Enrique Tessieri Archives - Page 166 of 245

A naturalized Finn who returned to a “safe” country like Afghanistan and was killed last month

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Migrant Tales

The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) announced in May that countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia are “safe” to return refugees who get their asylum applications rejected. Migrant Tales documented two deaths and one shooting of Iraqi asylum seekers that returned recently to Iraq.

When asked about such cases, Migri tweets the following: “Good morning Marianne. Without confirmation we cannot comment on the fate of those [asylum seekers] that have been refused to stay [in Finland].”

We would like to introduce Reza Hasani, a naturalized Finn originally from Afghanistan, who got shot and killed on September 19, or seven days after he got married in the capital Kabul.

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Two Iraqi asylum seekers who returned to “safe” Iraq and were killed

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Migrant Tales

In May and much to the surprise of many, especially asylum seekers and concerned citizens, the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) announced that countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia were safe to return asylum seekers.

Migrant Tales reported in September about Mohammed Khulbus Idnan’s return to “safe” Iraq after waiting for a year for his residence permit without luck. He returned to Baghdad to be at his mother’s side since she was going to die. He returned and was lucky: He got shot six times and survived.

Two other persons weren’t as lucky as Khulbus Idnan when they returned in summer to “safe” Iraq. Both of them were killed by bombs.

Hussein Ali Shawi Al-Frajas was twenty-nine years old when a bomb planted in his car detonated and ripped him in half from the waist down. We have pictures that show him inside the car that we won’t publish because they are so shocking.

Al-Frajas had been in Baghdad only three days before he was killed.

He left Finland after Migri had turned down his asylum application. He was a father of two.

Hussein Ali Shawi Al-Frajas died in summer three days after his return to Baghdad from Oulu, Finland.

The second young man to die in summer is Ahmed Kadhim Ali Alsultani, who returned back to Baghdad because he missed his two children and wife. He had come to Finland in September and waited for months without luck for a decision from Migri.

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The Finnish Immigration Service, with the blessings of the government, aims to separate migrant parents from their children

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Migrant Tales

In August, the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) is reported to have given asylum reception center instructions that only their children can stay at the reception center if the parents have their asylum application turned down and won’t leave the country, according to MTV.

The Red Cross has already said that it won’t comply with Migri’s instructions because they breach the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Finland has ratified, and the association’s values to treat asylum seekers in a humane manner.

“We don’t want to worsen with our actions their vulnerability,” Red Cross legal advisor Jani Leino was quoted as saying.

Migrant Tales confirms that the Red Cross told asylum seekers at some camps that they won’t be abandoned by the association. “You will not be neglected or kicked out of the reception center,” an asylum seeker told us over the phone. “We are here to support you.”

While the Red Cross will not comply to Migri’s instructions, it would be interesting to see if private companies like Luona and Mehiläinen feel the same way about offering support and not abandoning those that they now serve.

Read the full story here.

Finland’s government, which is one of the most hostile and anti-immigration seen in a long time, believes that the only way to deal with asylum seekers and migrants in Finland is to prohibit and pass inhumane laws like the tightening of family reunification guidelines.

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Case Villa Meri: Is the job of an asylum reception center to promote the well-being or suffering of those they serve?

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Migrant Tales

“Silence is beautiful” is a saying that most people in this country will appreciate but if the authorities don’t act and keep the public in suspense, that silence can turn into poison in a country like Finland where there are interest groups that make it their business to spread hatred, victimize and destroy the good name of migrants.

There are many examples we could cite of this “silence,” or inaction that encourages apathy.

Silence also fuels speculation, which in turn greases the wheels of those that spread racism, bigotry, and hatred.

Good examples of that social gangrene are MV and Nykysuomi and others that rob, spin and spoonfeed to their readers their daily dose of racism with lies and exaggerations about migrants.

The existence of these types of publications, which have a readership and are supported by some politicians of anti-immigration parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, show that many are trying to cash in on xenophobia because such a social ill brings attention and power.

The Villa Meri asylum reception center, run by a private company that profits from people’s suffering, is at the center of a scandal fed by silence due to the rape of a 15-year-old.

