Category: Enrique Tessieri

The words and silence of politicians have dire consequences in Finland for us

Posted on by Migrant Tales

After the stabbing of ten people in Turku on Friday, politicians like President Sauli Niinistö, Prime Minister Juha Sipilä, Interior Minister Paula Risikko and the national media appear to be carried away by their prejudices and hostility towards asylum seekers. Even Jussi Halla-aho, the chairman of the Perussuomalaiset* convicted for hate speech, threw his hat in the ring.  

These politicians, like many others, are the ones who speak to us about mutual respect and social equality but despite such assurances, they are not meant for migrants and minorities. They loathe our social welfare system and the noble values so much that they intend to destroy them. On their list of suspicious people are not only those who are different from them but the most vulnerable sectors of society like the unemployed, single mothers and others.

They tell us that there is no connection between what happened in Turku and plans to fast-track a new intelligence law and ever-tougher stances against asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, migrants, and minorities.

We know that there is a connection and if we don’t watch out, they will sell out everything great and noble about Finland that took decades to build.

Read the full story (in Swedish) here.

After Friday’s tragic events in Turku, we have seen a spike in hostility against non-white Finns throughout the country. Business establishments were attacked as well as innocent people whose only “crime” is being Other. One of these was a young man told to remove himself from a seat, and another was stabbed in Vantaa after being asked if he was a Muslim.

These cases are, like hate crimes, only the tip of the iceberg.

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The Finnish Security Intelligence Service’s epic failure in reacting to a terrorist threat in Turku

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In a country like Finland, where the police are demigods, the epic failure of the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) in not reacting soon enough to the terrorist attack in Turku stands out like a sore thumb. Supo had received a tip in early 2017 from the police about the suspect Abderrahman Mechkah’s radicalized and extremist views, according to YLE News. 

If President Sauli Niinistö and the government want to speak of the “two extremes,” or tolkun ihmiset,  Meckhkah offers us an example of the other extreme. Now we have a terrorist on one end and neo-Nazi Eppu Tornianen, who killed a young man in the fall with a massive kick in the chest, Finland First, MV, Vastarintaliike, Perussuomalaiset*, and others.

If there is one matter that the terrorist attack in Turku did on Friday was smash alas to pieces the tolkun ihmiset nonsense used to silence and control debate on our ever-growing cultural and ethnic diversity. Furthermore, as in Charlottesville and in Turku, empty promises of social equality, tolerance and “pro-inclusive” integration pledges will no longer work because they never have.

Finland needs concrete deeds and a paradigm policy shift that it is serious about being a welcoming society that promotes social equality for everyone who lives here irrespective of their background. Finland is an ever-growing culturally and ethnically diverse society, period.

Read the full story here.

Suggesting and labeling people who speak out against racism and defend our Nordic values as extremists reveal that Finland is still in deep denial about its racism and discrimination issues.

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As Finland heals from Friday it must address homegrown extremism and violence against migrants and minorities

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Today more than ever Finland needs leadership to heal from what happened on Friday but also condemn openly all forms of violence in this country. The greatest fear that some migrants and minorities have n Finland after the terrorist attack in Turku are reprisals against Muslims and migrants.

We already saw three business establishments run by foreigners being attacked over the weekend. In one of them, there is a man giving a Nazi salute from the shattered window. A business establishment selling Arabic pastries and a barbershop in Helsinki were attacked as well.

Instead of just speaking about terrorism, politicians must show leadership and condemn as well all forms of violence, especially against the migrant community that is as grieved as the rest of the country after the terrorist attack.

The fear that some migrants and minorities feel in Finland is very real.

“What scares me the most is that Turku will be a platform for Islamophobic groups [in Finland and elsewhere],” said Roxana Crisólogo Correa Saturday, a Peruvian poet who has lived a number of years in Finland. “Moreover it will encourage us as a society to find simple solutions to complex problems and be reinforcing and dividing more our society by stressing ‘us’ and ‘them.’”

 

Read the full story (in Finnish) here. A man giving a Nazi salute on Friday.

Below is another business that sells baklava in Itäkeskus in Helsinki was attacked as well.

 Another business establishment’s window is smashed in Itäkeskus, Helsinki.

A barber shop in Helsinki suffered a similar fate on Friday. The owner of the barbershop is a naturalized Finn who moved from Iraq in 2009.

