Author: Migrant Tales

Ilta-Sanomat poll shows Greens leading PS in municipal election

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

A poll commissioned by Ilta-Sanomat gave the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party a big surprise. If the October municipal election took place today, the Greens would get 11% of the votes compared with 10% by the PS.  The previous setback that the PS got from the Greens was in the presidential election, when an openly gay candidate beat two conservative anti-EU hopefuls, Timo Soini of the PS and Paavo Väyrynen of the Center Party. 

The poll showed that most of the votes would go to Kokoomus (26%) followed by the Social Democrats (17%) and Center Party (16%).  The Left Alliance would get 8% while the Christian Democrats and Swedish People’s Party would attract 5% and 4%, respectively.

Before the April 17 election, which gave the PS their historic victory,  the Greens were the only party that openly questioned and criticized Soini’s party.

The good showing of the Greens in the presidential election and in the Ilta-Sanomat poll could be voter payback and support for speaking out against a party that has disappointed many voters.

A lot of things can happen before the October municipal election but one matter is for certain: The PS’ journey south in the months ahead will be a bitter pill to swallow.

With such a prospect ahead, Migrant Tales believes that the far-right anti-immigration wing of the PS led by MP Jussi Halla-aho will step up their attacks against immigrants and visible minorities as the municipal election nears.

A good example of this was a proposal by hard-core far-right PS MP Olli Immonen who suggested that Eastern European Romany beggars should be forcibly deported out of Finland.

PS MP James Hirvisaari, who was fined for hate speech in December, has stepped up his attacks on Muslims in blog entry published today headlined “Belgiastan.”

Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from November 16, 1995

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales publishes on and off Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through some of the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how some of them reflected our xenophobic, prejudiced, racist or anti-Russian views.

Taking into account the suspicion, hostile attacks (verbal and physical) against a group in Finland thanks in part to tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat, a leader of the Somali community asks Finns not to blame them for everything.

I have wondered many times why the Somalis have been so victimized in Finland. One of the reasons may be that they were the first visible black group that came to Finland in large numbers. Their presence in our society acted as a key that apparently released some of our most racist views of Africans. This same victimization is still going on and was used by some Perussuomalaiset (PS) party members to get elected to Parliament in April.

With the PS heading south in the polls, some party members are reverting to the message of racial hatred and suspicion to bolster their sagging popularity.  One of these groups that is being targeted by the PS is the Romany minority.

*Migration Institute archive.

Migrant Tales in a nutshell and its stand on prejudice and racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrqiue Tessieri

If I had to state in a picture and short description who we are and why we do what we do, the picture* below says it eloquently. Apart from being a blog that “aims to be a voice for those whose views and situation are understood poorly and heard faintly by the media, politicians and public,” we don’t hide our objection to prejudice and all forms of racism.

For us, racism isn’t only an opinion, but a rude offense and a threat to our society’s values.

You can see it this way…

or the other way…

No matter which way, racism is wrong.

*Thank you Anne Casey for the heads up!

Social change in Finland: Leading by example

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

 This blog entry is dedicated to D4R and Sasu. 

No matter how you look at those immigrants and visible minorities in Finland that face prejudice on a daily basis, we hold the key to change. Nobody can change our reality in this country for as long as we don’t take the initiative. 

We need lots of people, good people, people with new ideas, people who are examples of our community, people from all walks of life. Since we live in a globalized world, those heroes that will make our country a better place to live for everyone may come from faraway countries.

One of them that changed history with her humble example was the late Rosa Parks, who showed that guts and convictions can go a long, long way.

In segregated Alabama Parks refused to relinquish her seat to a white person on a bus on December 1, 1955. Her arrest led to a community boycott by black people and a landmark Supreme Court decision that ruled segregation was illegal.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8A9gvb5Fh0]

Another landmark case similar to Parks’ is the Greensborough 4. These were four young brave black men became national heros at a Woolwoorth’s department store lunch counter.

I have always had deep respect and admiration for people who have had courage to stand up for their rights and fight for social justice despite the overwhelming odds. For me Sacco and Vanzetti were one of these great childhood heroes that showed with their examples the ugly face of the U.S. justice system.

One does not need an army to create social change. All you need is yourself, your example and a firm conviction. Society, like culture, changes constantly.

