Migrant Tales, Author at Migrant tales

UPDATE (July 20): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link.

July 20

HOK-Elanto bouncer under discrimination investigation (YLE)

What else could have been said? While this story is pretty clear and to the point about a discrimination case of a bouncer who claimed there was a quota of how many non-white customers could enter the restaurant, it’s unfortunate there’s no editorial or opinion-piece condemning what happened never mind giving a solution on how to challenge this type of blatant discrimination. Finnish journalism, like YLE, needs more teeth to question the complacent journalism we too often see in this country especially when it comes to writing about our ever-growing cultural diversity. The latter was reinforced by Michael Haltzel, who wrote the following about Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairman and foreign minister, Timo Soini, whenever members of his party make racist and outrageous statements. Haltzel wrote: “The domestic press corps seems content to question him once, receive an evasive answer, and leave it at that.”

* The Finnish name of the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English-language names adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.

Finland’s Finance Minister Alexander Stubb is a huge disappointment

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Migrant Tales

What has happened to National Coalition Party (NCP) Minister of Finance Alexander Stubb? In March 2011 he took a strong stand against the xenophobia that was and still is gripping Finland.

He characterized over four years ago, when he was foreign minister, Finland’s ongoing debate on immigration and immigrants as “oppressive,” according to tabloid Iltalehti.

Today, I must admit that Stubb is a huge disappointment. From giving the image of being open-minded to diversity he now seems more like a politician interested in power and personal gain than the interests of everyone living in Finland never mind Europe.

Continue reading “Finland’s Finance Minister Alexander Stubb is a huge disappointment”

There is no market for an anti-Muslim repellent in Finland

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Helsinki substitute councilman, Olli Sademies, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Helsinki substitute councilman who wrote that African men should be sterilized in Finland after having three children, now states that his so-called Muslim spray repellent is for rapists.

But here’s a question for Sademies, a retired policeman who is under investigation for hate speech, about his so-called business idea:

How do you know if the person attacking you is a Muslim?
What do you do with the spray if the attacker is a white Finn?
Could it be used against Jews?
Is there a market for such a repellent?

All of Sademies’ political shenanigans is not only a signal that his campaign for councilman has begun but a prank by the PS to slowly turn Finland into an Islamphobic country like Denmark today.

Sademies’ comments have been noticed in other European countries thanks to the European Information Human Rights Center. Continue reading “There is no market for an anti-Muslim repellent in Finland”

YouGov poll not only shows how critical Finns are of Greece and Greeks but of the outside world

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Migrant Tales

A YouGov survey shows that 74% of Finns are against debt relief for Greece with the same amount blaming present and past governments for the country’s financial problems, reports the English service of YLE.

Compared with other countries, 73% of Finnish respondents were the most critical blaming the present and past Greek governments for the country’s deep financial problems. That was followed by Denmark (70%), Sweden (65%), Germany (59%), Britain (38%) and France (33%).

Read full story here.

Finnish respondents (74%) also took the hardest line insisting that the terms of the bailout as originally agreed should be respected.

See full YouGov poll result here.

Continue reading “YouGov poll not only shows how critical Finns are of Greece and Greeks but of the outside world”

Eva Biaudet: Finland’s ever-culturally and ethnically diverse society in the new century (Part II)

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales insight: In part I Swedish People’s Party (SPP) MP Eva Biaudet gave her views of the challenges and threats facing Finland as it becomes ever-culturally and ethnically diverse. While many will acknowledge such challenges, Biaudet expands in the final part of this two-part series on ways to move forward. What should our society, migrants and minorities do to rise above social ills like racism and make our society more inclusive?

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Swedish People’s Party (SPP) MP Eva Biaudet strongly believes that the blueprint to create a just and equal society for everyone in Finland hinges on Nordic and EU values.

I see Sweden as a good example for Finland to follow,” she explained. “They have a different view of immigration and refugees than us. I read in the headline of a Swedish business daily that [instead of speaking of a problem] it read that the country was blessed with so much incoming competence thanks to the Syrians that got asylum.”

Biaudet stated that in Sweden there is a notion that each person, irrespective of his or her background, is valuable to society.

Why does Finland lag behind Sweden in this respect?

The SPP MP blamed Finland’s lack of diversity for the negative attitude some have of immigration and refugees, which they see as a problem and not as an opportunity.

**Eva Biaudet. Photo by Enrique Tessieri.**

“One factor that makes us Finns different from Swedes is that we have come into less contact with foreigners than they,” she said. “Almost everyone in Sweden knows someone who’s an immigrant or a person with such a background. It’s impossible to tell from a person’s ethnic background if they are a Swede or not.”

Continue reading “Eva Biaudet: Finland’s ever-culturally and ethnically diverse society in the new century (Part II)”

Eva Biaudet: Finland’s ever-culturally and ethnically diverse society in the new century (Part I)

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales insight: The interview with Swedish People’s Party (SPP) MP Eva Biaudet is a two-part series. Biaudet was ombudswoman for minorities during 2010-15 and has been active in local and national politics since 1989. She is one of the most outspoken persons in Finland for minority rights.

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Swedish People’s Party (SPP) MP Eva Biaudet has made a name for herself defending those that don’t have a voice in society and those who are most vulnerable to discrimination and exploitation. If there is a person that can give a picture of where Finland is or should be heading in this century as our country becomes ever-culturally and ethnically diverse, that person is Biaudet.

After an intense one-hour interview where every question demanded more time and attention, I asked Biaudet what she considered a favorable and negative scenario of how Finland should evolve as a culturally diverse society in this century.

