Author: Migrant Tales

Linkedin: Finland’s perilous watershed

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While politicians of the Finns Party (PS) and National Coalition Party beat their chests every time Finland tightens its migration policy, the two minor government parties, the Swedish People’s Party and Christian Democrats, look the other way with shameful silence.

The government, especially the PS, claims that its anti-immigration policies will make us stronger as a nation. The logic has a striking connection with the Nazi racebook. In that logic, they believed that getting rid of the Jews would help make the Germans realize their full potential and become the master race.

Today in Finland, like in other countries of the EU there is a similar logic: Let’s stop people like Muslims from settling inside our borders.





Finland’s transformation from a liberal Nordic welfare state to one that is showing signs of becoming iliberal is concerning to say the least. If there was a watershed that pushed Finland in this direction it was in July, when it approved the pushback law by denying people asylum thereby shelving its Human Rights commitments, Constitutional rights and internaitonal agreements.

This pictures the long struggle by Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, Finance Minister Riikka Purra, and the Perussuomalaiset* to shelve Human Rights, Constitutional Rights, and international agreements by Finland thanks to the passage of the pushback law in July. Source Twitter/Kalle Koponen, HS


Other shameful policy changes will weaken us and impoverish Finland.


Some of these include:

·     changing the period of residence for citizenship from five to eight years;
·     tougher requirements to get permanent residence and citizenship;
·     prohibiting asylum seekers from getting a work permit;
·     residence permits granted under international protection will become
temporary and their duration will be the EU minimum;
·     speeding up deportations and asylum applications;
·     tighter family reunification requirements;
·     if laid off and cannot find new employment, a person will be forced to leave
the country in three (non-specialists) or six months (specialists);
·     taking away the right of undocumented migrants (excluding children and others in a particularly vulnerable position) to only have access to emergency health care services;
·     reviewing dual citizenship rights to Russian nationals.

Continue reading “Linkedin: Finland’s perilous watershed”

Suspected hate crimes soar to a record level in Finland in 2023

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THE STORY WAS UPDATED

A record number of suspected hate crimes* were reported in 2023, rising by 28.99% to 1,606 cases compared with 1,245 cases the previous year, according to the Police University College. The author of the report, Jenita Ranta, blamed “societal factors” like the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and the poor economic situation of people that fuel hate crime.

Ranta talks about these above factors but is silent about an obvious factor: racism in Finland.

Moreover, if last year was a record, we expect 2024 to be another record year when it comes to hate crimes.

The hate crimes reported to the police are only the tip of the iceberg.

As in previous years, hate crimes due to ethnic or national background stood at 68% of all hate crimes, rising last year by 17.42% to 1,092 cases versus 930 cases. That was followed by hate crimes on the grounds of religion or belief (10.3% of all hate crimes), which jumped by 36.36% to 165 cases.

By national group, the Somalis were one of the most affected by hate crimes as were Muslims.

The majority of hate crimes were physical assaults and verbal insults.

Source: Police University College

“Under this group, the biggest group of victims were Muslims. In the statistics on last year’s hate crime reports, it is noteworthy that for the first time ever, there were more suspected hate crimes against Jews or Jewishness than there were suspected hate crimes against Christians. However, Islamic people were most commonly targeted,” according to the Police University College.

Hate crimes committed against sexual minorities (10.6% of all hate crimes) rose by 53.57% to 215 cases, while disability (8%) saw the biggest rise, soaring 137.04% to 128 cases.

*”In general terms, hate crime is a crime motivated by prejudice or hostility towards the victim’s ethnic or national origin. The crime may also be targeted at members of the majority population.” Police University College

Why does the Finnish government want to encourage migration from the Philipines, India, Vietnam and Brazil?

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Watching a Yle news broadcast on the arrival of Filipino practical nurses at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, I could not hold back my concern for these migrants and how they could fall prey to greedy employers. It has happened too many times before.

The government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, which continues to implement its racist and hardline migration policy, reiterated that it wants labor migrants from four countries: the Philippines, India, Vietnam, and Brazil. In the face of the government’s extreme tightening of migration policy, the government – especially the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* – would be willing to give migrants from these countries a chance to move to Finland and plug our chronic labor shortage.

Reading the minds and past policies of the PS and the National Coalition Party (NCP), it’s clear that some of these future practical nurses have fallen into a trap. Apart from living in a difficult climate and culture compared with their home country, they will be effectively at the mercy of their employers.

How long will it take before some of their stories of exploitation will come to light? This is a valid question because we not only have many cases backing up such a situation but also Finland’s unpreparedness to defend the rights of foreign workers.

Apart from this sad reality, Finland’s government and its migration policy are the clearest examples that parties like the PS will admit to a flaw in their demographic calculations but are ready to accept migrants who will not challenge their white Finnish privilege and promise to be subservient to the system.

