Category: Enrique Tessieri

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Finland’s ever-racist and ever-injust society

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Where Finland thought it could find strength in nationalism is today its greatest stumbling block. Finland is such a white society today that it has a serious blind spot for detecting fascism, racism, and bigotry. Our impaired view and lack of leadership are creating an ever-racist and ever-injust society. 

The signs about our society’s issues with racism are right in front of us. Most of us don’t want to see them never mind challenge them. This picture was taken by a reader at a bus stop in Mikkeli.

 

 

Timo Soini’s fall from grace and the legacy of planting the political seeds of bigotry and racism in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

One lesson we could learn from former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairman Timo Soini is that the right balance between flattery and speaking in code will get you everywhere, well, almost everywhere. You can win big elections like in 2011 and ride, albeit momentarily, the crest of the popularity wave until you hit the wall in disgrace with your fingers badly burned. 

Treatment by politicians and the media of Soini, who ruled the PS for twenty years (1997-2017) and who gave nationalist bigots and the far right a political platform, is odd. The fact that some cannot see that fascism is flirting with them is worrying.

Soini’s rise and fall from power were possible thanks to the media and politicians who were afraid to challenge his populist anti-immigration ideas. His political program, if he ever had one, was nothing more than hot air. It all had to do with Soini grabbing power.

The fact that other political parties like the National Coalition Party and Center Party helped fuel the rise of the PS reveals a lot about these parties’ moral fiber. We are seeing this today in the government’s stiffening immigration policy, deportations, and the ever-growing inequality of our society.

Soini gained his place in Finnish politics this decade thanks to the political establishment and the media. Some naively still believe that you can have a quaint chat with bigots, fascists, and racists.

A proverb by William Blake highlights this predicament:

“The eagle never lost so much time, as when he submitted to learn of the crow.”

The only reason why some believe that you can have a sensible chat about cultural diversity with racists can happen is because they are white and not affected by the debate. Racism doesn’t affect white people directly because they benefit from it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl5PviXNRyk

 

Soini speaking at a UKIP rally in 2012. It was his third visit to such a gathering where he said he admired the UKIP because they could state that they hate the EU and love their country “without shame and guilt.”

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage was/is a close political ally of Soini. Farage now speaks at far-right rallies.

Soini and his cast of eerie and odd political bedfellows throughout the years would make a great horror show. If you want to know and connect the dots, like in the video above and Farage at a far-right rally below, Soini has left a trail of lies, deceit, and contempt for our Nordic values.

Continue reading “Timo Soini’s fall from grace and the legacy of planting the political seeds of bigotry and racism in Finland”

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Why do racists hate and target Muslims?

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“Finland and Europe are suspicious of Muslims because their racism and hatred have ensured that their ‘integration’ polices have failed despite the fact that the majorty of Muslims are well-adapted. Instead of blaming their own prejudices for their failures, they scapegoat a religious and ethnic group.”

 

Integration Minister Inger Stojberg celebrates the fiftieth amendment to tighten immigration policy. Yes, it appears that Denmark can eat its racist cake and have it. Some public officials don’t hide their hatred but rejoice it. 

Finland’s politics of discrimination and exclusion are seen in your thin pension

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Decades of labor discrimination in Finland adds up to one terrible reality for some migrants: a thin pension and poverty. If in this decade the pay gap between migrants and white Finns was 25% (36,800 euros versus 27,500 euros made by migrants), it’s clear that their pension will not add up to much. 

Poor salaries, fragmented employment histories also means lower social welfare benefits like unemployment, which are 39% lower for migrants (15,000 euros versus 9,400 euros) and up to 59% for those who are outside the labor force (7,500 euros versus 3,100 euros), according to Pekka Myrskylä, a former Statistics Finland researcher.

An article about migrant pensioners in Finland published by YLE News tells us something we’ve always known:

“The vulnerability of many of the older migrants we spoke to shone through clearly. They expressed concern about access to services, language problems, isolation and marginalisation—and financial difficulties.”

 

Before Finland would require migrants to apply for a separate work permit for each employer. Since migrants rarely got permanent jobs, they had to freelance, which meant periods without work. All of this naturally means a meager pension that will send you to the poor farm.

