Migrant Tales, Author at Migrant tales

Migrant Tales Media Monitoring: Don’t cry Finland if you don’t like migrants

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Migrant Tales

Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest-circulation daily, writes in an editorial about why the country needs labor migrants to secure economic growth and services offered by the welfare state. We are at a critical crossroads: It is the first time in history that more people die than there are newborns.

While the editorial invites debate on Finland’s serious demographic woes, it is misleading because it only highlights the usual talking points by leaving out new arguments offered by brown and black Finn migrant researchers.

The reaction of some Finns can turn violent against migrants and minorities, as we saw after the Turku stabbings in 2017 by a Moroccan asylum seeker. Source: *Migrant Tales*

The editorial bases its call for more labor migrants on the pension insurance group Varma CEO Risto Murto’s book, Puuttuvat puoli miljoonaa, The missing half a million.

Murto’s book does not reveal anything new about Finland’s demographic woes. Over one-fourth of about 8% of Finland’s foreign population in 2020 lives in Helsinki; in 2035, it will rise to over a third; the low employment levels of people who came to Finland as refugees.

While Murto does not explain why the employment level of Afghans, Iraqis, Somalis, and other people of color is low in Finland, he and Helsingin Sanomat leave out the fact that their employment level rises the longer they live in Finland.

For some odd reason, the Helsingin Sanomat editorial and Murto forget to mention that refugees in Finland comprise about 10% of all foreigners. As we know and have seen, Finland’s hostile environment against visible migrants spread by parties like the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), Christian Democrats, and others.

When they attack foreigners, such parties speak of this group as one group, “migrants.”

Finland has historically shunned immigrants, even if it is a country of emigrants. In the 1970s, when hundreds of thousands of Finns were moving to Sweden, the country decided against labor immigration to plug the economically active population deficit.

Several questions arise on how Finland could be a magnet for labor migrants. Less bureaucracy, family reunification, child education, Finnish- and Swedish-language lessons.

Of all of the factors Murto believes would attract labor migrants, the most important one is missing: a migrant and minority-friendly society that is inclusive.

The latter is easier said than done. Historically and politically today, Finland has shot itself in the demographic leg by allowing its suspicion of outsiders to overtake the better of them.

Being a racist or a closet racist in Finland and eating your cake and having it too

Posted on October 23, 2022May 10, 2024 by Migrant Tales

Any serious student of Finnish society should eventually grasp that institutional racism is one of the mothers of all social ills in the country. Institutional racism gives cover to racists and to the toxic white saviors who do irreparable harm to migrants and minorities.

You don’t need a lot of research to figure out the latter. Look at people who have the power to enforce and regulate it.

If the issue is institutional racism, why does Finlan do so little to challenge it? One of many examples of discrimination is the labor market. Why do we rarely read in the media about the authorities clamping down on this problem? It is, instead, a new study over an old one highlighting this problem.

The answer reveals a sad truth: there is no intention or political will to change matters. The situation is what it is because they are supposed to be that way.

US social thinker James Baldwin put it in the following words:

Source: GoodReads

Without any intention of changing matters, rest assured that most projects with newcomers will miss the mark or fail outright. The integration authorities will feed newcomers the usual half-truths about Finnish social justice, which is highly selective.

Unfortunately, the latter will happen with some of the blessings of our culturally diverse communities.

Even so, I am confident the more Finland’s culturally diverse population grows, the more evident this social ill will be, and the need to change it permanently.

Sweden’s election and UK PM Liz Truss’ demise are a warning to Finland’s National Coalition Party

Posted on October 21, 2022 by Migrant Tales

Populism is a good way to win elections but an impossible way to govern.

Eugene Robinson

How far will right-wing parties like the Moderate Party of Sweden go to make a pact with their political devils? How much populism and empty nationalism led to the demise of UK Prime Minister Liz Truss? These are valid questions for Finland’s National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), which is making similar pacts with populism.

Kokoomus, like the Moderate Party of Sweden, and the rapid downfall of UK Prime Minister Truss must have raised some concerns. An election strategy is needed for April, but peppered with toxic populism and anti-immigration soundbites?

Finland faces a lot of challenges. For one, it needs labor migrants but this is difficult to realize on a grand scale because the Perussuomalaiset, Kokoomus, and other parties that attack and see migrants as a threat.

Politicians make fiery speeches against migrants – note they speak of all migrants – and then expect people to move here. Even for some who live here, the environment looks and feels hostile.

If we continue down the road of populism and exclusive nationalism, it’s clear that our future spells ruin.

Disagree?

See the UK before and after Brexit.

