“Our lives are about transcending the labels that people impose upon us.”
Ibrahim Khan
Author: Migrant Tales
Facebook Reija Härkönen: Finnish police fetch and aim to deport an eight-month-old baby and parents
Migrant Tales insight: Reija Härkönen is well-known anti-racism activist in Finland who has her heart in the right place. I agree with her: What is happening in Finland today is shameful and reveals more cowardice than good judgment. How many squad cars and policemen do you need to deport a family that sought asylum in this country?
See the picture below and wonder.
Read the original posting here.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: Why do racists hate and target Muslims?
“Finland and Europe are suspicious of Muslims because their racism and hatred have ensured that their ‘integration’ polices have failed despite the fact that the majorty of Muslims are well-adapted. Instead of blaming their own prejudices for their failures, they scapegoat a religious and ethnic group.”
Integration Minister Inger Stojberg celebrates the fiftieth amendment to tighten immigration policy. Yes, it appears that Denmark can eat its racist cake and have it. Some public officials don’t hide their hatred but rejoice it.
Finland’s politics of discrimination and exclusion are seen in your thin pension
Decades of labor discrimination in Finland adds up to one terrible reality for some migrants: a thin pension and poverty. If in this decade the pay gap between migrants and white Finns was 25% (36,800 euros versus 27,500 euros made by migrants), it’s clear that their pension will not add up to much.
Poor salaries, fragmented employment histories also means lower social welfare benefits like unemployment, which are 39% lower for migrants (15,000 euros versus 9,400 euros) and up to 59% for those who are outside the labor force (7,500 euros versus 3,100 euros), according to Pekka Myrskylä, a former Statistics Finland researcher.
An article about migrant pensioners in Finland published by YLE News tells us something we’ve always known:
“The vulnerability of many of the older migrants we spoke to shone through clearly. They expressed concern about access to services, language problems, isolation and marginalisation—and financial difficulties.”
Before Finland would require migrants to apply for a separate work permit for each employer. Since migrants rarely got permanent jobs, they had to freelance, which meant periods without work. All of this naturally means a meager pension that will send you to the poor farm.
Here’s one anecdote published in the same article:
Continue reading “Finland’s politics of discrimination and exclusion are seen in your thin pension”
Migrants suffer from the Ulysses syndrome, societies from the Cyclopse syndrome
I wrote a story in Migrant Tales nine years ago about the Ulysses syndrome, an illness that affects migrants, which speaks volumes about the lives of asylum seekers in Finland and how officials and the government contribute to their misery. If the Ulysses syndrome explains the suffering of migrants what would we call a society that is indifferent to their suffering?
Psychiatrist Joseba Achotegui of the Universitat de Barcelona describes the illness in the following words: “It comprises loneliness, as family and friends were left behind; a sense of personal failure, and a survival struggle that takes over all other priorities. The syndrome is characterized by physical symptoms like headaches, and psychological symptoms like depression.”
Here’s an example of what an undocumented migrant, of which we have many in Finland these days, suffers:
Norma lived in terror and in hiding. This 45-year-old single mother left her 11-year-old son in 1999 when she migrated to Madrid. When she moved to Spain, she didn’t know anyone never mind have a place to sleep. She was an illegal alien.
The woman was afraid that the police would find and deport her. “It was that way nine years ago,” she admits. I would never go out for a stroll. I’d forget to board a metro at stops because I was in another world thinking of my child.
While the Ulysses syndrome abounds, what could we call a society that is incapable, or anesthetized by politicians’ indifference and hate speech, to their suffering?
Would the proper name be the Cyclopse syndrome?
Continue reading “Migrants suffer from the Ulysses syndrome, societies from the Cyclopse syndrome”
The real victims of Glev Simanov’s videotapes are the minors he filmed and published without permission on social media
Remember the bus driver that videotaped only Somalis and accused them without any proof of bumming a ride? Remember when he published without permission his racist treatment of them on social media? Gleb Simanov got fired the same week but in August Onnibus, a bus company, hired him.
The whole incident got a lot of interest on social media. Even so, nothing was written about the pain and suffering of the victims. Two of them are cousins aged 13 and 15.
A woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity and who helped the teenagers “because their parents don’t speak Finnish well enough,” said that the two girls were deeply disturbed when they found out that a video of them was in MV-lehti, an online racist publication.
“They were anxious about what would happen to them at school and if they’d be [labeled and] bullied [by their classmates],” she said. “They couldn’t sleep and still have not recovered fully from what happened.”
The woman said that she got in touch with the bus company where Simanov used to work, and they apologized for what happened.
Gleb Simanonv got sacked by Nobina for videotaping and insulting minors. The videotapes appeared on social media and trash publications like MV-lehti.
“A week later we went to the police to press charges for publishing without permission a video of a minor,” she said. “The police treated us very well.”
Simanov blocked the woman from his Facebook page after she asked him why he had published the videos of the two teenagers.
“The girls have learned not to trust some adults,” she concluded. “They got to see what racism is like in Finland.”
Finland’s government to tighten again immigration and asylum policy
The desperation of New Alternative* or Blue Reform (BR) party, the faction that split from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) in June to keep their jobs as ministers, must be overbearing. BR Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sports Sampo Terho announced Thursday that the government plans to tighten immigration and asylum policy laws in the face of the Turku attack, according to YLE News.