Here’s one anecdote published in the same article:

Continue reading “Finland’s politics of discrimination and exclusion are seen in your thin pension”

Migrants suffer from the Ulysses syndrome, societies from the Cyclopse syndrome

Posted on by Migrant Tales

I wrote a story in Migrant Tales nine years ago about the Ulysses syndrome, an illness that affects migrants, which speaks volumes about the lives of asylum seekers in Finland and how officials and the government contribute to their misery. If the Ulysses syndrome explains the suffering of migrants what would we call a society that is indifferent to their suffering?

Psychiatrist Joseba Achotegui of the Universitat de Barcelona describes the illness in the following words: “It comprises loneliness, as family and friends were left behind; a sense of personal failure, and a survival struggle that takes over all other priorities. The syndrome is characterized by physical symptoms like headaches, and psychological symptoms like depression.”

Here’s an example of what an undocumented migrant, of which we have many in Finland these days, suffers:

Norma lived in terror and in hiding. This 45-year-old single mother left her 11-year-old son in 1999 when she migrated to Madrid. When she moved to Spain, she didn’t know anyone never mind have a place to sleep. She was an illegal alien.

The woman was afraid that the police would find and deport her. “It was that way nine years ago,” she admits. I would never go out for a stroll. I’d forget to board a metro at stops because I was in another world thinking of my child.

While the Ulysses syndrome abounds, what could we call a society that is incapable, or anesthetized by politicians’ indifference and hate speech, to their suffering?

Would the proper name be the Cyclopse syndrome?

Continue reading “Migrants suffer from the Ulysses syndrome, societies from the Cyclopse syndrome”

Finland’s government to tighten again immigration and asylum policy

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The desperation of New Alternative* or Blue Reform (BR) party, the faction that split from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) in June to keep their jobs as ministers, must be overbearing. BR Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sports Sampo Terho announced Thursday that the government plans to tighten immigration and asylum policy laws in the face of the Turku attack, according to YLE News. 

Interior Minister Paula Risikko, as well as other government officials, announced after Turku plans to tighten immigration policy and give greater surveillance powers to the police and the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (SUPO).

Just like the good old days when the PS was one party before it imploded on June 13, BR’s Minister Terho is the one giving statements about tougher immigration policy.

Apart from making it a crime to help undocumented migrants, Terho said that the nationality would see modifications so that suspected terrorists who are dual nationals can have their Finnish citizenship revoked.

While these points are nothing new since they have the clear stamp of PS Chairman Jussi Halla-aho, it is sad to watch how short-sighted and opportunistic the government is and how it wants to punish the migrant and minority community. No matter how much they tighten immigration and asylum policy, it will never make Finland safe from terrorism.

Nour Gamal, a #righttolife activist, told Migrant Tales by phone that government aims to tighten immigration and asylum policy is part of a long-range plan to make life as miserable as possible for asylum seekers in Finland.

Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sports Sampo Terho is as much an Islamophobe as Jussi Halla-aho.

“They [the government] are not only making life difficult for asylum seekers but for Finns that want to help undocumented migrants as well,” he said. “It’s a systematic plan to make the lives of asylum seekers as miserable as possible, so they’ll leave the country and so that no new refugees will come here.”

Gamal said that the parliamentary elections in 2019 are the only hope left to asylum seekers.

While not mentioned, plans to change the nationality act may also have dire consequences for dual citizen rights in Finland.

As long as BR remains in government the worse matters will get for migrants and minorities in this country.

* After the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13 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.  One is more open about it while the other is more diplomatic. 

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.

Finland’s Draconian immigration policy today has its roots in the Cold War era

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Sound policies aim at producing good results. Bad policies made with malicious intent only bring suffering and disaster.

The quote sits well with Finland’s Draconian immigration and asylum policy. The number of undocumented migrants has soared from an estimated 300. Those who are lucky enough to get a residence permit can say goodbye to ever bringing their loved ones to this country because family reunification requirements were tightened.  In sum, the Finnish government and the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) have done everything possible to make their lives as miserable as possible and expel them from here.