Migrant Tales Media Monitoring: Yle spikes it up with parties that promote fear and uses their xenophobic labels

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Migrant Tales

Yle’s reported Tuesday building a border fence between Finland and Russia. Reporting from Estonia’s capital Tallinn, Yle reporter Rain Kooli said that the wall between Estonia and Russia was to stop migrants – not asylum seekers – and illegal migrants.

The project, which the Finnish Border Guard is spearheading, will cost hundreds of millions of euros and take 3-4 years to build. The fence will be built by border crossing points and 10%-20% of the border with Russia.

Finland’s parliament passed in summer the border guard act that severely restricts the human rights of refugees to seek asylum. European Union Institute professor of international law and human rights Martin Scheinin said the new law would send Finland back thirty years.

While using terms such as “migrants” and “illegal migrants” and publishing pictures of far-right Perussuomnalaiset (PS)* head Riikka Purra and National Coalition Party chairperson Petteri Orpo as a lead picture, the state broadcaster editorializes the topic.

Fencing of the Finnish-Russian border will cost hundreds of millions of euros and take 3-4 years to build. Source: *Yle*

Why wasn’t there any analysis of the effectiveness of walls and if they work?

One analysis by Rand stated:” If a border wall provides the political space for addressing these more systemic problems, then it may still be a worthwhile investment. That said, the proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border—like all previous walls—should be viewed as a means to an end, rather than an end unto itself.”

The inhumane treatment of asylum seekers at the Greek-Turkish border may reveal what may happen at the Russian-Finnish border

Posted on October 17, 2022 by Migrant Tales

Europe is good at hiding its very big dirty secrets. German news magazine Der Spiegel revealed the inhuman treatment of refugees at European borders by publishing a report on Frontex by the European anti-fraud office OLAF. And that’s not all: The Guardian reports that 92 naked refugees were rescued at the Greek-Turkish border.

Writes Der Spiegel: “The OLAF report led to [former Frontex head Fabrice] Leggeri’s resignation in spring 2022. But what the investigators have uncovered goes far beyond questions of individual liability. Even though it wasn’t the main focus of the investigation, the report relentlessly exposes how Greek border guards in the Aegean Sea abandon refugees at sea on inflatable life rafts to prevent them from exercising their right to apply for asylum.”

Tens of thousands of refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea have perished. The silence resembles the mass killings of Jews, Roma, and other state enemies in concentration camps. Even in my country of birth, Argentina, people elected not to see the abduction, torture, and murder of people by the military dictatorship.

“The question in the coming years will be whether taxpayer money will continue to be used to help break the law at the EU’s borders – or whether Frontex will be forced to comply with European law,” writes Der Spiegel.

We saw in November the terrible treatment of Middle East refugees on the Belarus-Polish and Lithuanian border, where people and children died of hyperthermia.

Anastasiia Diudina helps Ukrainian refugees in Finland

Posted on October 16, 2022 by Migrant Tales

A young and energetic woman called Anastasiia Diudina aims to fight Russian aggression and sees helping Ukrainian refugees as an important part of it. What is surprising is that some of the problems the asylum seekers faced at asylum reception centers in 2015 and beyond are faced by Ukrainians.

While Diudina stresses that the treatment of Ukrainian refugees depends on the asylum reception center, former culprits like Luona, a private company, and the Red Cross are mentioned as poor examples since “they are big organizations.”

“Just like in 2015 and 2016, when people from Iraq and the Middle East came to Finland, it’s important that asylum reception center staffers understand that people are fleeing war, mass killings, genocide are traumatized,” she said. “Many [Ukrainian] refugees have spent weeks inside a cellar while their city was bombarded.”

“Luona, for one, refugees [allege] that they don’t get any humane treatment from the staffers,” Diuidina continued. “At Luona, some refugees have been told to live elsewhere if they aren’t happy with how they are treated. If you are treated poorly [by a worker], you lose trust in those that are supposed to help you.”

The young activist mentioned cultural and language problems between reception center staffers and refugees. She said that many Ukrainians don’t speak English.

“There are long waiting lines to visit the nurse,” Diudina explained. “How to treat diabetes is a good example of how cultural misunderstanding leads to mistrust. In Ukraine, diet is an important part of diabetes treatment even if it is not used as a diabetes treatment in Finland”.

The diabetic does not understand why the reception center does not give him the right food. This may lead him to falsely believe that nobody cares for him, according to her.

Yle wrote about how poor food at Kyyhkylä near Mikkeli was a common source of friction.

The young activist said that many problems could be avoided if there were enough resources to help refugees at reception centers. According to her, staffers are overwhelmed with work.

“Is this the refugee problem?” she asked. “No, it is Migri’s [Finnish Immigration Service].”