Prioritizing migrants from four countries is a flawed plan that will only create more division among the migrant communities since the government has gone as far as to further categorize people as “good” and “undesireable” migrants.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Nayttokuva-2023-6-25-kello-7.17.13-1024x212.png

Mahad Musse Sheikh*: Vähemmistönuorten syyttely ei ratkaise mitään

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Mahad Musse Sheikh

Maahanmuuttajataustaisilla lapsilla ja nuorilla voi olla raskasta lukea jatkuvasti korkeassa asemassa olevien ihmisten levittämiä rasistisia tai syrjiviä viestejä. Tällaiset puheet saattavat herättää turvattomuuden tunnetta, ulkopuolisuuden kokemusta ja pelkoa.

Kun lapset ja nuoret huomaavat, että heidän taustaansa tai oppimistuloksiaan käytetään perusteena leimata heidät ongelmiksi, he voivat alkaa epäillä omaa arvoaan ja paikkaansa yhteiskunnassa.

Tällaiset puheet voivat johtaa myös siihen, että maahanmuuttajataustaiset lapset pelkäävät kouluun menemistä, koska he kokevat olevansa jo valmiiksi altavastaajia ja leimattuja. He voivat tuntea, että heidän täytyy todistella kykyjään jatkuvasti enemmän kuin muut, ja että heidän epäonnistumistaan käytetään todisteena heidän “kuulumattomuudestaan” tähän maahan.

Tämä voi lisätä paineita ja ahdistusta, ja pahimmillaan estää heitä osallistumasta täysipainoisesti koulunkäyntiin tai muuhun yhteiskunnan toimintaan. Tällaisessa ilmapiirissä kasvaessaan lapset ja nuoret eivät tunne olevansa tuettuja, vaan pikemminkin hylättyjä.

He voivat tuntea, että heitä syyllistetään asioista, joihin he eivät voi itse vaikuttaa, kuten maahanmuutosta tai siitä, kuinka kauan he ovat asuneet maassa. Tämä voi pahimmillaan estää heitä näkemästä tulevaisuudessaan mahdollisuuksia ja uskomasta itseensä.

On tärkeää, että päättäjät ja aikuiset ylipäätään viestivät näille lapsille, että heitä arvostetaan ja tuetaan, ja että heidän taustansa ei määritä heidän arvoaan tai mahdollisuuksiaan.

#Rasismi #syrjintä #vähemmistöryhmät #Lapset #MeJaHe #Nuoret #Politiikka

*Mahad Sheikh Musse on työskennellyt yli 20 vuotta nuorten ohjaajana Helsingissä. Hän on myös Migrant Talesin säännöllinen kolumnisti-kirjoittaja.

The rise of the far right exposes our failure and our propensity to racism

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The rise of the far-right and their simplistic scapegoating of migrants and minorities reveals a sad reality hitting Europe. The rise of the far-right does not expose the obvious but the fact that we have failed to educate generations after the horrors of World War 2.

If there is one matter that characterizes an autocratic state like Nazi Germany, it is the fact that the system gave people the right to oppress and murder on an industrial scale. It wasn’t the “rotten apples” at the top who made it possible, but with the support of the masses.

Teaching and institutionalizing racism, us versus them, is a sure way of gaining political and finally, autocratic power, as we saw in Germany after 1933.

Populism is like a drug addict who needs a constant. The drug addict gets the fix but it does not resolve his main problem: addiction and destruction of the person’s physical and mental health.

In Finland, the “drug-addict” political parties that capitalize on scapegoating migrants and minorities are the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, National Coalition Party (NCP), and Christian Democrats, and to an ambivalent extent the Swedish People’s Party and Social Democrats.

Only the Greens and Left Alliance have given a flat no to the present political development that normalizes racism and social exclusion.

Continue reading “The rise of the far right exposes our failure and our propensity to racism”

Despite assuranced to the contrary, the Finnish government is a far-right homophobic, Islamophobic bad joke

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THE STORY WAS UPDATED

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

The saying sits well with Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government. Can you teach a party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* to be civil and ditch their racism? For the PS to turn in a new political leaf and abandon their nationalist rants and xenophobia would be tantamount to political harakiri.

One matter that I have never grasped and accepted is how so-called mainstream parties like the National Coalition Party (NCP), the media, allow politicians of the PS to bash and denegrate migrants and minorities.

The latest scandal to hit the government involves minister of foreign trade and development, Ville Tavio, a PS politician who has made a name for himself as a far-right homophobe, Islamophobe and xenophobe.

The unilateral decision by Tavio not to participate in a gender-equality alliance for the rebuiling of Ukraine which also include sexual minorities, has received a lot of criticsm from President Alexander Stubb.