You don’t have to be an expert on immigration policy to understand how we have arrived at this shameful juncture. Even if the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* – today Blue Reform, or the “new” Perussuomalaiset – was primarily responsible for the tightening of immigration policy, such policies were backed by its two partners in government, the Center Party, and National Coalition Party.

In Argentina, the Finns founded a colony in 1906. Even if life was hard, they weren’t threatened with deportation as many asylum seekers are today in Finland. That goes for the majority of the over 1.2 million Finns who emigrated from this country. It is sad that Finns don’t learn at school about this fact, which was efficiently whitewashed and confined to a few festivities. The Malinen family is posing in front of their farm in Argentina in the 1920s. Photo: Lahja Malinen.

Even if the government has tightened immigration policy, opposition parties like the Social Democrats haven’t distanced themselves from such policies but supported them with their near-silence.

In the spring of 2016, the Social Democrats voted in their majority to do away with granting residence permits on humanitarian grounds. One of the Social Democratic MPs to vote in favor of this measure was Nasima Razmyar, a former refugee. This law (2/2016) is responsible for the high number of undocumented migrants.

The only parties that voted against the law were the Left Alliance, Greens and Swedish People’s Party.

Why so much animosity towards asylum seekers? I believe it has to do with Finnish history and education that teaches from a very young age nationalistic myths and be suspicious of foreigners and people who are different from the white Finnish-speaking majority.

While it may surprise many, the Cold War era for Finland (1944-91) reinforced official suspicion of outsiders. There was a time in our short history as an independent nation when foreigners were deported without any right to appeal, were prohibited from buying land, establish businesses in key sectors of the economy, organize demonstrations, among other human rights violations.

Even if in a different context, the total disregard for asylum seekers’ safety we see today was a part of Finnish policy in the Cold War, when Soviet asylum seekers were returned against their will to face harsh punishment in the USSR.

Is it here where Finland wants to return?

If so, we’re going to put up a hell of a fight!

* After the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13 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.  One is more open about it while the other is more diplomatic. 

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.

In Finland the enemy is within and in the structures, not outside threatening us

Posted on by Migrant Tales

If I had to choose who discriminates and defends structural racism in Finland the most, I’d come to the following conclusion: Many of those who claim to be for social equality are the worst enemies of our culturally and ethnically diverse community. Their silence is one matter that exposes them but also their defensive stands whenever they feel that their power and privilege threatened.

If they feel threatened, they’ll go on the defensive and do everything to ensure that your efforts come to naught. Status quo sees another day in Finland.

A disgraceful example of the latter was the moral panic displayed by politicians in the face of the attack by a knife-wielding foreigner in Turku that left two dead and eight injured.

Their knee-jerk reaction and opportunism were so evident that even YLE wrote about the moral panic that had struck Finland.

People who belong to racist and bigoted groups like Finland First, Suomen Sisu, Suomen Vastarintaliike, the Perussuomalaiset* and others, are at least sincere about their hatred of cultural diversity. They are easy to spot. But what about those that smile in your face and assure you with a poker face to not to worry since social equality is guaranteed by the law?  

How can you spot these types of people? Easy. When they speak about how we all enjoy social equality and gender equality in this country, it’s usually a red herring.

While equality is paramount and an important value to defend in Finland, it is guaranteed by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.  Alarm bells should be ringing whenever they justify their discriminatory behavior by stating that you come from “a backward culture,” or that Muslim women are oppressed, 

They don’t debunk myths but perpetuate them in order to disenfranchise, exert control over migrant and minority groups.

Read more about Denouncing Myths of Women’s Rights, Muslim Women, Feminism and Islamophobia in Europe here. Published by the European Network Against Racism.

If you believe such wise tales, that we’re all equal, you’ll wake up eventually when you look for a job. If you are lucky enough to get a job, you’ll discover that you have little power and are a second-class employee.

In a story Migrant Tales published in June, and using three practical nurses working at a large company in Helsinki, I highlighted how structural racism and discrimination work at one company.

