital of Helsinki. With stitches and bruises on his body, Rashid demonstrated a strong will to recover and overcome what had happened.

“When I get out of here and get better,” he said almost a year ago. “I want to help others by telling them what is hate crime and what happened to me so that others could learn.”

The promise he had made at the hospital came true. Rashid and his wife helped found Anti-Hate Crime Organisation Finland (Suomen viharikosvasainen yhdistys ry) in September. On March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Rashid and Sobia will give a talk to students and migrants in Otava near Mikkeli.

The new founding board members of Anti-Hate Crime Organisation Finland. The NGO was founded on September 8 in Helsinki and registered on October 3 by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH). 

It’s difficult to grasp what happened to Rashid and how he survived. His attackers had stabbed him up to thirty times, fractured his skull with an axe and jabbed him several times with another pointed object. His blood stains were left near the apartment building for twenty days after the attack despite repeated calls by his wife to the social office and police to remove them.

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WARNING: RACIST CONTENT – Halla-aho announces that anti-immigration will be the PS’ main campaign theme

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With parliamentary elections a heartbeat away on April 14, the populist far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party announced that anti-immigration will be their main campaign theme. Are we surprised? Not in the bit. 

PS Chairperson Jussi Halla-aho was quoted as saying in Yle that at the present rate, Finland’s immigration policy will destroy present levels of social welfare, undermine good salaries, good schools, gender equality among other problems.

“We want to make it tougher for people to move here,” he said. “We want to raise the requirements to get Finnish citizenship.”

See the short interview here.

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Ku Klux Klan in the US, Perussuomalaiset in Finland

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The editorial below by the Alabama-based Democrat-Reporter, calling on the Ku Klux Klan “to ride again” and lynch Democrats, was not published in the last century but in 2019. This editorial is a good example that the United States is a racist country and has done too little to eradicate this social ill. 

It is the same story in Europe, which explains why populist far-right parties are on the rise and gaining support.

The United States had a Civil Rights Movement (1955-68) and Europe World War 2 (1939-45). In both cases, there was a lack of resolve to do away with racism and its poison. Governments and school boards searched instead for the status quo. We are paying today a high price for our mistake.

This is understandable because those who held power benefited from the privileges that racism bestows on them.

Source: Montgomery Advertiser.

Do we have similar examples in Europe and Finland?

European examples of the latter would be Marine Le Pen of France, Holland’s Gert Wilders, Viktor Orbán and many others. In Finland, two candidates that come to mind are Jussi Halla-aho and Laura Huhtsaari of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party.

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Finland’s elederly care scandal is a symptom of a wider problem: lack of regulation

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The scandal facing elderly care homes under the management of stock-listed companies such as Attendo, Esperi Care and Mehiläinen points to one issue: lack of effective regulation. Why are Filipino employees at these establishments exploited? The answer: lack of effective regulation. 

Even if you file charges to the police about exploitation at work, hate crime, or racist harassment, such cases may take months before they ever see a courtroom. Add to the latter the lack of effective regulation, and gravity of the problem becomes clear.

While this is sadly the case, the question we should ask is why we allow this to go on? Why is there so little political will and interest as well as lack of resources to correct the situation? The answer: These types of attitudes serve to reinforce and maintain the pillars of institutional racism.

Instead of protecting migrant workers’ rights in Finland, we divert our attention from such abuses by another racist debate about how migrants are criminals and abuse social welfare. A good example of the latter was an empty interview on TV with Perussuomalaiset Chairperson Jussi Halla-aho.

Halla-aho spewed his usual racist comments while the reporter, Kirsi Heikel, bowed submissively.

 

Read the full story (in Finnish) here

Even the Oulu sexual assault cases beg a sensible question of the police and social workers: Did they do their jobs? Lack of effective regulation? Is it easier to pin the blame on asylum seekers?

It all boils down to denial and lack of effective regulation.

* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. Despite the name changes, we believe that it is the same party in different clothing. Both factions are hostile to cultural diversity never mind Muslims and other visible minorities. One is more open about it while the other says it in a different way.

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.