“I hope that in the future we will not see similar mistakes from the ministry for foreign affairs, that the president will not be informed of matters that belong to the minister for foreign trade and development cooperation, but are related to our foreign and security policy,” Stubb was quoted as saying in Yle News.

Just as the dust was settling, Tavio was quoted in Helsingin Sanomat by stating: “I support the rights of sexual minorities. The Perussuomalaiset will secure a better Finland for sexual minorities in general by opposing Islamzation.”

Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio. Source: Kauppalehti.

Even if we can point out the NCP’s political sin of going to bed with the PS, Finland has the government it deserves. If you look at their over first year in government, the question is what type of Finland will we have at the end of their term in 2027?

What will our welfare state look like and how much will social inequality grow and polarize our country? Would you dare to see?
It would be naive to believe that Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government will strengthen our welfare state The only matter it will strengthen is social inequality. As mentioned in a previous posting, about one third of Finnish voters are racist. The rise of the PS is a good example of the latter.

Going back to the original question: Can you teach a dog new tricks?

No, but if its racism is stongly grounded on racism, nationalism and social exclusion, then you can. The dog does not learn new tricks per se but is emboldened to carry out its old tricks.

Yahya Rouissi: When only BURANA* helps to understand the political headache

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In my opinion In Finland, the far-right can be understood as an underlying connection of ideological alignment shared between political parties, political groups within parties, individuals. Ideological outlooks that are characterized by extreme nationalist, anti-immigrant, and too often racist views.

These groups typically promote the preservation of a perceived “pure” or “authentic” white Finnish identity, which they see as threatened by a loss of “traditional” social values, immigration, multiculturalism, and specified scapegoated communities – with Muslim, African and Roma communities being the primary (though not the only ones, the list goes far longer and includes every group or community that isn’t perceived Finnish) targets. A strong belief in the “Great Replacement Theory” and climate change denial, as well as a rejection of liberal democratic principles, free media, diversity, and policies that promote inclusion, human rights, and equality frameworks.


The far-right is far from a unified, homogeneous movement confined to a single, well-defined party. Instead, its influence often spreads across various parties, including those that present themselves as centrist, national (center-right or right-wing), and even occasionally “liberal” to some extent. Within these parties, a wide spectrum of views exists, ranging from liberal to highly conservative. As a result, tolerance levels—and attitudes toward racism—vary significantly across this ideological scale, reflecting the diversity of opinions within these political groups.

When key triggers such as xenophobia, Islamophobia, the questioning of human rights (under the guise of “security”), migration, and the right to seek asylum are activated—often in response to specific events or contexts—they are typically deployed to target minorities. It is still surprising to some when populist rhetoric and calls for restrictive or exclusionary laws, aimed at one or more racialized minorities, emerge from members of mainstream political parties. These parties often align with far-right, explicitly nationalist factions. Given the shared ideological foundations of nationalism, aversion to foreigners, racial intolerance, and beliefs in racial superiority, their cooperation and partnership are unsurprising.

The term “BURANA,” an inside joke in Finland akin to a “one-size-fits-all” solution, is a fitting metaphor for the far-right’s scapegoating tactic. This rhetorical “duct tape” is used to channel public frustration toward specific minority groups. During times of perceived economic hardship, far-right movements attempt to garner support by positioning themselves as the defenders of “the originals,” while portraying racialized minorities as outsiders and threats. This oversimplified narrative is used to blame these communities for everything from rising prices, cuts in healthcare, and higher taxes—even bad weather, the only aspect of climate change they are willing to acknowledge. Conveniently, this tactic distracts from the far-right’s own political and economic failures, deflecting attention to external scapegoats.

*Ibuprofen, or Burana, is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug that is used to relieve pain, fever, and inflammation.

Finland’s international image suffers another blow

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“I do not consider [Prime Minister] Petteri Orpo to be a racist. But the fact is that as Prime Minister he enables, legitimizes, and in a way I think incites that thinking in this coalition in Finland. Is that civilized? In my opinion, it is not.“

Kirsi Piha, a former National Coalition Party (NCP) MP and candidate for Helsinki mayor, announced her resignation from the NCP due to its bond with the radical-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. “I think [the government] policies are inward-looking,” she said. “They are based on prejudice and hatred, it is based on zero-sum game thinking, and therefore pure racism.”

PS Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio, who has expressed an affinity for French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Poland and Hungary, was the latest scandal to chip another chip off Finland’s international image.

Tavio unilaterally decided Finland would not join an international gender-equality alliance to rebuild Ukraine. Such an alliance promotes sexual and gender minorities, which are red flags for Tavio’s homophobic political worldview.

Tavio’s decision, which would put Finland in the same league as Poland and Hungary on sexual minority issues, according to University of Helsinki researcher Johanna Vuorelma, got a swift reaction from President Alexander Stubb.

