Category: Enrique Tessieri

Finnish Police Board clears police of ethnic profiling…Really?!

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Police Board in Finland has cleared the police of ethnic profiling while monitoring migrants, according to YLE News. In a racialized country like Finland should we be surprised by the Police Board findings? 

Not in the least.

Let’s go back to spring 2016 when the police carried out spot checks with the Finnish Border Guard on “foreign-looking” people in the Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa.

The latter example doesn’t count, right?

When the police service and Finnish Border Guard stop “foreigners” or “foreign-looking people” for their IDs the question we should ask is what does “a foreigner” look like?


Read the full story here.

Migrant Tales has published some stories about suspected ethnic profiling cases and the Finnish police.

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Adaption of migrants in Finland is a one-way (assimilation) process

Posted on by Migrant Tales

What do politicians and public officials in Finland mean when they claim that integration is a two-way process? Is it only political correctness that motivates them to make up such claims or is it code that means one-way adaption, or assimilation?

The first question that I’d like to ask is what does two-way integration mean? How is it put in practice in Finland?

The table above shows the educational background of 15-64-year-old migrants (ulkomaalaistaustainen) and Finns (suomalaistaustainen) who have completed tertiary education (korkea aste), upper secondary school (toinen aste) or comprehensive school (peruskoulu). Source: Survey on work and well-being among people of foreign origin.

In an ideal world, it is supposed to mean – I suspect – when two equal members of society representing different cultures learn from each other and try to find synergies to create a stronger and more dynamic society. For such a thing to happen, however, there must be no institutional racism. And there’s a lot of that in Finland.

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Helsingin Sanomat survey on migrants reveals expectations that adaption in Finland is and will be a one-way process

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Finland’s largest daily, Helsingin Sanomat, published a survey Friday about the minimum requirements that foreigners should adapt to if living here. Seventy-seven percent fully agreed that white Finns should be able to shake hands with both sexes. The survey showed as well that 52% were against women’s-only swimming hours and 37% felt that one should bathe naked in the sauna. 

What surprised me the most, however, was that 32% were against men and women bus drivers using turbans and hijabs. That compared with 40% that said that teachers, the police or other public officials should not use any object to cover their hair.

Migrant Tales reported during 2013-2014 about the long struggle of a Sikh bus driver, Gill Sukhdarshan Singh, who won a landmark case to wear a turban at work.  

While these are interesting expectations of white Finns in the survey they reinforce what we’ve known all along: Adaption of foreigners is a one-way process.  It also reveals that people are reluctant to make room for cultural diversity.

Some findings of the Helsingin Sanomat survey on what Finns expect foreigners to accept about Finland. Read the full story here.

Since racism, bigotry, and exclusion are enforced by the majority’s power and privilege, it’s clear that the survey, the questions, and answers will respond to maintaining the status quo.  The survey reveals as well Helsingin Sanomat’s simplistic view of how migrants should adapt to our society.

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The old and new Perussuomalaiset: Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right…

Posted on by Migrant Tales

After the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party imploded on June 13 into two factions, there’s been a lot of finger-pointing from members of the old and new PS. This is nothing new coming from a party that has a long track record in scapegoating migrants and minorities.

The old PS and the new PS, called today either New Alternative or Blue Reform, is the only party in Finland after World War 2 that is openly racist and Islamophobic to attract voters.

Don’t believe the new PS. They are the same thing but in different clothing and give justice to Malcolm X’s famous saying, “Racism is like a Cadillac. They bring a new model every year.”

The old and new PS are not just clowns and jokers to the left and right but hazardous to Finland’s political health.

Are we surprised that the deposed PS leader, Timo Soini, blames the far right and Suomen Sisu for the split in the party? What he sowed and reaped for many years ended up destroying him and the party.

Soini writes in his blog: “It’s silly to argue that a coup/job didn’t happen at the Perussuomalaiset party convention. Electing an anti-immigration hardliner [like Halla-aho] was for many too much. The stick that broke the camel’s back was when Suomen Sisu attempted to overtake the party council.”

Electing “an anti-immigration hardliner?!” Why didn’t he sack Jussi Halla-aho from the party in 2012,  when he promised to do so if a party member got convicted for ethnic agitation?

Continue reading “The old and new Perussuomalaiset: Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right…”

#RightToLife demonstration holds inconclusive talks Monday with Helsinki city officials and the police

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Nour, one of the organizers of the #RightToLife Helsinki Railway Square demonstration that was closed after 140 days by the police on Friday, is hopeful that a new location will be found soon. 

“We had talks today with Helsinki city officials and the police about a new site,” he told Migrant Tales by phone. “No place or date was given yet by the officials, but we are looking at places like Kiasma and Kamppi.”

Nour of the #RightToLife demonstration. Photo: Enrique Tessieri.

Nour admitted that the Helsinki Railway Square was a perfect place since its location in the heart of the city and a lot of people pass through there.

“I’m not counting my chicks before they’re hatched,” he said. “I’m not either optimistic or pessimistic.”

Nour was, however, adamant: “The demonstration will continue.”

Welcome back to “safe” Iraq, let me slash you with a knife

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) continues to insist that countries like Iraq, where Finnish nationals are discouraged from visiting, is a safe country to deport people. Migri deports everyone they don’t give residence permits. You leave either “voluntarily” or by “force.”  

Iraq isn’t a safe country, and sensible people understand that Migri’s tough asylum policy hinges on the Blue Reform, formerly the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*.

Even if the PS split into two parties, both loathe asylum seekers from countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia.

Migrant Tales documented two cases last year of two Iraqi asylum seekers who faced violent deaths upon returning from Finland.