THE LONG READ: Dr Jeevana Subasinghe – How inappropriate behavior and discrimination happen at a health center and higher education in Finland

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For the past four years, Sri Lankan-Finnish dentist Jeevana Subasinghe has experienced multiple forms of inappropriate behavior and discrimination by his employer at the Porvoo Municipal Health Center. But the treatment and discrimination he allegedly claims bring to light a wider systemic problem that affects some Finnish dentists as well.

Dr Subasinghe’s relationship with the Porvoo Municipal Health Center started in 2012. He joined them as a permanent staff member in April 2013 as an orthodontic assistant and a surgery assistant dentist. The appointment was offered due to his experience and professional background. Prior to coming to Finland, he had his own practice in Newbury, Royal County of Berkshire, United Kingdom.

Dr Subashinghe, who has lived on and off in Finland since the 1980s, said that networks are everything in this country. Without them, it is very difficult to advance in a career never mind find employment. Finns have these networks while foreigners don’t have as many.

Dr Jeevana Subasinghe. 

On Wednesday, November 21, 2018, everything came to a head when Dr Subasinghe’s employer terminated his employment. He believes that the decision is wrong, and will challenge it. His last official day at work was January 21, 2019.

According to Dr Subasinghe, the employers of the Porvoo Municipal Health Center have tried to discharge him for the past two years.

A difficult relationship

“My problems with the Porvoo Municipal Health Center started when I wanted to specialize in orthodontics at a time when there was a great need for such specialists at the health center,” he said. “The waiting lists for children at the time were almost three years, or when the best time for correct intervention had passed.”

Dr Subasinghe said that he had approached the chief dentist at the center and asked her about getting orthodontic training at the University of Helsinki.

It is normal in Finland that a part of the specialist training in orthodontics is carried out under health center supervision. Since Dr Subasinghe had worked for seven years treating orthodontic patients in the United Kingdom in collaboration with Göteborg University professionals, he was confident that such training would give him the opportunity to use the latest techniques that would improve and save time in treating patients.

“The need for an orthodontist [at the Porvoo health center] arose from poor planning by the management,” he continued. “There was no replacement plan for the orthodontist that was going to retire soon.”

After he found out that health centers in Vantaa, Riihimäki, Kirkkonummi, Helsinki and others in the Greater Helsinki were arranging in-house specialization programs for dental specialists, Dr Subasinghe decided to approach the chief dentist and requested that he could pursue such training in the Porvoo health center.

At first, the chief dentist appeared surprised by the request, but she agreed only if he arranged everything himself with the University of Helsinki.

The professor of orthodontics at the University of Helsinki agreed that such specialization could be arranged for Dr Subasinghe. The next step was that the request should come from the Porvoo Municipal Health Center, which should provide a supervising specialist orthodontist.

“But to my surprise,” Dr Subasinghe continue, “the chief orthodontist declined to be my supervisor. An even bigger shock came when the health center nominated two young orthodontic assistants immediately after this discussion.”

By nominating the two dentists, one of whom was the chief dentist’s daughter, Dr Subasinghe felt that his professional career was undermined. Even his name as an orthodontic assistant was removed from the health center’s reception list.

 

Dr Subasinghe visited Sri Lanka in December-January where he assisted multiple medical professionals including military plastic surgeons. The experience gave him knowledge in treating geriatric patients. “I can use this new knowledge in my work in Finland,” he said.  

“Thus, I was unilaterally demoted from treating orthodontic patients from two days a week to almost none,” he said. “This was outright discrimination, professionally unfair and would impair my chances of getting into an orthodontic training position in universities. It also deprived  children of treatment by an experienced dentist.”

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Afghan asylum seeker in Joutseno: “Good morning to [you] too”

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In September, an Afghan family consisting of three adults, two minors and their parents left Finland for Germany for fear that they would be deported to Afghanistan. One of them, a 24-year-old  young man, was sent back to Finland from Germany this week. From the Metsälä Immigration Removal Center, he sent to the Joutseno, which was a former prison. 

We will be following this asylum seeker’s life in the Joutseno Immigration Removal Center and do everything possible so they will not deport him to Afghanistan.

If you want to send him a message to him via [email protected].

