Author: Migrant Tales

Sweden riots: People cannot live off football, crumbs and destitute pity

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In the face of the riots in Huusby, Sweden, which have now spread outside the northern Stockholm suburb, there’s one culprit we should pay close attention to especially here in Finland: The erosion of Sweden’s comprehensive welfare state system. 

Faced with a seven-billion-euro budget deficit, it isn’t surprising that few if any politicians in this country want to dwell too much on the backlash the downsizing of our social welfare state could have on Finland. It’s not only easy but politically convenient to blame immigrants and their Swedish children, grandchildren and great grandchildren for the rioting.

National Coalition Party MP Arto Satonen is one Finnish politician that caught my attention concerning what he said about the riots in Sweden. The MP, who is chairman of National Coaliation Party’s parliamentary group, gave the following solutions:

  • Keep the number of asylum seekers under control;
  • Greater effort must be made to integrate immigrants;
  • Ghettoization (he calls it segregation) must be avoided.

Why does Satonen talk about “keeping the number of asylum seekers under control?” Is he suggesting that asylum seekers are more prone to rioting and being marginalized than labor immigrants? Asylum seekers are the last group that would be rioting in Husby or in other parts of Stockholm and Sweden.

The same opinion was expressed by National Coalition Party Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, who said that the number of asylum seekers must be kept in check, according to YLE. His comment was criticized by Left Alliance Minister of Culture Paavo Arhimäki.

I agree with Satonen’s second point but it’s unclear how we are going about this in Finland. High immigrant unemployment and youth marginalization, job discrimination, and the rise of a populist anti-immigration party that won 19.1% of the votes in 2011 make integration a greater challenge.

I am always a bit surprised when Finnish politicians speak of the danger of ghettoization. On the one hand, Finland officially praises multiculturalism but on the other hand dreads when too many visible immigrants live in the same neighborhood.

The same concern was expressed by teachers in a survey in 2011, which showed that 41% of teachers would like to place limits on third-culture children in the classroom. One third of those polled would not place any such limits.

Satonen said that football was a great integrator. Agreed. However, people can’t live off sports.

They need opportunities, jobs and Nordic social equality.

Jouni Karnasaari: “Keski-ikäinen mies, oletko vaarassa sairastua rasismiin?”

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Jouni Karnasaari

Suomalainen keski-ikäistyvä mies joutuu monenlaisten pohdintojen ääreen kilometrien karttuessa matkamittariin. Kakkostyypin diabetekseen sairastumisen riski kasvaa, samoin sydän- ja verisuonitautien riski. Repsahdukset alkoholismiin muuttuvat yhä todennäköisimmiksi. Kaikkien edellämainittujen suhteen on olemassa tukiverkostoja, aikaisen havaitsemisen ohjeistuksia ja ennaltaehkäisevää toimintaa. Yhden kansansairauden osalta näin ei kuitenkaan ole.

Rasismi kansansairautena on lisääntymässä siinä määrin että voitanee puhua jo epidemiasta. Kuten diabeteksessa, rasismissakin ensimerkit ovat lähes huomaamattomat – alkuun esimerkiksi erilainen ulkonäkö aiheuttaa vain ihmetteleviä katseita, taudin pahetessa puheeseen tulee uusia elementtejä kuten “tuo on NIITÄ” tai “noita me täällä elätetään”. Akuuttivaiheesta krooniseen vaiheeseen siirtyminen voi tapahtua nopeasti mikäli ei reagoida ajoissa.

Itse olen ollut siinä onnellisessa asemassa, että olen toistaiseksi välttänyt edellämainituista sydän- ja verisuonitaudit, alkoholismin ja diabeteksen. Varmaankin kiitos hyvän valistuksen, koetan pitää vyötärölihavuuden kurissa, liikkua riittävästi ja syödä edes jotakuinkin terveellisesti.

