Enrique Tessieri Archives - Page 109 of 245

Yle poll: The PS becomes the second-biggest party. Thank mainstream parties like Kokoomus, the Center Party and the media.

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Migrant Tales

Some were surprised to see in a poll published by Yle Thursday that the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* became the second-most popular part in Sunday’s parliamentary elections after the Social Democrats. If we are honest with ourselves, the poll result should not have come as a surprise.

The party that the PS knocked to third place from second is the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), which had tried – apparently unsuccessfully – to mimic that party’s Islamophobic and anti-immigration rhetoric.

If I were the head of the PS, I’d thank as well the Finnish media, especially Yle, for spreading the party’s anti-immigration rhetoric and making racism and fascism appear normal. If you want an answer to the latter question, take a look at Yle PS members on the board.

The greatest threat to Finland today? Terrorism? Yes, white Finnish supremacist parties like the PS. If Finland doesn’t watch out, it will turn into a Denmark, a country that is Islamophobic but on steroids.

The mainstream parties like the National Coalition Party, Center Party, Blue Reform, Christian Democrats should thank themselves as well for their efforts to make racism normal in Finland.

They have lacked the leadership to challenge racism in our society because they have issues with such a social ill among their ranks.

If I hated migrants and asylum seekers, I would vote for the real thing instead of an imitator.

Wouldn’t you?

Read the full story here.

* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. Despite the name changes, we believe that it is the same party in different clothing. Both factions are hostile to cultural diversity never mind Muslims and other visible minorities. One is more open about it while the other says it in a different way.

A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

YLE coverage of sexual assaults committed by white Finns and migrants is unbalanced, racialized and opinionated

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Migrant Tales

The bias and racialization of sexual abuse cases are best exposed by Yle’s Finnish-language service. On March 27, Finns read about a pedophile ring made up by five white Finnish suspects accused of sexually abusing 6-15-year-old boys. The story about the cases lasted only a week in the news with 7 stories being published by Yle.

Contrarily, the sexual abuse cases involving migrant suspects in Oulu totalled a whopping 77 stories from November 27 to February 13.

If there is a good example of shoddy, racialized and opinionated reporting by Yle, these latter two cases expose serious issue at the state-owned broadcaster. Yle reporters and management should get training to come to grips with their prejudices and racism.

Below are some stories published by Finnish- and English-langauge service of Yle and statements by the Oulu police:

VIOLENT PEDOPHILE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY RING BY WHITE FINNS WAS IN THE FINNISH- AND ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NEWS FOR A WEEK AND COVERED IN 7 STORIES:

3.4. Pedofiiliringin epäilty yritti välttää vankilan yllättävillä syillä – “Vankilassa on vaikeaa tehdä bisnestä, lentoliputkin hankittu Jenkkeihin”

29.3. Psykiatri Hannu Lauerma maata järkyttäneestä seksuaalirikosvyyhdistä: “Ei ole yllätys, että tällaista toimintaa on myös Suomessa”

29.3. Pedofiilijutun pääepäilty teki “peruna- ja puikulakauppaa” huumekuriirin kanssa – tällainen mies on luontoyrittäjä ja kirkkovaltuutettu

28.3. Poliisi lapsiin kohdistuvasta seksuaalirikollisuudesta: ”Tämä karkaa käsistä, jos emme herää”

27.3. KRP epäilee: Viisi suomalaista mukana kansainvälisessä lapsipornoringissä – kuvissa suomalaisten lasten väkivaltaista hyväksikäyttöä

Continue reading “YLE coverage of sexual assaults committed by white Finns and migrants is unbalanced, racialized and opinionated”

QUOTE OF THE DAY: The police’s and media’s double standards and racial baises

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Migrant Tales

“We read about two cases involving 10-year-old girls who were attacked and were not white and Muslims. In the case of Oulu, where the police were especially active together with Yle and other media in racializing the sexual assault cases, should we be surprised that this way of looking at things is a one-way street?

The actions of the police and the media expose double standards that show in turn their racial and ethnic biases.”

Continue reading “QUOTE OF THE DAY: The police’s and media’s double standards and racial baises”

10-year-old girl beaten by adolescents in Vantaa, Finland, for not being white

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Migrant Tales

A new case of a 10-year-old girl being beaten allegedly because of her Muslim background reported today by the police and television station MTV. The last case, which also involved a 10-year-old Muslim girl, happened just before Christmas in the suburb of Espoo.

According to MTV, the mother of the victim said that a fifteen-year-old girl had asked her daughter if she were a Muslim. “[My] daughter did not answer her question when the 15-year-old had told my daughter that she would end up in hell where Satan would rape her,” the upset mother said.

Accoding to the police, the girl was attacked and beaten by four to five suspects.

While onlookers did nohing to stop the fight, a woman came to the rescue and took the girl to her car where she called the police and an ambulance.

The girl did no sustain any serious injuries but was clearly traumatized by the incident, accoring to MTV.

What is interesting to watch now is what the police will say and if they decide this should be treated as a hate crime.