 

The view from an Afghan asylum seeker’s cell at the Joutseno Immigration Removal Center. Photo: asylum seeker

PS’ Jussi Halla-aho on TV offerng simplistic views on migration and Finnish identity

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iety Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-aho was a guest on Yle’s Ykkösaamu. Convicted for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion in 2012, the PS chairperson gave his usual simplistic views on immigration and Finnish identity.

One of these was when the reporter asked him about the party’s youth wing and their Finnish white supremacist ethnonationalistic views on who is a Finn.

Halla-aho didn’t condemn this view but blamed it instead on linguistics.

“The question who is a Finn is interesting [question],” he explained. “The problem is that in Finnish we don’t have a term that classifies who is an ethnic Finn and a Finnish citizen.”

And then adds: “If I would for some reason go to Somalia and become a Somali citizen would that make me a Somali?”

Possibly, Halla-aho, you could be a “Somali Finn” or whatever you would want to call yourself. I doubt that minorities are aiming to be white like you but seek social justice and recognition. They are tired of being labelled by Finnish white supremacists and society as eternal “people of foreign origin.”

Watch the full interview (in Finnish) here.

Halla-aho and his party have inflicted harm to migrants and minorities. Their racist rhetoric has no interest in making such people equal members of society. Their main aim is to label and exclude certain groups and attack groups like the Somalis.

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Faisa Kahiye: Muukalaisviha ahdistaa toisen polven maahanmuuttajia

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Itse olen hyväksynyt kohtaloni siitä, että lapsenlapsistanikaan ei puhuta suomalaisina, kirjoittaa Faisa Kahiye.

Suomen ilmapiiri on kiristynyt merkittävästi maahanmuuttoa kohtaan, ja pienen ryhmän tekemät rikokset ovat johtaneet kokonaisen väestöryhmän leimaamiseen. Tästä ovat kärsineet niin turvapaikanhakijat kuin muutkin maahanmuuttajataustaiset ihmiset, jotka ovat kohdanneet entistäkin enemmän valitettavan normalisoitunutta vihapuhetta ja rasismia. Vihamielinen ilmapiiri on entisestään vaikeuttanut myös toisen polven maahanmuuttajien asemaa. Tällä viikolla käynnistyi Ihmisoikeusliiton, HSL:n ja HKL:n  STOP! Päätepysäkki syrjinnälle -kampanja, jolla yritetään puuttua joukkoliikenteessä tapahtuvaan syrjintään.

Monet toisen polven maahanmuuttajista, eli Suomessa syntyneet ja kasvaneet suomalaiset, joiden vanhemmat ovat muuttaneet ulkomailta, kokevat jatkuvasti identiteettikriisiä oman taustansa vuoksi. Kahden merkittävästi toisistaan poikkeavan kulttuurin välillä kamppailu ja tasapainottelu sekä hyväksynnän hakeminen valtaväestöltä aiheuttaa nuorissa tunteen, ettei ole hyväksytty kumpaakaan yhteisöön täysipainoisesti. Epävarmuutta koetaan esimerkiksi siitä, voiko sanoa ylpeästi olevansa suomalainen vai pitääkö samaan hengenvetoon todeta, mistä vanhemmat ovat kotoisin. Itse olen hyväksynyt kohtaloni siitä, että minun lapsenlapsistakaan ei puhuta suomalaisina. Tämä kertoo lähinnä sen, miten kapea käsitys kantasuomalaisilla on suomalaisuudesta.

Lue alkuperäinen kirjoitus tästä.

Toisen polven maahanmuuttajanuorten identiteettikriisiä ruokkivat Suomen muukalaisviha ja rasismi, jota ovat lähes poikkeuksetta kokeneet kaikki Suomessa asuvat, eri etnistä taustaa omaavat ihmiset. Suomi on jo toista perättäistä vuotta Euroopan unionin Perusoikeusviraston FRA:n tutkimuksessa osoittautunut yhdeksi EU:n syrjivimmistä maista. Tutkimuksessa on vuoden 2017 aikana nostettu esille se, että toisen polven maahanmuuttajat kokevat vielä enemmän syrjintää kuin ensimmäisen polven maahanmuuttajat.

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