Continue reading “In Finland the enemy is within and in the structures, not outside threatening us”

PS’ Third Vice President Juho Eerola is suspected of ethnic agitation in Finland

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Perussuomalaiset (PS)* third vice president Juho Eerola is suspected of ethnic agitation, according to YLE News. If convicted, only PS First Vice President Laura Huhtasaari would be the only board member of the party that doesn’t have a conviction for ethnic agitation. Chairman Jussi Halla-aho was convicted in 2012 and MP Teuvo Hakkarainen, the second vice president, convicted in January. 

Eerola, who is an anti-immigration politician who said Benito Mussolini’s fascism attracted him, got in legal hot water when he wrote in Facebook this summer that he spat at Roma beggars and asked them if they accepted Visa.

Eerola chairs the parliamentary administration committee that, among other things, oversees immigration policy.

Migrant Tales had the opportunity to speak by phone to Rikhard Blomerus, a Savonlinna deputy councilperson, who filed ethnic agitation charges to the police and brought the matter to the attention of the chancellor of justice.

“I filed charges not because I am a Roma, but I would have done it irrespective if the victim were Saami or any other minority like the Swedish Finns,” he said, stating that he knew Eerola when he was a member of the PS. “I think he made the [Facebook] posting to score brownie points [with the voters].”

UPDATED: Blomerus said that he had received a lot of comments about what he did.

“A lot of them are angry with me,” he continued. “One was even angry because he considered it an insult that a Roma would bring charges against a white Finn.”

Blomerus used to be a member of the PS but left the party after Halla-aho was elected chair in June. The Savonlinna deputy councilperson has complained previously about the anti-Roma sentiment in the PS.

“I don’t belong to any party these days,” he said. “I’m an independent.”

Read the full story here.

Continue reading “PS’ Third Vice President Juho Eerola is suspected of ethnic agitation in Finland”

Finland believes tighter laws will protect the country from terrorism but the real enemy is fear and opportunism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The knee-jerk reaction of politicians after the tragedy that took place in Turku on Friday not only smells of populism but opportunism. What have we heard from them since last week?


In this story in Ilta-Sanomat, Interior Minister Paula Risikko exposes her ignorance of our laws by suggesting that suspected terrorists with Finnish citizenship should be barred from entering the country. Source: Ilta-Sanomat.

Below is a list of what some government ministers and politicians have suggested:

  • Interior Minister Paula Risikko wants to bar Finnish citizens from entering the country if they are suspected of terrorism;
  • Interior Minister Risikko wants to take away a person’s Finnish citizenship if he or she is suspected of terrorism;
  • Interior Minister Risikko wants to pass new legislation that would make assisting undocumented migrants a criminal offense;
  • President Sauli Niinistö and the government want to fast track new legislation that will increase surveillance and erode privacy;
  • Justice Minister Antti Häkkänen wants new legislation that would permit imprisoning undocumented migrants for six months if they don’t leave the country;
  • Perussuomalaiset* chairman, Jussi Halla-aho, who was convicted for hate speech in 2012, wants rejected asylum seekers to be placed in detention centers like in Hungary;
  • Social Democratic Chairperson Antti Rinne wants Finns to have more babies;
  • After what happened in Turku, we have seen a spike in attacks and hate speech against migrants and minorities living in Finland.

Believe it or not, these are all Finnish politicians who represent a Nordic welfare state that bases its values on human rights, social equality, and fairness. They are worried about the rise of undocumented migrants on our streets. Even so, they created such a problem by voting to scrap residence permits on humanitarian grounds.

While many of these proposals are in conflict with our Constitution and a direct attack on the rule of law, these politicians believe that tougher laws will protect us from terrorism. What will protect us from terrorism is a cool head and not fear that lies in between our ears.

Another important message that these suggestions suggest is that Finland is still in deep denial about its every-growing cultural and ethnic diversity. This means that members of our community are excluded and don’t have any input.

 

The reaction of our politicians and their opportunism is so evident that they should tread with care because they’ll cause more harm to our system than what the terrorists would hope to accomplish in their wildest dreams.

* After the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13 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.  One is more open about it while the other is more diplomatic. 

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.