“I hope that in the future we will not see similar mistakes from the ministry for foreign affairs, that the president will not be informed of matters that belong to the minister for foreign trade and development cooperation, but are related to our foreign and security policy,” said Stubb.

Obsessed by conspiracy theories like the Great Replacement, Tavio never responded to a rebuttal I wrote in Helsinki Times.

Considering how racism has shed its roots in Finland thanks to Orpo’s government, PS MP Jenni Simula ridicules Social Democratic chairperson Antti Lindtman by shouting, “can we get that in Arabic too,” after he says a few words in Swedish, Finland’s official language.

Simula is a member of the far-right Suomen Sisu association and the former secretary of ex-MP Olli Immonen, a former chairperson of Suomen Sisu.

Another example of how Finland has lost its moral compass was the naming of Henna Virkkunen as EU executive vice-president for tech-sovereignty, security and democracy.

Virkkunen, who is an NCP MEP,  would not care less for the fate of those crossing and drowning in the Mediterranean.

In the 2019 MEP election, she responded in the Alma Meter election compass in the affirmative to question 13 (1): “The EU must save all those migrants who are at risk of drowning attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.”

Virkkunen “disagreed” that the EU must save those migrants crossing the Mediterranean from drowning.

Virkkunen is in “good” company. The five MEPs would not care if people died after being pushed back at the border. Three are the ruling National Coalition Party, the Perussuomalaiset*, and the opposition Center Party.

  1. The link no longer exists.

Using sociological intervention in an orienteering course for immigrants and Finns at Otava Folk High School

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The paper, written by Enrique Tessieri in 2009 for the Social Science Department of Turku University, explains how sociological intervention helped promote and strengthen cultural sensitivity at a folk high school 14 kilometers from the Eastern Finnish city of Mikkeli. From 2010-2011, Otava Folk High School became the first school in Eastern Finland – if not nationally- to offer halal meat regularly to its Muslim students.

One of the positive changes that sociological intervention brought was bringing down the fences between us and them by creating a more inclusive climate. “Otava Folk High School was one of the first in 2010 to serve regularly halal meat in Finland 2-3 times a week to students, which are mostly Muslims. In order to promote inclusiveness, students are no longer called migrant students but multicultural students. Otava Folk High School offers different types of education but the most important for multicultural students include upper secondary school, comprehensive school, predatory comprehensive school, and Finnish language and culture courses for asylum seekers.” (See “The Shifting Global World of Youth and Education,” edited by Mabel Ann Brown, Routledge, 2018, page 105).

While these changes were promoted with the help of sociological intervention and cultural sensitivity, they were short-lived in 2018 by Principal Harri Jokinen, who cited economic factors.

If you are going to promote cultural diversity and sensitivity at a school, it depends a lot on the management, in the case of Otava Folk High School,, on the principal.

Continue reading “Using sociological intervention in an orienteering course for immigrants and Finns at Otava Folk High School”

Ahti Tolvanen*: Finland’s pushback law undermines the rule of law

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The problem with this law is that it calls into question the whole idea of the rule of law. It allows the Finnish government to declare that there is a threat at the border of a “hybrid invasion”.
This declaration can be made based on secret security  information the government may claim to have and no court can examine and rule on the validity of the information.
The declaration of a hybrid invasion will allow the border authorities to turn away anyone and everyone no matter what danger they are facing. This can include both foreigners and Finnish citizens as the authorities have emergency powers to forgo examination of documents and identities. In fact as Minister Mari Rantanen has stated, the persons crossing the border may not even know themselves that they are involved in a hybrid invasion. So there is no real way of knowing who the government is “pushing back” at the border or why or what will happen to them outside Finland. In fact, if there are people the government does not like, the government now has the powers to expel, beat up or even shoot dead persons they do not like without legal accountability. All they have to do is wait until these unlikeable people are at a border point and then enact this new so-called law which can be done in very short order.

“Pushbacks” carried out under this law are not appealable or open to judicial review.
Backers of the law argue that it will only be applied in rare and unusual situations.


They said the same about the Valtalaki when it was adopted. It was enacted for the first time during the Corona epidemic to close off Uusimaa from the rest of the country.
The problem is that when such laws for rare powers are adopted, the government soon finds ways to use them to extend their power, The Valtalaki was challenged in Parliament and eventually ended by a vote by MPs.   The “Pushback Law” is special in that it has no provision for parliamentary review.
The EU human rights court may yet weigh in on the law but there are forces at work to also erode the rule of law in the EU with a similar law EU wide.  And you thought the rule of law was sometning Finland champions in the world?
 

*Ahti Tolavanen is a regular Migrant Tales contributor and a member of the editorial board.