Read the full complaint here.

While not all asylum reception centers are managed poorly, there are others that do a good job. One important matter that a well-functioning center requires is good management that is available to the people they serve and offer shelter.

Continue reading “Case Villa Meri: Is the job of an asylum reception center to promote the well-being or suffering of those they serve?”

UPDATE: How can a rape of an adolescent visitor happen at the Villa Meri asylum reception center?

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales published Thursday a story about a list of complaints by an asylum seeker of the Villa Meri reception center of Rauma, located 91 kilometers north of the southwestern city of Turku. The reception the story got was quite a surprise considering that present and former volunteers of Villa Meri accused me of racism, hating and using all asylum seekers, hating all reception center workers, and of having an agenda.

UPDATE: Migrant Tales will have news on the case Saturday.

One of these volunteers even threatened to sue me.

For what? For publishing what an asylum seeker’s list of complaints?

Doesn’t the Villa Meri asylum reception center have any rules about who can speak on behalf of the reception center? If not, it shows that there is either mismanagement or no management at the center.

The same complaints that were given to Migrant Tales in March from asylum seekers at Villa Meri hadn’t changed in November with the horrific exception that a rape of an adolescent was committed.

Migrant Tales was heatedly criticized on Facebook’s Rasmus by former and present volunteers of Vill Meri for asking a sensible question: How is it possible that an adolescent visitor gets raped at the center?

To that question, we heard some of the most incredible excuses like it’s not the job of the staff to watch over asylum seekers and visitors like children. The staff isn’t responsible for what happened hto the adolescent, was echoed by another visitor.

While the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) doesn’t give recommendations to asylum centers on how to improve security, it’s the security guards job at the center to ensure the staff’s and asylum seekers’ safety.

I’d be very surprised if an exhaustive investigation isn’t being conducted now to find out why an adolescent was raped at the center. Even if some claim that the staff and management aren’t responsible for what happened, they are if negligence can be proven.

Some asylum centers in Finland take precautions. One such center in southern Finland does the following:

1) visitors are watched by the staff; (2) corridors are watched by camera; (3) empty rooms are locked (the rape at Villa Meri took place in an empty unlocked room); (4) there are areas of the camp that are off limits to visitors and asylum seekers.

Will such measures prevent a rape? It will make it harder for someone who has rape on his mind.

On top of possible negligence, there’s another factor that incriminates the staff and management. The asylum seekers allegedly warned them that something bad could happen to the adolescent that was raped. They alleged the adolescent had a “bad reputation” (sic!) because she hung around men and boys, which is taboo for single adolescents and women in some Middle East regions.

Why weren’t the warnings of the asylum seekers taken on board and acted upon?

If the asylum seekers are to be believed, relations with the manager of the camp, Päivi Nikkola, are poor as with the staff. Moreover, the camp manager is never around and impossible for the asylum seekers to meet and talk with her.

It may well be that some heads may roll at Villa Meri for what happened.

But the most important matter that we can learn from what happened is to not commit the same mistakes committed at the reception center in Rauma.

The Villa Meri center is run by Hoivapalvelu Metsätähti, a private company owned by Mehiläinen.

UPDATE: Problems at Rauma’s Villa Meri asylum reception persist and have gotten worse

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Migrant Tales

In March, Migrant Tales reported about the problems at the Villa Meri asylum reception of Rauma, a western Finnish city located 91 kilometers north of Turku. Some of these problems, which were cited back then, persist and have gotten worse.

Some of the problems cited at the reception center about eight months ago were threats to deport asylum seekers to Iraq, bullying, no contact with the manager Päivi Nikkola, bad food, no places for children to play, no access to a doctor, among other complaints.

Apparently, matters have gotten so bad at the reception center that the manager doesn’t communicate any longer with the residents.

UPDATE: What do asylum reception centers do to avoid rape and other bodily harm to people?

1) visitors are watched by the staff; (2) corridors are watched by camera; (3) empty rooms are locked (the rape that took place at the reception center was allegedly in an empty room); (4) there are areas of the camp that are off limits to visitors and asylum seekers.

Previous stories published by Migrant Tales in March.