Rasismiin sairastumiselta en sensijaan ole onnistunut välttymään. Kun näin jälkikäteen omaa sairaushistoriaansa tarkastelee, ensimmäiset selvät hälytysmerkit näkyivät 90-luvun alkupuolella. Tuolloin olin melko vastikään muuttanut Mikkeliin, samoihin aikoihin kun entisen hotelli Varsavuoren tiloihin oli avattu Somalipakolaisten vastaanottokeskus. Kuten allergian puhjetessa, minuun vaikuttivat massiivinen epäkohtien esille nostaminen ja yleistyksien hyöky ja aivan kuin varkain olin mukana keskusteluissa joissa aina vain kovemmin äänenpainoin rakennettiin raja-aitaa ihmisten välille. Vastustuskykyni petti ja sairastuin rasismiin.

Kuten vaikkapa sepelvaltimotaudissa, rasismissakaan pelkät ympäristötekijät eivät riitä laukaisemaan sairautta, oma vaikutuksensa on myös perintötekijöillä ja muilla sairastumisalttiutta lisäävillä tekijöillä. Yhtä kaikki, kerran rasismiin sairastunut ei voi enää palata ajassa takaisinpäin. Kuten alkoholisti, joka ensimmäisen kerran ymmärtää olevansa alkoholisti, myös rasisti aloittaa hitaan paranemisprosessin vasta tunnistaessaan ja tunnustaessaan sairautensa.

Oma paranemisprosessini on kestänyt nyt jo lähes kaksi vuosikymmentä ja edelleen rasismi tunkee ajoittain pintaan. Mutta kun tunnistan tuon puolen itsessäni enkä hyväksy sitä, uskon että sairaus ei enää saa minusta ja ajatuksistani yliotetta.

Omassa paranemisprosessissani erinomaisena tukena on ollut työpaikka joka on siedätyshoidoin kyennyt lannistamaan etenevän sairauden – erilaisuudelle altistaminen, moninäkökulmaisuuden lisääminen, luottamus ja hyväksyminen ovat niitä tekijöitä jotka ovat mahdollistaneet parantumisen. Olen tuskallisen tietoinen siitä, että läheskään kaikilla ei tällaista mahdollisuutta ole, mutta ehkäpä mahdollisuuksia tulee aikaa myöden? Niitä odotellessa oma luontaishoitoreseptini joka toimii takuuvarmasti – harjoita siedätyshoitoa mahdollisimman usein ja hakeudu tilanteisiin joissa altistut muullekin kuin huonepölylle.

Suurin uhka Euroopalle ovat he, jotka haluavat puolustaa meitä toisilta

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Minua ei pelota kulttuurinen moninaisuus puhumattakaan terrorismi. Toisten kulttuurien olemisen kieltäminen globalisoituneessa maailmassa on sama kuin yrittäisi kieltää seksin. Kulttuurinen moninaisuus ja seksi ovat osa ihmisyyttä. On turhaa kieltää jotain niinkin luonnollista.

Toki on paljon uhkia. Yksi niistä on  äärioikeistolaiset, populistiset sekä maahanmuuttovastaiset ideologiat, jotka ovat hyvin yleisiä tämänpäiväsissä Euroopassa. Jos emme haasta näitä ilmiöitä on samaa  kuin asettaisimme hirttosilmukan kansalaisoikeutemme kaulaan.

Terrorismin laajentuminen tai sen pelko voi johtaa meidät vaaralliselle totalitarismin polulle, koska yrittäisimme suojata itsemme kaikin mahdollisin tavoin.  Löytäisimme paljon syntipukkeja, mutta emme lopulta ratkaisuja eikä rauhaa.

En pelkää kulttuurien moninaisuutta, terrorismi tai Husbyn kaltaiset mellakat Suomessa. Haluan, että populistiset poliitikot erityisesti perussuomalaisesta puolueesta lopettamaan pelkäämisen minun puolestani.

Älä käytä Ruotsissa tapahtuneita mellakoita tekosyynä hyökätä sitä vastaan kuka olen tai kieltää oikeuteni olla erilainen tässä maassa.

Hyväksy se tosiasia, ettei yksikään nykyinen tai tuleva laki estä Suomen moninaisuutta tai sitä, että se pitäisi meidät turvassa terrorismilta. Suomi pyrki vuosina 1939 ja 1995 rajoittamaan ankarasti maahanmuuttoa ja ulkomaalaisten muuttoa tänne epäonnistuen.