Some who became examples to others through their struggles were: Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, John Brown, Väinö Linna’s “Rokka,” Ernesto Che Guevara, Mahatma Gandhi, Nat Turner, Aung San Suu Kyi, Alvaro Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, one of my favorite heroes, to name a few.

Cabeza de Vaca’s life is nothing more than the story about a man who learned to travel between cultures during his long sixteenth-century sojourn in Texas and Southwest United States. Some consider him the first American (I don’t mean USAmerican) because he learned to live among the Amerindians.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax7KjLUOt8w]

Despite the great things these people did it all comes down to the same matter:  leading by example.

How do we stand up against prejudice and improve the plight of immigrants, visible minorities and Finns with international backgrounds in this country?

We cannot change the world but with our example we can change what is around us.

Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from February 26, 1996

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales publishes on and off Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through some of the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how some of them reflected our xenophobic and racist views.

The billboard below is a worrying example of what employees, officials and researchers face in Finland if they work with refugees or the immigrant community. The headline of the ad states in bold letters:  “Employees who work with refugees get death threats.” Sounds eerily familiar?

One common argument used by some to justify these types of death threats is that their grandparents fought against the former Soviet Union to preserve our independence. Even if they have never seen the horrors of wars, they are willing to instill terror in others in the most cowardly fashion: anonymously.

Some even state with bravado that they are over 120 years old. They ask our newest inhabitants if their relatives fought in the Civil War of 1918, Winter and Continuation War. I am pretty certain that if those that threaten other people’s lives anonymously ever had to defend this country, they’d be the first ones out of here.

Give me a break! Threatening people’s lives is as lowly as one can stoop! Did the veterans who fought for Finland defend this country so that some people could take the law in their hands and terrorize others? Certainly not!

*Migration Institute archive. 

Foreign Student front cover from April 1981

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales publishes on and off stuff from the past like magazine stories and Finnish tabloid ads, or lööppi in Finnish. The Foreign Student was a short-lived but courageous newsletter of the Foreign Student Club of Helsinki. The humble publication existed from January 1981 to January 1982 and lasted 11 issues. It was probably the first-ever publication in Finland that spoke out critically against Finland’s then non-existent and arbitrary immigration policy.

The editorial headlined “Self-Censorship” is critical about the then Aliens’ Office, which operates like a state within a state.

 “Many of us deep inside want to do something constructive for the cause of foreigners here in Finland. We want deep inside to see a law [Finland’s first Aliens Act of 1983] protecting us, a law which will give us security. Also, many of us feel a deep nervousness of the Aliens Office…Is our situation hopeless? Are we doomed to sit in silence for the rest of our days [in Finland]? What to do?”

Sounds like the same argument today.

The editor of the Foreign Student was officially John Arnold.  The editorials were written by Enrique Tessieri.

The front cover of the April 1981 issue represented the “ideal” foreigner, who never said anything bad nor raised a finger against the arbitrary treatment by the then Aliens Office. 

Harassment of Migrant Tales

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Migrant Tales and I have been harassed by an individual since March 3, who has been demanding compensation for “defaming” him, an anonymous person.  Yes, you heard it: defaming an anonymous person. 

After sending an email to the whole staff of one of my workplaces, it’s pretty clear that this person had crossed the line.

I have repeatedly received unwanted communications demanding money and threatening manifestly unfounded legal proceedings. As mentioned, the perpetrator broadened the scope Friday of this behavior to include one of my employers. At the very least, this constitutes a degree of harassment that exceeds the threshold for a restraining order.

I recommend to everyone who may be experiencing something similar or worse to go report the matter to the police. This is not only important for you but for other immigrants who are being harassed as well. At the best you will be raising greater awareness in the Finnish police and that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.

JusticeDemon says that one way to proceed is to get a restraining order from the courts. Here is some general and more detailed information in English on what is a restraining order.

How seriously should we take death threats in Finland?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

How seriously should we take a person who threatens your life for what you write? What does he or she tell us about our society and should we expose that person’s threats? Will bringing to public light such threats strengthen or weaken our Nordic democracy and society?