The residents of the asylum reception center, which are all families and today number 70-80 persons, sent in spring a complaint to the parliamentary ombudsman.

While the complaint and hunger strike were made about eight months ago, the problems at the center persist and have gotten worse. A rape occurred at the reception center. If the asylum seekers are to be believed, the rape could have been prevented if there was better communication with the staff and manager.

The Villa Meri asylum reception center is a private company run by Hoivapalvelu Metsälahti, a subsidiary owned by Mehiläinen.

After speaking with an asylum seeker at the center Wednesday, these are the complaints that he made:

The manager, Nikkola, is never present. The staff sent her the complaints by asylum seekers but she refused to meet with them. The answer that the staff gave to the asylum seekers is that the manager is too busy to meet with them;
Whenever the asylum seekers ask for something, a staffer answers that he or she must wait for approval from the manager. They never get an answer;
Some of the asylum-seeker residents claim that poor communication with the manager and staff was what led to a rape at the reception center;
There are three suspects in the rape case: a father, his son, who is a minor, and a third person;
The asylum seekers told the management of the camp on a number of occasions to not let the young girl in the reception center because she had “a bad reputation” (becaue she hung around with a boy) and warned something bad could happen to her;*
The minor suspected of rape is allegedly the victim’s boyfriend;*
The food served at the center was one complaint that the asylum seekers had and which led to a hunger strike in March.

Continue reading “UPDATE: Problems at Rauma’s Villa Meri asylum reception persist and have gotten worse”

The new Other face of Finland is beautiful

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Migrant Tales

Every story that I read about the new faces of Finland, which is much older than anyone would care to admit, I get excited and inspired. In a flash, I see everything and understand who I am. For a fleeting moment, my thoughts are in perfect balance with my gut feelings and who I am: I belong here, always have and always will.

An interview in Ylioppilaslehti below is a wonderful example of how not only Finland has changed from a country that believed incorrectly it was monocultural to one that is today ever-culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse.

It is the job of the Other Finns to spearhead Finland to a new Finnish identity in the new century.

And the person in the article below, an attractive young woman, states the following at the end of the story:

“It’s absurd that a Finn in the year 2016 is forced to fight for his own identity and whether he belongs to that imagined community called Finland. We cannot build Finland, defend it by excluding a large number of people because they’re not like the rest and because they came from somewhere else.

Many don’t understand that Finnish identity is changing. It has already changed. It’s high time that we grow accustomed to this.”

Read the full story here.

In the 1970s when I visited my grandparents every summer from Southern California, some people didn’t believe that I was from Argentina because nobody from such a distant country visited Finland.

Continue reading “The new Other face of Finland is beautiful”

Family reunification in Finland can easily cost a migrant thousands of euros

Posted on October 23, 2016 by Migrant Tales

Affluent Nordic countries like Finland are making it legally near-difficult never mind costly to reunite families of migrants thanks to the tightening of family reunification guidelines that came into force in July. How much would it cost for an asylum seeker who got a residence permit before July and applied to get his wife and three children aged 9, 7 and 4 to Finland?

Is your answer 1,000 euros or over 10,000 euros?

The Finnish government places a price tag on migrant families. No money, no family. Source: Arab News.

If the figure is a four-digit number, where are these people, who are former asylum seekers, going to raise thousands of euros if many have lost everything to come to Europe?

Why would a country like Finland, which claims to abide by Nordic values such as social equality and respect for family life, want to separate families indefinitely?

Zygmunt Bauman is one of the best-known social thinkers of our time. He believes that asylum seekers who come to Europe instill fear in some of us for a very basic reason.

“[They are] people who yesterday were proud of their homes, were proud of their position in society, were very often very well educated, very well-off and so on,” Bauman is quoted as saying in Al-Jazeera. “But they are refugees now…Refugees, ’embody all our fears’ of losing everything. Yesterday they were very powerful back in their country, like we are here [in Europe] today.”

In order to answer voters’ uncertainty and their fear of losing everything, populist anti-immigration politicians tell us a big lie: Vote for me and I will give you security. We will take these refugees and hide them from your sight. We won’t allow their families to come here so they cannot reporduce here and upset our white society. If we don’t see these people, they won’t remind us – as Bauman stated – that we may be one day in the same boat as they.