Read the original statement (in Finnish) here.

Continue reading “10-year-old girl beaten by adolescents in Vantaa, Finland, for not being white”

The sooner we admit that the Perussuomalaiset is a far-right extremist party the better for our democracy

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Migrant Tales

Why is it so difficult for the national media in Finland to acknowledge that the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party is a far-right political fringe group? This was further confirmed on Monday when Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini announced a political alliance to challenge the EU.

Right, you guessed correctly. The PS, together with other far-right groups like the Danish People’s Party (DPP), Germany’s AfD and Lega Nord of Italy, announced that they’d form a political alliance in the EU.

Even if this is news, it is actually old news. The PS has forged throughout the years strong ties with a number of far-right parties like the DPP. where they get their most extremist ideas about migration policy.

Remember PS MP Ville Tavio, who suggested a while back that the PS should form an alliance with France’s far-right Front National?

The PS’ connections and ideological compatibility with the European far right, even neo-Nazi groups, is not news. It is a fact that has been around for a long time but which the media and other political groups have had a hard time admitting.

If we admit it, what does it say about our country, political system and ourselves as a nation? Some correctly call it denial with the help of Finnish exceptionalism.

Oulu Silvennoinen is a researcher on Finland’s far right. He does not vacillate when it comes to calling the PS for what it is: a party with fraternal ties with far-right parties. Silennoinen tweets below: “The PS in its present form [and] is a far-right party agenda which acts and whose modus operandi functions in accordance with the models of the international far right.”

Continue reading “The sooner we admit that the Perussuomalaiset is a far-right extremist party the better for our democracy”

A second deportation attemp from Finland to Mauritania

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Migrant Tales

The desperation and anguish in a woman’s voice are present as she pleads for help for her Mauritanian husband, 45, who was deported on March 27. It was the second time that the police had tried to deport her husband after the first attempt, on March 19, on Turkish Airlines failed.

Both have been married for three years.

Source: worldatlast.com.

“You must help me,” she said. “I’m suffering from depression and feel very bad about what happened. He is a good man and has a job. Why did Migri [Finnish Immigration Service] deport him?”

Her story and that of her husband’s is another sad chapter in the inhumane manner that the Finnish Immigration Service and the police treat some migrants, especially those from Muslim-majority countries.

His wife sends us the following email from his husband:

“At 5 am on Wednesday 27.3, the staff of the Metsälä detention unit [immigration removal center] woke me up and said that the police were waiting for me downstairs in the cellar. I went out of my room to meet them wearing a pajama. They were six police offices who Immediately escorted me to their police car. They frisked me and then placed a thick belt around my waist that they tightened from my back.

A prisoner ransport belt. Source: hiverminer.com.

Next, they cuffed my legs as well and proceeded to drive me to the airport…At the airport, they parked the [police] car next to the back entrance of the plane. One of them [the police] wrapped his right arm around my neck almost chocking me while his left hand covered my nose and mouth and [then] laid me [by force] across three seats; the other police officers sat on top of me focing my arms behind my back. They kept me in that positiion until I passed out. I felt the armrests [of the seat] stab my body. I woke up after some time and found myself in the middle seat with two police officers at my sides and a third one holding my head [down]. There were few passengers on the flight. In Paris, I was locked up in an isolated room for three hours until the next flight [to Noukchott, Mauritania]. They were worried that somebody would notice me.”

Continue reading “A second deportation attemp from Finland to Mauritania”

MTV Finland: Framing women with niqabs with Islamophobia and dislike

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Migrant Tales

A court of appeal slapped on Tuesday the manager of the Euro Super store of Helsinki with a 1,995-euro fine for discrimination after he asked a woman to remove her niqab so her face would be exposed. The incident took place in spring 2016, according to MTV.

The owner of the store asked the woman to take off her niqab if she wanted to buy something. The women did not comply with the request and called the police after leaving the premises.

The owner denied that he had discriminated against the woman due to her religion and stated that he asked to see her face for security reasons.

The court did not buy the manager’s defense argument and ruled that the woman did not pose a threat to the store and there was as aresult no reason for her to remove her niqab.

Even if this is an open-and-shut case, one wonders why MTV frames the woman in the story as black and from Denmark. This type of framing is, in our opinion, not only poor journalism but Islamophobic.

The caption reads: A woman wearing a similar niqab at a demonstration in Denmark. The woman in the picture is not related to the court of appeal case.

Finland has been regressing into a false hole of provincialism and xenophobia

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Migrant Tales

Should we be surprised by the results of a recent opinion poll, which showed the rise of an Islamophobic populist party to third place after the Social Democrats and National Coalition Party? As Léo Custódio put it: “Racist party 3rd in polls in world’s happiest country.”

Those who are surprised by the rise of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, could be those politicians and civic leaders who have played down, even flirted, with anti-immigrant and Islamophobic sentiment for their own opportunistic aims.