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Migrants and minorities fear that Turku will fuel more hostility and racism in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

After the deadly terrorist attack in Barcelona Thursday, some expected the worse in Finland when the following day a young man stabbed indiscriminately ten people who killed two, according to YLE News. The police confirmed on Saturday that what happened was a terrorist attack. 

According to YLE, the suspect is an eighteen-year-old Moroccan citizen.

 

Read the full story here.

At a press conference held Friday at 7 pm in Turku, Interior Minister Paula Risikko talked about “a foreign-looking” person as the prime suspect even if she could not yet confirm his identity.

Whenever Finland uses the term “foreign-looking” or “person of foreign origin” it is code for non-white European.

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Why do some schools in Finland ask if a pupil is “a person of migrant origin?”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Sari Pöyhönen, who wrote in an op-ed piece in Helsingin Sanomat this week, asked why some schools in Finland ask parents if they are migrants, a person with a migrant origin, refugee, returnee, immigrant, temporarily in the country or asylum seeker. It is a good question considering that placing people into such groups is in general illegal in Finland.

“Asking such questions like what is a parent’s background is conflictive and confusing,” she explained. “What group does a child belong to if he or she was born in Finland and the parents were born abroad? What about if the pupil were adopted from overseas and the parents are Finns?”

Pöyhönen, who is a professor at the University of Jyväskylä with expertise in areas like language education policies, migration policy, identity & belonging, refugee & asylum seeker narratives, among others, said that such questions about a parent’s background are not only done at schools in Central Finland.

“I got contacted by a person from Inkoo [in southern Finland], and this suggests that the practice is widespread and has been going on for some time,” she added.

Read the full story here.

Pöyhönen’s asks in the op-ed: “As a guardian, I wonder why a school needs such information about a pupil’s background. What type of pedagogical and administrative policies are made from such information?”

The questionnaire is confusing for many reasons. What is the different between a refugee and asylum seeker?

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After detention for 27 days in Finland, Iraqi asylum seeker gets rejection for work permit after half-a-year wait

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Remember an Iraqi asylum seeker called Hayder Al-Hatemi who was detained for 27 days from January 6-February 2 pending a deportation order? He applied for a work permit on February 6 shortly after his release and had learned at the beginning of August that it had been turned down. 

Al-Hatemi said that the bakery where he is employed had opened another branch and needs workers.

“The reason why I got [my work permit] turned down is that they state that Finns can do my job and because there is unemployment in Southern Finland,” he said. “The owner of the bakery put ads in the paper but no Finn applied. At work, we’re 17 employees from countries like Iran, Iraq, Estonia, Russia  and only two Finns.”

Despite the treatment that Al-Hatemi has received from the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), he said that he’d still come to Finland and apply for asylum.

“I would come to this country again because the Finns I have met are nice,” he continued. “The people are friendly, but it’s another story if we talk about Migri and the government.”

Read the full story here.

Al-Hatemi already has four rejections for asylum and one for a work permit.

“I probably have the world record in Finland for the most rejections,” he said with a pinch of humor.

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Iraqi asylum seeker in Finland foils deportation attempt

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Haidar Isam of the #righttolife demonstration said that the deportation of an Iraqi asylum seeker was stopped today shortly before a Turkish Airline flight was set to leave Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. 

The asylum seeker, who came to Finland in autumn 2015 to search for refuge and a new life, created such a scene that the pilot and three ordered them off the plane.

Migrant Tales has published many stories about how asylum seekers and deportations. One of these is a video by w2eu.info that tells asylum seekers what to do inside an airplane if they are being deported

Isam was happy about the failed deportation attempt.

“Is this the humanity that Finland speaks of?” he said. “This is one case but the struggle to stop deportations continues.”

Two videos below taken of Haidar just before the plane was about to leave Finland.

One policeman states that “he’s just following orders” while the asylum seeker asks if this is justice?

“We came to Finland to seek shelter, and now you are sending us to our death,” he said, adding that he hoped the United Nations and other government could see what is happening.

See the second video of the foiled deportation here.

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US President Donald Trump’s Finnish “tolkun” moment and his mixed response to far-right violence

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Three people died in the wake of a demonstration by white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members clashed Saturday with anti-racism activists when the white nationalists planned a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The rally saw a car being deliberately driven into a crowd of people that killed one person and left at least 19 others injured.  