**In the face of open warfare, genocide and destruction, Anastasiia Diudina believes it is every Russian’s duty to help Ukrainians.**

Present mistakes come from past mistakes

Remember former Center Party Prime Minister Juho Sipilä’s government when they had to deal with a record number of asylum seekers from mainly Iraq and Afghanistan? With the blessings of the National Coalition Party, Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, and the opposition, Finland passed draconian laws in 2016 to do away with pull factors.

If we are honest, those laws supposed to help asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees are at the core of the problem. The same arguments used by understaffed and some unqualified staffers at asylum reception centers are made again: We had to do things in a rush, we don’t have the experience.

Diudina explained that there is a shortage of human resources, forcing some to be inflexible and do the minimum that the law requires.

Dissatisfaction with the district court ruling acquitting the police for removing the hijab of two Muslim women by force will be appealed

Posted on October 14, 2022 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales understands that a Kanta-Häme district court ruling acquitted the police and security guards for forcibly removing the hijab of two women in 2017 will be appealed.

The present ruling, which allowed the police and security guards to use force, sends a disturbing message. It messages that the police can use force without considering your religion and rights..

Moreover, such forceful action by the police undermines Muslim’s already low confidence in the police.

The women applying for asylum at the time were forced to take off their hijabs for a picture. They argued that apart from religion, they were taken photos with their hijabs in Helsinki.

The September 30 district court ruling received little mention in the media. Helsingin Sanomat published a story on the matter in 2017. Iltalehti, Yle, and Hämeen Sanomat covered the recent court ruling in their publications.

Migrant Tales Media Monitoring: An example of Yle zzz journalism

Posted on October 14, 2022 by Migrant Tales

Journalism is a tough job that forces one to stay on its toes. On Thursday on A-Talk we heard the opinions of four MPs of the Left Alliance, Social Democrats, National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), and the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* if Finland was heading towards a debt crisis and spending cutbacks.

There was nothing new from PS MP VIlle Tavio, who suggested the usual cuts in development aid, which is pictured as “money thrown down the drain,” and billions of euros from “migration,” which he labeled as a security threat.

No pushback, never mind an utter from the host Sakari Sirkkinen. The following comment by Tavio was a sad example of zzz or snooze journalism. Yle is supposed to represent migrants and minorities living in Finland, not permit their demonization.

Said Tavio: “Social welfare based on nationality would revolutionize the [existing] and make the system more dynamic and advantageous for us.”

**Vill**e Tavio has expressed support for France’s Marine Le Pen and other autocrats like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. Source: *Yle*

Again, an eerie silence came from the host, and none of the guests uttered a word.

With parliamentary elections in April, PS Chairperson Riikka Purra reiterated Thursday that social welfare benefits should hinge on nationality.

Migrant Tales Media Monitoring: An Helsingin Sanomat editorial that boosts xenophobia

Posted on October 13, 2022 by Migrant Tales

There is a lot of talk and unfortunate examples of how the media helps to spread populist parties’ hateful messages about migrants and minorities. An editorial published by Helsingin Sanomat Thursday is a good example of how the media does this.

The good showing of the Sweden Democrats in September’s parliamentary election is due to the country’s youth gangs, which received a lot of attention.

In the same way as the Sweden Democrats, the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) is trying to use the same campaign theme in Finland. Even if the editorial does not mention that it is racist for parties like the PS to label whole groups as a menace to society, it correctly points out that Finland’s so-called youth gang problem is different from Sweden’s.

Finland’s political atmosphere has been poisoned so much by xenophobia that such social ills have become normal. Especially parties like the PS and the National Coalition Party are directly responsible.

**Read the full story (in Finnish) here.**

European Network on Religion & Belief: Babah Tarawally and the importance of hope and your narrative

Posted on October 12, 2022 by Migrant Tales

I had the opportunity to attend on 6 October the European Network on Religion & Belief’s (ENORB)* General Assembly, when writer and columnist Babah Tarawally gave an inspirational talk on hope and Ubuntu, an African philosophy that draws strength communally.

As many migrants and minorities readily learn, hope is the fuel that keeps one from moving forward in one’s new homeland; it also gives you strength to pick yourself up after failing.

Tarawally lives in the Netherlands and writes about Otherness as a writer and columnist. He is a source for migrants and others who want to succeed in their new homeland and be treated equally, not as victims.

“They called me a refugee [in the beginning], and putting [that label] on me all the time is very frustrating for me because it made me feel in a space as someone who is a victim all the time,” he said. “I don’t want to be seen as a victim but as an expert who is equal [to everyone].”

Babah Tarawally’s talk at ENORB’s GA.

Tarawally said that he empowers migrants in the Netherlands by asking them to see themselves in a picture that has a gold frame.