Useasti maahanmuuttovastaiset rinnastavat maahanmuuton terrorismiin vaikka se on edelleen erittäin harvinaista Euroopassa, EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2012 mukaan. Sinulla on Euroopassa suurempi vaara kuolla auto-onnettomuudessa, lääkärin virheestä tai poliisin luodista kuin terroristi-iskusta tai kulttuurien moninaisuudesta.

Britanniassa traagisesti murhatun armeijan sotilaan tapaus torstaina osoitti sen, kuinka Britannian reagoi ja miksi suvaitsemattomuus on  suurin vaara Euroopassa. Islamin terrorismi on yksi vaara mutta vielä suurempi uhka ovat ne ryhmät, jotka väittävät puolustavansa meitä siltä uhalta.

Sinä olet vaarallinen. Kyllä, sanoin sinä, joka pelkäät minun puolestani ja olet valmis laittamaan kansalaisoikeutemme kylmävarastoon.

Migrant Tales Literary: Helloless culture

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By Dana

Hello!? Well yes, hello! Hello! Let me tell you about a helloless culture.? What is wrong with greeting people anyway?? In Finland saying hello seems very difficult. ?It looks like they’re afraid to say hello even if u told them hello over and over again…and i’m wondering how many times i have to take the initiative and say good morning and greet people in this way.

mail.google.com

If i don’t say anything i won’t hear a response, hmmm what a beautiful culture! Oh hello! A greeting and a hi are a way to be friendly to others but here everything is extremely cold and unfriendly. Why? Sure, you and I don’t know it, only they know it and they claim it’s their culture – oh no that word again, culture!  

Culture is offers an easy answer to all my questions about the Finns and Finland. Oh and please don’t tell me it’s about being shy or shyness if u exclude me because it means ur not a shy people. So what do you think about greeting people with a hello? What about a course in learning how to say hello? Do u like the idea?

When u or your child visit a place u need to greet others with a hello, it’s important, it’s like telling the other person not to be afraid of you because you’re a friend. How can a child stay silent in such a situation? No respect for adults? Teach them respect, then they won’t leave u in a home for the elderly when u r old and they’ll care for u when you’re old.

Adults should believe that a good way of being friendly begins with a small and humble hi. What should I think of you if I am a foreigner in this helloless culture? Hello ensures peace between people so what’s wrong with saying hello?

Don’t forget to say hello. I won’t abandon my hellos and greetings even if you have…. hellooooooo anyway!

The biggest threat to Europe are those who claim to be afraid on our behalf

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I’m neither afraid of cultural diversity nor terrorism. Being against different cultures in a globalized world is like being against sex. Cultural diversity, interculturalism and sex are part of the human condition. You cannot make them illegal in any way, shape or form.   

If we’d embrace far right and mainstream anti-immigration ideologies so common in today’s Europe, it would be like placing a noose around the neck of our civil rights. Terrorism and our fear of terrorism would not diminish but grow as a result. Remember what happened in Germany in 1933?

More terrorism would lead us on a perilous path of totalitarianism, where we’d not only do everything possible to undermine and deny cultural diversity but use it as a scapegoat for all our problems and unhappiness.

I’m not afraid of cultural diversity. I want populist politicians especially of the Perussuomalasiet (PS) party  to stop being afraid on my behalf.

Don’t use the riots in Husby, Sweden, as an excuse to attack who I am or deny my right to be different from you in my country.

Accept the fact that NONE of your present or future laws will prevent Finland from being culturally diverse or keep it safe from terrorism. Finland tried between 1939 and 1995 to severely limit immigrants and foreign investment from coming here and failed. I doubt that any sensible person would want to return to the days of cold war Finland.

Since anti-immigration Islamophobists like to equate immigration with terrorism, terrorism remains extremely rare in Europe never mind in Finland, according to the EU Terrorism and Situation Report 2012.  Despite the tragic murder of a member of the British armed forced this week, reaction to it in the UK reveals that the greatest threat to Europe isn’t Islamic terrorism but from groups that claim to defend us from it.

Stop spreading fear and absolutely stop being afraid on my behalf! You’re most likely in Europe to be killed by a policeman, medical error or car accident than terrorism never mind cultural diversity.