The other two fatalities were policemen who died in a helicopter crash.

After what happened at the demonstration, we saw US President Donald Trump have his tolkun moment. Instead of challenging the white supremacists in Virginia, Trump went on to “condemn violence from all sides.”

Sounds familiar?

President Sauli Niinistö, who is no friend of cultural diversity, mentioned the term tolkun ihminen in February 2016 and how two extremes dominate the present debate on asylum seekers, migrants, and our ever-growing cultural diversity. Such a simplistic affirmation has not helped to challenge racism but has fueled it and even encouraged politicians like Interior Minister Paula Risikko to visit a far-right Finland First demonstration this year and give them the thumbs up.

While it’s easy to identify who the far-right extremists are, the “tolkun ihminen” analogy, who are the others? Are they those who fight against racism and bigotry? President Niinistö hasn’t given us a clue.

Like the song about a supposed silent majority living in Muskogee, Oklahoma, disgraced and impeached US President Richard Nixon claimed that such a majority backed his embattled presidency.

If we are to challenge racism, bigotry, far-right populism and extremism, we need leadership from politicians and the public instead of mixed messages that pander to such groups.

What about if President Niinistö or Interior Minister Risikko took Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe’s speech to heart after what happened in his state over the weekend?

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The Finnish Immigration Service’s way of saying “this country isn’t your home”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

I got a call Friday from a Migrant Tales longtime reader who came to Finland as a child and is in his mid-30s today. “Could you tell me what this message (by the Finnish Immigration Service or Migri) means?!” he asked. “If they send me back to my country I won’t know what to do. I’ll kill myself [before being deported].”

The slip that the longtime reader received from Migri reads:

The bearer of this document can reside lawfully in Finland until a legal decision is made to renew (his residence permit) or deport the person from the country.*

How is it possible that a person who grew up most of his life and lived his adult life in Finland received such a statement by Migri? And then our policy-makers wonder why people are marginalized and excluded from society.

Finland in general and Migri, in particular, should stop their hostile stand on cultural diversity and take a few courses on how customer service.

The first important policy decision that officials should make is to help people feel at home in this country instead of like eternal outsiders. It shouldn’t be code for “this country isn’t your home.”

In the so-called “good old days” of the 1980s, migrants were not only given temporary residence permits but had at one time to apply for a work permit for each employer.  Source: piknu.com.

* Todistuksen haltija voi oleskella laillisesti Suomessa asiankäsittelyn ajan kunnes asia on lainvoimaisesti ratkaistu tai on tehty täytäntöönpanokelpoinen päätös hakijan maasta poistamiseksi.

 

 

Tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat should apologize to the migrant and minority community for their racist stories

Posted on by Migrant Tales

When I started my career in journalism in Finland in the mid-1980s, I was warned never to use the term huijaa, which means to cheat, scam or deceive. “Don’t ever use this word unless you want to find yourself in court for defamation,” my former colleague from Apu magazine warned. 

About ten years later, tabloid Ilta-Sanomat, which is probably one of the biggest culprits in spreading racism and bigotry against groups like Somalis, used the term huijaa in its April 27, 1994, billboard below that reads: “Somalis deceived to get asylum.”

Migrant Tales has published a number of these billboards. They are proof of how the Finnish media, in particular, tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat, labeled and victimized groups like Somalis, Russians, Estonians, minorities like the Roma, refugees, and migrants in general.

Even if the years should teach you new things, Ilta-Sanomat continues to publish misleading and racist stories about asylum seekers. The one below is a billboard released in October 2015 that claims that this year Finland will receive 10,000 “illegal refugees.” As everyone knows, there is no such thing as “illegal” refugees.

Taking into account the racist nature of the stories that were published and which impacted negatively the lives of migrants and minorities in this country up to today, it’s high time that publications like Ilta-Sanomat apologize for what they wrote over twenty years ago. Many stereotypes continue to exist thanks to what they wrote and keep on writing about migrants and minorities.

Will Ilta-Sanomat hide in its silence and play dead to this request or will it bite the bullet and do what is right?

Hopefully, other migrant and anti-racism associations in Finland will put pressure on the tabloid to do what is right.

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