“As our society becomes more culturally diverse, I see our ties with the Nordic region and Europe strengthening [positive scenario],” she said. “A negative scenario would mean a distancing from the Nordic countries [and its ideals] and identifying more with Eastern Europe and nationalistic ideals with a dominating fear of Russia, which I’m not underestimating.”

“In other words it would mean more EU-skepticism and ending development aid altogether,” she continued. “If we ever got to such a point it would signal the end to our Nordic ideals and values of social equality, gender equality and weaken the ethical foundations of society.”

Biaudet mentioned media researcher and columnist Anu Koivunen, who viewed neo-conservative values as the greatest threat to women and minority rights.

“We have to do everything possible to ensure that everyone can live with dignity in the future and that no one is socially excluded from society,” she said.

Eva Biaudet. Photo by Enrique Tessieri.

Continue reading “Eva Biaudet: Finland’s ever-culturally and ethnically diverse society in the new century (Part I)”

Migrant Tales (January 26, 2013): Making torture and hate acceptable

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales insight: It always amazes me how the United States and the media conveniently forget that torture has been used by many administrations as a means of scaring and getting information from its imagined and real enemies. Torture isn’t a recent interrogation technique used by the CIA and did not appear after 9/11. That is why linking the American Psychological Association (APA) to the CIA in making torture a more effective tool in interrogation is vital to ensure that the United States or any government prohibit such an outlandish practice.

Writes the Guardian: “For more than a decade, the American Psychological Association (APA) has maintained that a strict code of ethics prohibits its more than 130,000 members to aid in the torture of detainees while simultaneously permitting involvement in military and intelligence interrogations. The group has rejected media reporting on psychologists’ complicity in torture…”

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Even if the media in the United States speaks of torture as something recent, the truth is that it has been going on for a very long time. These type of barbaric interrogation techniques were widely used in the last century in regions like Latin America. The CIA and the United States trained and promoted torture and state-sponsored terrorism in places like the School of the Americas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4eLYXJIZfg

Torture is not only a part of my history, but the legacy of millions of Latin Americans, Africans and Asians who are gripped today by drug wars, violence and poverty. Matters have got so bad in the underdeveloped world that people are ready to risk their lives to migrate and work for slave wages.

One has to connect the historical dots when looking at undocumented migrants and immigration in general. It’s the same story taking place over and over again: we colonize, enslave, pillage, support dictatorships; we reap the greatest profit by promoting poverty and underdevelopment in these regions.

Continue reading “Migrant Tales (January 26, 2013): Making torture and hate acceptable”

The PS, like the Confederate flag, is a symbol of racism and hatred for most migrants in Finland

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Migrant Tales

In states like South Carolina, where Dylann Roof mass murdered nine people on June 18 at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, and after an ongoing debate the Confederate flag was taken down from senate house grounds today. Instead of starting a race war which Roof wanted to ignite, his killings awoke us to the oppression and suffering that the Confederate flag continues to represent.

This is not an essay about the Roof killings or the Confederate flag per se, but an opportunity to ask what are today the symbols of racism, hatred and white Finnish supremacy.

I wouldn’t be surprised if in the future an activist like Bree Newsome below, who took the Confederate flag down last month, would do the same thing to the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* flag.

The PS has not only victimized, ostracized and attacked migrants in a hostile manner in its climb to claw power, it has become for the majority of migrants and minorities in Finland a symbol of oppression just like the Confederate flag is to blacks in the United States.

Disagree? A recent example of this hostility is Olli Sademies, a PS substitute councilman, who wrote that Africans should be forcibly sterilized.

The PS may want to play down this incident but we won’t forget. We cannot forget because we love our children and grandchildren and want them to live in a country that is inclusive and respects them.

Bree Newsome takes down the Confederate flag on June 27. Read full story here.

Continue reading “The PS, like the Confederate flag, is a symbol of racism and hatred for most migrants in Finland”

PS Substitute Councilman Olli Sademies to be investigated for hate speech

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Helsinki substitute councilman, Olli Sademies, will be investigated by the police for hate speech, reports the Swedish-language service of YLE.

Migrant Tales first reported the story in the end of May. A few weeks later Sademies resurfaced launching a new attack against Muslims by suggesting a “business idea” to create a pig’s blood spray that would be used against people of that faith.

In our opinion, using such violent and hostile language against any minority by a politician belonging to a party in government is unacceptable. His suggestion on Facebook is, in our opinion, tantamount to inciting ethnic agitation and violence against black people in this country.

Continue reading “PS Substitute Councilman Olli Sademies to be investigated for hate speech”

Racism Review: The epidemic of colorblindness

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales insight: Is it also an epidemic in Finland and Europe?

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Lessie Branch

There is an epidemic in our country. Other epidemics like obesity and AIDS create injustice in the body, but this one creates injustice in our society and the ways in which we relate to one another. We have a name for this disease: colorblindness.

What are the symptoms of colorblindness? The most notable is the refusal to admit that the color of a person’s skin affects that person’s opportunities in America. Other symptoms include a callous rationalization of racial violence, a denial of one’s own racial prejudices, a minimization of ubiquitous bigotry, and, in extreme cases, a belief that race is a personal choice.

Read full opinion piece here.

Let’s take a look at some recent cases of this rampant disease. Several weeks ago, Tahera Ahmad ordered a can of soda on a United Airlines flight. For sanitary reasons, she requested an unopened can, but she was denied. “Big deal,” you might think. “It’s probably just some obscure airline regulation about canned drinks, right?” Unfortunately, no. This was a symptom of America’s insidious disease.

Continue reading “Racism Review: The epidemic of colorblindness”