The biggest threat to our society is you. Yes you, the one that is being afraid on my behalf and ready to put my civil rights in cold storage.

ENAR press statement: British soldier’s murder is unacceptable but should not result in a racist backlash

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Comment: This statement by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) says that all types of violence should be condemned. We strongly condemn the murder committed against a member of the British armed forces. 

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Brussels, 23 May 2013 – The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) strongly condemns the hateful murder committed against a British member of the Armed Forces in London yesterday (Thursday). Violence based on hatred should be firmly combated, no matter who commits it and who the victim is. ENAR at the same time urges that this brutal act should not result in a racist and Islamophobic backlash for millions of Muslims across Britain and indeed Europe. We are concerned about the chain reaction from extremist groups in the wake of the murder. The far-right English Defence League has staged an anti-Muslim rally in London, clashed with the police, and two mosques have been attacked elsewhere in the UK.

ENAR Chair Chibo Onyeji said: “All communities need to stand together in solidarity to ensure ideologies based on hatred do not win the day. We should also not let the voices of racist and xenophobic groups exploit the situation and stir up hatred and violence against Muslim and ethnic minority communities. Politicians across Europe have a responsibility to work on dialogue between communities and ensure everyone feels part of society, instead of adopting to discourse of restrictive policies that curtail the human rights of all individuals.” 

Read original statement here. 

The Stockholm riots reveal in the raw our prejudices and loathing for cultural diversity

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Apart from being a wake-up call to ever-growing social exclusion, discrimination and outright intolerance that is alive and kicking in Sweden, the riots in the northern suburb of Stockholm have revealed in Finland our prejudices and loathing for cultural diversity. 

Kuvankaappaus 2013-5-25 kello 8.31.31

The Local writes: “Stockholm is not on fire. Let’s get that clear immediately.” Read full story here.

The riots in Husby even encouraged anti-immigration commentators on Migrant Tales to radicalize and step up their attacks on those who defend the good name of this blog.

Since riots are a desperate call for attention, reaction to such turmoil can reveal our deepest fears, prejudices and shameless doses of political opportunism as we have seen by Perussuomalaiset party politicians.

For me, the riots in Sweden are a sad reminder that a part of our society is still incapable of coming to terms with cultural diversity. Their response is defensive instead of proactive.

What does all of this reveal to us? That the lives of certain immigrant groups in this country are going to get far worse in the future.

By ”far worse” I mean greater social exclusion, prejudice and discrimination.  Instead of finding proactive solutions, our prejudices will continue to cripple and impair our good judgement.

Another unsettling fact emerges from the Stockholm riots: Finland has serious issues of its own in accepting its ever-growing cultural diversity.

What will all of this lead to?  The answer is simple: Similar riots in Finland in the future as in Sweden.

If the riots in Husby show that that a model Nordic welfare state like Sweden has issues concerning cultural diversity, it suggests that matters in Finland are in far worse shape.

It’s not too late, however. A lot can be done to avoid the mistakes of  Sweden on the integration of immigrants front.

The most important of these is to live up to the spirit of our laws, which promotion of acceptance, opportunities and social equality for all.

City of Helsinki shouldn’t contract companies exploiting foreign workers

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By Zuzeeko Tegha Abeng

Foreign workers in the cleaning services sector in Finland face exploitation and abuse from employers and sometimes from customers. The authorities, including city councils that award cleaning contracts to companies that violate employment rules and collective agreements share the blame.

cleanersImage: The Copenhagen Post

According to a Yle report, work safety inspections conducted in about 20 cleaning companies that employ foreign workers revealed problems at every company inspected, and the City of Helsinki is considering contracting the services of one of the companies.

Violations uncovered by inspections carried out this year include irregularities in registering work hours, payment irregularities and employment of workers without work permits.

As a foreign national with experience and connections in Finland’s cleaning sector, I am not surprised by news that inspections turned up problems in every cleaning company inspected. What is surprising to me is that the City of  Helsinki is considering contracting a company that violates employment standards.

In my view, companies that do not register work hours exploit workers – intentionally or unintentionally – by not remunerating all work hours since some hours “slip through the cracks”. Payment irregularities could mean workers are not paid as per their work contracts and collective agreements. For instance, some foreign employees work without a fixed payment date, hence they can’t plan payment of bills, rents and other living expenses because they don’t know when they’ll be paid.