Without going into a deep discussion about the fear of losing our standing in society, the Finnish government tightened family reunification guidelines in June. The new guidelines came into force in July.

If you are lucky to have received your residence permit before July, you won’t have to make 2,600 euros after taxes in order to bring your spouse and two children to Finland.

But let’s go back to the original question: How much would it cost a former asylum seeker who got a residence permit to bring his wife and three children to Finland?

According to the Iraqi who got a residence permit before July, the total cost to bring his family would be over 10,000 euros. There is no guarantee as well that the Finnish Immigration Service will grant his family a visa to live in Finland even if he raises such a sum of cash.

Continue reading “Family reunification in Finland can easily cost a migrant thousands of euros”

Migrant Tales’ hindsight column: Two stories that are supposed to wither away

Posted on October 22, 2016 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales launches a new column called “hindsight.” The aim of the column is to look at stories in the media and how the authorities shrug their shoulders hoping that a particular story, which may cause some em embarrassment or put them in an awkward position will be be forgotten for good. The column aims as well to ask why the media doesn’t ask serious questions about cases involving migrants and why important stories are forgotten by the media.

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Two stories published by Migrant Tales revealed how the Keuruu asylum reception center prohibited religious and cultural celebrations. Both of the reception centers are run by the Red Cross.

The story published in Migrant Tales, which was mentioned in Jyväskylä-based daily Keskisuomalainen, quotes the Keuruu center’s manager, Rasul Azizan, as saying that religion is “a personal matter” and therefore asylum seekers cannot practice their faith at the camp.

Let’s go back again and see what Keskisuomalainen actually quoted Azizian as saying:

“The asylum seekers at the reception center cannot practice their own religion [at the center] but following one’s faith is a personal matter and nobody can infringe on such a right.”

Does this statement published in Keskisuomalainen make sense?

There appear to be two important questions here:

1) shall a center be obliged to have a place of worship within its facilities for religious practices;
2) Do applicants have the right the express their faith in this premise?

Even if there is no law that requires an asylum center to set aside a room where a certain faith can be practiced, it’s clear that such facilities encourage integration and make such a center more governable. This discourages internal conflicts.

Concerning the second question, do asylum seekers have the right to express their faith in the reception center, the answer is a clear yes. The right to practice one faith cannot be undermined and it is an inalienable human and civil right.

So what to do? Azizan and the Red Cross want the story to die. They don’t consider the issue of practicing one’s religion at the center to be an issue even if it is, in my opinion, and infringement of their right to religious freedom.

Read full story (in Finnish) here.

Just for the record, Migrant Tales was in touch with Mikkeli-based daily Länsi-Savo about the following incident that took place on October 2:

Continue reading “Migrant Tales’ hindsight column: Two stories that are supposed to wither away”

Finland’s Foreign Minister Timo Soini considers new gender and social equality guidelines as “rampant humbug”

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Migrant Tales

Finland is a great country when it comes to good laws that promote social equality. The latest non-discrimination act, which came into force in 2015, is a case in point. Such laws are important in the face of ever-growing social inequality and polarization of society.

Migrant Tales has written recently how the government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä has failed in containing ever-growing racism, bigotry and hate speech in Finland.

Instead of challenging such social ills, the government comprised of the anti-immigration populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, Center Party and National Coalition Party, it has passed laws that fuel greater social inequality. One worth mentioning is the tightening of family reunification guidelines.

So what are some important points of the new non-discrimination act and how does it differ from the previous one?

The new non-discrimination act also offers improvements in the monitoring and challenging discrimination at the workplace. The definition of discrimination has been broadened in the new act and also applies as well to religious, sexual minorities, transgender groups as opposed to only ethnic minorities. Companies with over 30 staffers have to draft their own non-discrimination plan.

Read the full story here.

The new act has encouraged the National Board of Education (OPH) to pass new guidelines on how to promote greater gender equality. According to the OPH, the new guidelines do not only concern gender but migrants and minorities at school as well.

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