I have worked as a foreign correspondent in countries that have seen their fair share of armed strife: the dirty war of Argentina (1976-83) and the over fifty-year civil war of Colombia. Even so, the only country where I had gotten death threats in Finland.

Contrary to Argentina and Colombia, the death threats that I got were for the same reason: exposing the dark side of our society, or racism.

The first death threats I got were in the early 1990s for writing an extensive report in Apu magazine on the reaction that a refugee center had caused in my hometown of Mikkeli. Fortunately, my daughter, who was about seven years old at the time, did not answer the phone. My wife did and the message she got was pretty straightforward: “Tell your husband that we will kill him if continues to write about Somalis [refugees].”

Another call I got because of that same story insulted me anonymously over the phone.

The latest death threat I got came in the fall after I published an opinion piece on Savon Sanomat in November. The handwritten note, which was put in our mailbox, insinuated that the column I wrote could “be dangerous for my health.”

Another case this month was by a person who is apparently very angry at Migrant Tales for disagreeing with his simplistic views of immigrants. He appears to be a regular visitor of the anti-immigration hate site, Hommaforum.

To give you an example of the level of harassment, he wrote an email to the whole staff of an institute where I have done research telling them how bad of a person I am and how he is going to sue me for slander.

He writes in the same email: “Correct the facts in an additional article [I wrote] in Suomen Kuvalehti accompanied by an apology on Migrant Tales to all your bloggers who you [and your friend’s associates] have targeted your INSULTS on. Make it detailed and quick or I will make the correction myself.”

One of the matters that all these threats have in common is that the those making them have  no respect for other people’s right to express themselves freely in our society.

But the question we should ask is what do we gain by exposing publicly such threats and demands?

We live in very peculiar political times. The fact that we have politicians in parliament that are openly hostile to immigrants and cultural diversity is a cause for concern.

Personally, I have never seen so much open hostility against immigrants and political chicanery in Finland as today. If we permit this type of behavior to be the norm in our society, we will relinquish and leave to chance the future of our Nordic democratic institutions and the values that have made us such a successful society today.

One of the greatest values we should defend tooth and nail is social equality for all or yhdenvertaisuus.

Those that attack our values and threaten us anonymously by taking the law into their hands should be exposed. By revealing their threats and the deranged world we allow ourselves to be reminded that we cannot take our Nordic way of life and society for granted.

Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from July 21, 1993

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales publishes on and off Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through some of the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how some of them reflected our xenophobic and racist views.

The billboard below shows that Ilta-Sanomat did sometimes have a heart for refugees as long as they were white Europeans. Somalis and other non-Europeans were apparently treated differently by the tabloids. Ilta-Sanomat  promises to tell readers an eleven-year-old girl’s tragic story from the civil war that raged then in the former Yugoslavia.

Remember terms like “ethnic cleansing” that emerged from the civil war in the former Yugoslavia?

Some Finns saw refugees in a very negative light during the 1990s.  People still have a difficult time even today to distinguish between what is a refugee and an immigrant.

*Migration Institute archive. 

Kotka PS councilman gets slapped with 420-euro fine for inciting ethnic hatred

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Perussuomalaiset (PS) councilman for Kotka, Freddy Van Wonterghem got slapped with a 420-euro fine for inciting ethnic hatred against a group,  according to Kymen Sanomat. While the fine is small compared with PS MP James Hirvisaari’s 1,424 euros in December, it is symbolic and reveals, albeit modestly, that Finland has the teeth to stand up against hate speech. 

Van Wonterghem, like his PS anti-immigration hardliners, are shameful cases of how low some members of our society can stoop.  The Belgian-born naturalized Finn is a Holocaust denier as well.

One of the matters that far-right extremists do in Finland and elsewhere is move the goalposts to suit their myopic view of the world. They try, with their pitiful arguments, to make racism and social exclusion of other groups “normal.”

Here is an example of the typical double-talk of the far right coming straight from Van Wonterghem’s mouth: “I feel that I have been accused of something that I haven’t done [inciting ethnic hatred],” he was quoted as saying on Kymen Sanomat, “of offending Western concepts and Christian values.”

Sure, Van Wonterghem, believe anything you want. Our “Western concepts and Christian values” permit you to claim that it was ok to kill a Muslim woman because it would be one less person giving birth to a Muslim child.