The latest story to reach us is of an Iraqi who was “deported voluntarily” to his home country two months ago and attacked by militias on Saturday.

The history of the Iraqi victim is very similar to the many thousands that fled to Finland in 2015.

A fellow asylum seeker from Iraq writes:

The asylum seeker, who alerted us, said that a car had followed him near his home with three people. They cut him with a knife and spared his life. “The next time we see you, we will kill you!” they warned.

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Finland should stop capitulating to racist far-right groups like Finland First and others

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The police service informed the #RighttoLive camp, which has been demonstrating against the Finnish Immigration Service’s unfair asylum policies and deportations since February, to disband from the Central Railway Square by 7 pm Friday. The order was given five days after the far-right Suomi ensin (Finland First) demonstration was obliged to leave the Central Railway Square on Monday.

Deputy police chief Heikki Kopperaoinen told YLE News that the #RightToLive demonstration was ordered to decamp due to security concerns.

“The decision is based on how the security situation in central Helsinki is developing,” he was quoted as saying in YLE News.

What does the deputy police chief mean by “based on how the security situation is developing?”

They are the police, and it’s their job to guarantee each person’s security, not succumb to far-right racist pressure from groups like Finland First.

Nour Jamal, one of the most active organizers of the #RightToLive demonstration, was confident that they would continue their protest despite the momentary setback.

Read the posting here.

#RightToLive spokesperson Outi Popp was disappointed as well by the decision by the police to end the demonstration in downtown Helsinki.

“The protest did not cause danger of any kind. We have complied with all of the police orders and suggestions all along,” Outi Popp was quoted as saying in YLE News.

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“Tolerant” Minister Lindström and his aide planned to slash funding to integration programs in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Blue Reform* (formerly Perussuomalaiset) Minister of Labor Jari Lindström’s special aide Sakari Puisto aimed to slash financial aid to migrant associations by 348,000 euros from 750,000 euros, reports Helsingin Sanomat. A ministry official was “shocked” when he heard such plans by Puisto in January.

Some associations that were going to see their financial aid cut included Liikkukaa, Sateenvarjo, Suomen somalilaistenliitto, Suomen Somali verkosto as well as others.

Lindström, who has tried to portray himself as “tolerant” on immigration issues, saw such a facade expose a more sinister face after the scoop by Helsingin Sanomat.

Plans to drastically cut financial aid to associations that work with migrants fall into the anti-immigration policies of the Perussuomalaiset (PS), which have now split into two parties after Jussi Halla-aho, whose hostile views on immigration are known and who was convicted for hate speech in 2012, was elected chair the PS.

One of the reasons why the PS grew in Finland has been a simple message: We’ll take care of the Somali and “migrant problem” in Finland.

“Taking care” of the so-called “problem” has meant hostility towards migrants, the tightening of immigration policy and undermining integration programs to migrants.

Habiba Ali, a Social Democratic Party councilperson of the city of Espoo, said that if the cuts suggested by Puisto would have gone ahead, it would have undermined the work of these organizations to help integrate them into society.

“Sports is important for [some] migrants if they want to integrate into Finnish society,” she said. “Investing in integration policies makes sense since this will mean more effective integration and future taxpayers.”

Read the full story here.

Ali said that integration is a two-way process and that the law should apply to everyone equally.

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A feature about a PS white supremacist and how the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) normalizes racism and bigotry

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Northern Finnish Kemi city councilperson Harri Tauriainen is a white supremacist that is head over heels about US President Donald Trump. In a sloppy human-interest story about Tauriainen, the state-run Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) makes no mention of the councilperson’s racist and bigoted political views except him denying that he’s a racist and neo-Nazi sympathizer. 

The Finnish media, like other media in the EU, has difficulty in grasping how racism impacts migrants and minorities since they are white.

In the YLE story, there was no mention as well of Tauriainen’s most infamous quotes like, “It’s incredible that this human trash [convicted foreign criminals] aren’t put in their places. Put a stamp on their asses and deport them for good from Finland.”

Read the original story here.

But if the YLE reporter appears to suffer from convenient amnesia, she could take the trouble to see one of Tauriainen’s latest Facebook posts on how “hate speech is legal in the United States,” and how “illegal human trafficking rages on.”

In the story, YLE only had nice things to say about Tauriainen even if it mentions the far-right vigilante group Soldiers of Odin. The reporter even played down the 47.4% plunge in votes he got in the 2017 municipal elections from 2012.

Migrant Tales will go even further to help the YLE reporter to understand who Tauriainen is and what he symbolizes to our ever-growing culturally diverse society.

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Pizzeria owned by Bangladeshi is a target of an arson attack Sunday

Posted on by Migrant Tales

A pizzeria owned by a Bangladeshi in Espoo was attacked today by two suspects who threw petrol bombs causing extensive damage to the pizzeria as well as to the building, according to Helsingin Sanomat. The police have brought into custody “a few suspects.” They said that the fire was started intentionally.  

Migrant Tales has unconfirmed reports that the police have two suspects in custody.

Trish Pääkkönen, who lives a few blocks from the pizzeria was shocked by what had happened.

“I rarely see the owner but we know all of the staff there,” she said. “They know my 7 yr old granddaughter so well that when we order even by phone we order a “Gabby pizza.” 

The owner of the pizzeria, called Paradise, was set alight in five minutes, according to the owner, Mohammed Mobin.

“The fire was so fierce that it felt that the whole building was going to explode soon,” he was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat.

The pizzeria that was the target of an arson attack Sunday evening in Espoo. Two suspects are in police custody. Photo: Anastasia Saari.

The owner said that the two suspects that attacked the pizzeria with petrol bombs had been at the restaurant earlier and had threatened the employees.