How many leaders of the same caliber as former President Tarja Halonen do we have today in government? Very few if any. Apart from Prime Minister Juha Sipilä, who isn’t a statesman but a business leader with an international background, all the rest in his government are politicians who feel comfortable in a provincial mindset and “us” and “them” world.

Even so, the most important fact the polls show is that the country has a leadership crisis of people who can see past the end of their noses. When a politician suffers from social shortsightedness as we are witnessing now, this paves the way to reinforcing and maintaining a hostile environment against migrants, minorities and anyone different from the white male norm.

If we lack the ability to see the future and how to build a society where social equality is the norm for everyone irrespective of their cultural and ethnic background, we end up putting our country’s future in harm’s way.

By promoting negative narratives about migrants and minorities, by spreading half-truths about them, such politicians have not only declared war on Finland’s Other but have planted the seeds of present and future strife.

Not being able to see past one’s nose will mean a lot of hardship for white Finns as well: the image of the country will suffer and so will its economy. Why would any foreigner in his right mind want to move and raise his and/or her children here? Wouldn’t the hostile environment scare them off?

Just like the politicians, the police are years behind and playing catchup with our ever-growing culturally and diverse community. While the police want more minorities to join the police service, why has this process moved at snail’s pace?

Is it because we don’t understand that our society has changed and that there are Others living here?

If we look at the actions of the police and media on how they have framed the sexual abuse cases of Oulu, it shows greater preoccupation in racializing crime than eradicating it.

With respect to the media, there is little balance never mind fairness in Yle’s reporting of the sexual assault cases of Oulu. Yle is like a giant using a bazooka to kill an ant.

During November 27 to February 13, Yle published a whopping 77 stories on the sexual abuse cases of Oulu. This is not counting all the other stories that the tabloids and other print media published during that period. On January 14 alone, Yle published 13 stories about the topic!

The police do not receive high marks either in helping us to see past our noses as a society. Taking into account that a poll showed that 25.1% and 24.4% of the police surveyed in 2016 voted for the National Coalition Party and Islamophobic PS, respectively, did the police frame the crimes that happened in Oulu to suit their prejudices and benefit their two favorite parties in the upcoming elections?

Finland’s hostile environment, shortsightedness, lack of leadership and willingness to continue relegating migrants and minorities to second- and third-class member status in society, are some of the greatest threats facing Finland today that is impacting us politically, socially and economically.

Jussi Halla-aho reinforced in today’s Yle interview why the Perussuomalaiset is a xenophobic populist far right party

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Migrant Tales

Thursday evening Yle interviewed Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Hallo-aho, a candidate for MP in next month’s elections and who built his political career on racism and Islamophobia. His performance was poor but it proved once again why the PS is a far-right party.

Even if Halla-aho didn’t directly admit it, the PS supports and gets followers from its white nationalist message.

One of the main arguments and foundations of white nationalism is demographic replacement, which is a common theme used by many PS politicians like Laura Huhtasaari, Olli Immonen and others.

It explains as well why Halla-aho sees immigration, especially from non-EU countries, as a threat. The PS leader did not have any concrete solutions on how to raise low childbirth rates in Finland but still saw immigration as a threat.

It’s been almost forty years when the first Somalis arrived to Finland. Since then, our media and politicians have fed the public with xenophobia and Islamophobia for a very long time.

In Finland, it is a recurring theme and explains why there is today such a surge in Islamophobia.

Below are some comments about tonight’s interview with Halla-aho.

Ozan Yanar, who is a Green League MP, questioned Halla-aho’s statement that the PS isn’t an anti-immigration party. He asks in his tweet where such a notion has come from.

In the following tweet by academic researcher Oula Silvennoinen, who is running for parliament for the same party as Yanar, responded sarcastically that he had no idea why anyone would call the PS an anti-immigration party.

Continue reading “Jussi Halla-aho reinforced in today’s Yle interview why the Perussuomalaiset is a xenophobic populist far right party”

Finland should put aside its racism, prejudices, hypocrisy and challenge seriously social ills like pedophilia and sexaual abuse

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Migrant Tales

The lifesaver that was supposed to propel the Perussuomalaiset* (PS) to new heights in the polls, suffered another setback Wednesday when the National Bureau of Investigations arrested five white Finnish suspects implicated in violent child sexual abuse. The other blows that stole the PS of its Islamophobic thunder were the elderly care scadal and the Christchurch atrocity where 50 Muslims were killed.

Writes Yle News: “A special feature [of the case] has been violence and child harm, which has played a central role [in the material]. Although we are investigating sexual offences, this is a case of violence, its glorification and receiving sexual gratification from it,” said lead investigator Sanna Springare.

In light of the hysteria that the Oulu sexual abuse cases have caused, do you agree with the following tweet below?

When we lose sight of the ball because we are too busy labelling and victimizing certain migrant groups, we lose sight of how to effectively challenge a social disease like pedophilia and sexual abuse.

Yle’s coverage of the Oulu sexual assault cases could be at its best described as overkill, even unethical. It is like using a bazooka to kill an ant. There is little balance never mind fairness in Yle’s reporting of the topic.