Workers employed without work permits, in my opinion are vulnerable and subject to exploitation and abuse since they mostly work in hiding and cannot take legal action against exploitation and abuse. Employers take advantage of undocumented workers.

Background checks

The City of Helsinki and all other authorities in Finland, including private sector businesses requesting bids should ensure that bidding companies respect labor laws and collective agreements before contracting their services. This can be done by working closely with labor inspectors and trade unions.

Service suppliers should be subjected to background checks before bid contracts are accepted.

In 2009 I wrote a complaint to the City of Espoo about the exploitation of workers (mostly Africans and Chinese) by a cleaning company operating in Espoo. In reply to my complaint a lawyer at the City of Espoo said, that before contracting companies the city ensures that the companies comply with labor laws and collective agreements. It was hard to believe the lawyer because the company in question, in my assessment, violated many labor standards and collective agreements in the cleaning services sector, including the obligation to register hours spent on the job by all employees. (Read my story, in Finnish, on PAM-lehti).

Exploitative companies that disregard labor regulations, collective agreements and workers’ rights should not be given contracts. Contracting such companies sends a wrong message that exploitation of foreign workers is acceptable in Finland.

Read original blog entry here.

This piece was reprinted by Migrant Tales with permission.

The riots in Stockholm could happen in Finland sooner rather than later

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Center Party municipal politician Abdirahim “Husu” Hussein told the Finnish media that the riots we are seeing in the Stockholm suburb of Husby could well happen in Finland in 10-15 years if we commit the same mistakes. The ugly face of intolerance, which is raising its head in Finland conspicuously, reinforces Hussein’s claim. 

By “mistakes” I mean lack of opportunities, little acceptance, intolerance and social exclusion.

A good example that the riots in Husby will happen in Finland is Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Vesa-Matti Saarakkala, who suggested that immigrants with “behavior disorders” should be interned for a half a year at a camp to learn how to behave in our society.

PS chairman Timo Soini’s constant denials that intolerance isn’t an issue in our society and especially in his anti-immigration party together with the silent acceptance of such outrageous claims by other politicians, assure us as well that the future will be here sooner than we expect.

Kuvankaappaus 2013-5-24 kello 9.09.08

In Saarakkala’s black-and-white racist world, he would be more than happy that immigrants would act in the way that he insults them. It would offer proof that his outrageous claims are true and assure him a steady stream of voters who are as well multiculturally challenged.

Instead of speaking about sending immigrants to camps, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for a number of Finnish politicians like Saarakkala to be sent to a camp on how to “behave” in a culturally diverse society. They need guidance on this front.

When reading about the riots in neighboring Sweden we should pay close attention to how the problem is being reported by the media and what politicians are saying.

In Finland, it shouldn’t surprise us that openly anti-immigration politicians are trying to get the most political mileage from what is happening there.

Since a riot and burning cars are considered anti-social behavior, only immigrants, or those “with immigrant backgrounds,” are the troublemakers.

We’re missing the point: The issue in Sweden is inclusion and equal opportunities.

The riots there show us that this model society has issues with intolerance as well.

 

Fighting racism in Finland the Ricky Ghansah way

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Ricky Ghansah is a young African who was being harassed by a “super racist”at a Helsinki bus stop. On entering the bus, Ghansah noticed that the man had forgotten at home his wallet and bus pass. He went to the bus driver and paid the man’s ticket. 

Kuvankaappaus 2013-5-22 kello 18.42.38

Read Facebook thread here.

The man, who had called Ghansah racist names, came up to him and thanked him for buying the ticket. He told the  man that his show of gratitude doesn’t mean much to him but if he apologized that would.

The man then apologized for his behavior. Ghansah asked if he could apologize a little louder so the whole bus could hear him. He did and the bus passengers clapped their hands in approval at what had happened.

It was a very effective way to handle such a horrible situation. A woman passenger who sat next to Ghansah said that he had handled the situation very well.

Possibly the man who insulted Ghansah is a racist manner will think twice the next time he opens his mouth.