Interior Minister Paula Risikko, as well as other government officials, announced after Turku plans to tighten immigration policy and give greater surveillance powers to the police and the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (SUPO).
Just like the good old days when the PS was one party before it imploded on June 13, BR’s Minister Terho is the one giving statements about tougher immigration policy.
Apart from making it a crime to help undocumented migrants, Terho said that the nationality would see modifications so that suspected terrorists who are dual nationals can have their Finnish citizenship revoked.
While these points are nothing new since they have the clear stamp of PS Chairman Jussi Halla-aho, it is sad to watch how short-sighted and opportunistic the government is and how it wants to punish the migrant and minority community. No matter how much they tighten immigration and asylum policy, it will never make Finland safe from terrorism.
Nour Gamal, a #righttolife activist, told Migrant Tales by phone that government aims to tighten immigration and asylum policy is part of a long-range plan to make life as miserable as possible for asylum seekers in Finland.
Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sports Sampo Terho is as much an Islamophobe as Jussi Halla-aho.
“They [the government] are not only making life difficult for asylum seekers but for Finns that want to help undocumented migrants as well,” he said. “It’s a systematic plan to make the lives of asylum seekers as miserable as possible, so they’ll leave the country and so that no new refugees will come here.”
Gamal said that the parliamentary elections in 2019 are the only hope left to asylum seekers.
While not mentioned, plans to change the nationality act may also have dire consequences for dual citizen rights in Finland.
As long as BR remains in government the worse matters will get for migrants and minorities in this country.
* After the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13 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. One is more open about it while the other is more diplomatic.
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.
Finland’s Draconian immigration policy today has its roots in the Cold War era
Sound policies aim at producing good results. Bad policies made with malicious intent only bring suffering and disaster.
The quote sits well with Finland’s Draconian immigration and asylum policy. The number of undocumented migrants has soared from an estimated 300. Those who are lucky enough to get a residence permit can say goodbye to ever bringing their loved ones to this country because family reunification requirements were tightened. In sum, the Finnish government and the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) have done everything possible to make their lives as miserable as possible and expel them from here.
You don’t have to be an expert on immigration policy to understand how we have arrived at this shameful juncture. Even if the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* – today Blue Reform, or the “new” Perussuomalaiset – was primarily responsible for the tightening of immigration policy, such policies were backed by its two partners in government, the Center Party, and National Coalition Party.
In Argentina, the Finns founded a colony in 1906. Even if life was hard, they weren’t threatened with deportation as many asylum seekers are today in Finland. That goes for the majority of the over 1.2 million Finns who emigrated from this country. It is sad that Finns don’t learn at school about this fact, which was efficiently whitewashed and confined to a few festivities. The Malinen family is posing in front of their farm in Argentina in the 1920s. Photo: Lahja Malinen.
Even if the government has tightened immigration policy, opposition parties like the Social Democrats haven’t distanced themselves from such policies but supported them with their near-silence.
In the spring of 2016, the Social Democrats voted in their majority to do away with granting residence permits on humanitarian grounds. One of the Social Democratic MPs to vote in favor of this measure was Nasima Razmyar, a former refugee. This law (2/2016) is responsible for the high number of undocumented migrants.
The only parties that voted against the law were the Left Alliance, Greens and Swedish People’s Party.
Why so much animosity towards asylum seekers? I believe it has to do with Finnish history and education that teaches from a very young age nationalistic myths and be suspicious of foreigners and people who are different from the white Finnish-speaking majority.
While it may surprise many, the Cold War era for Finland (1944-91) reinforced official suspicion of outsiders. There was a time in our short history as an independent nation when foreigners were deported without any right to appeal, were prohibited from buying land, establish businesses in key sectors of the economy, organize demonstrations, among other human rights violations.
Even if in a different context, the total disregard for asylum seekers’ safety we see today was a part of Finnish policy in the Cold War, when Soviet asylum seekers were returned against their will to face harsh punishment in the USSR.
Is it here where Finland wants to return?
If so, we’re going to put up a hell of a fight!
* After the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13 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. One is more open about it while the other is more diplomatic.
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.
???? ???????? ???????? ????? ?????? ???? ???? ?? ????? ???
?????? ??????????: Finnish Interior Minister Paula Risikko vacationing in a war zone
????? ????? ?????????
Finnish Interior Minister Paula Risikko vacationing in a war zone
Sira Moksi has made quite a name for herself by drawing cartoons that newspapers wouldn’t publish. In the one below, we see Interior Minister Paula Risikko vacationing in a “safe” country like Iraq or Afghanistan. Where would Interior Minister Permanent Secretary Päivi Nerg vacation? What about the director general of the Finnish Immigration Service, Jaana Vuori? What about Prime Minister Juha Sipilä? President Sauli Niinistö? Finance Minister Petteri Orpo?
Let’s challenge all of them to visit those countries they deem as safe and where asylum seekers are being deported, even entire families and children.
Interior Minister Risikko outdid herself again right after the Turku stabbings by suggesting, among other things, that there are plans to pass a new law that would criminalize helping undocumented migrants in Finland.
And now, without further ado, Moksi gives us Interior Minister Risikko enjoying a vacation in a war zone.
In Arabic: ???? ???????? ???????? ????? ?????? ???? ???? ?? ????? ???