Category: Enrique Tessieri

Why you should not call the Perussuomalaiset “the Finns Party”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Finland will become the third country in the EU along with Belgium and Greece that will have a populist and anti-EU party in government, according to The Guardian of London. The daily describes the Finns Party as far right. Just like Migrant Tales, it uses the acronym PS but mentions the official English name of the party once in the story below. 

The reason for using the Finnish acronym for the party is simple: The name is horrible in English and has nothing to do with the Finnish name, which is the Perussuomalaiset and can be translated as “true” or “basic” Finn. Some have even translated it as “fundamental” Finn.

At Migrant Tales explain in all of our stories why we use the Finnish name of the party on our postings:

The Finnish name of the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.

PS party secretary Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo was asked about this on Ruben Stiller’s Pressiklubi  why the party had “kidnapped” the name to imply that all Finns are the party. She said it was a good name that other parties hadn’t noticed and was used because the PS represents all types of Finns from academics to workers.

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Facebook: Does “Finnish labor” include migrants, naturalized Finns and minorities?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

One of the members of the new government, the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, said that jobs will be created for Finnish labor. In the present anti-immigration environment in Finland, such statements have a hostile ring to migrants, naturalized Finns and minorities since they don’t promote inclusion and fair hiring practices. 

Considering that migrant unemployment is three-times higher than the national average, do you think that such statements, which stress “us” and “then,” improve the chances of such people getting hired?

Why can’t politicians like PS chairman Timo Soini, who likes to make nationalistic statements, drop the adjective “Finnish” and state that the efforts by the new government and policy will create new jobs?

Certainly that phrase sounds more inclusive than “Finnish labor.”

It’s pretty clear what Soini means by Finnish labor, or suomalainen työ, which is code for “don’t hire migrants and minorities. It’s your patriotic duty as an employer to hire white Finns.”

It would be great if at least one journalist could ask Soini if he considers migrants, naturalized Finns and minorities to be “Finnish labor.”

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* The Finnish name of the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.

The violent and hostile language of Finnish populists against Others

Posted on by Migrant Tales

For those that sighed with momentary relief and claimed that the new government’s immigration policy won’t be as bad as they expected haven’t seen anything yet. Behind the populist and nationalistic rhetoric coming from people like Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairman Timo Soini, there’s nothing but suspicion and hostility against Finland’s migrant and ever-culturally diverse community.

What are we to make out of the new government’s policies as the mist clears? Soini gave us an eyeful Saturday when when he stated that “the blue and white” can be clearly seen in government policy.


 Näyttökuva 2015-5-24 kello 21.20.30

Read full story (in Finnish) here.

What are we, Finland’s migrant and culturally diverse community, supposed to make out of such a nationalistic catchphrase?

Are we, the migrant and minority community in this country, who are struggling to survive by working and paying taxes, belong to that group that Soini labels Finnish labor?

What is even more shameful is that mainstream parties like the Center and National Coalition Party (NCP), who should know better, have with their complacent silence gone to bed with such rhetoric. The reason why they have accepted such rhetoric and a party like the PS in government is because they generally agree with the PS leader.

Continue reading “The violent and hostile language of Finnish populists against Others”

New book on Somali community of Finland highlights what we’ve known for long: social hostility and blatant discrimination

Posted on by Migrant Tales

A new book called Suomen somalit  by Yusuf M. Mubarak, Eva Nilsson and Niklas Saxén reinforces what has been already known about some of the challenges that Finland’s Somali community faces: racism and social exclusion. 

“I have never felt that I am a Finn,” said Suleqo Yusuf,  23, a Somali Finn, was quoted as saying in the book. “Here you’re always an outsider and different, never a part of society.”

The feeling of being an eternal outsider in Finland is felt by many migrants and minorities as well.

Migrant Tales recently spoke to a Somali Finn who said that she does not identify with a country like Finland because of its hostility towards her.

“I am a citizen of the world,” she said. “Not a Finn. I don’t identify with this country [even if I was born and bred here].”

You don’t have to have a PhD in sociology to understand where some of the problems lie. If the Somali community has been in Finland since the early 1990s. Check the discrimination and hostility that the Romany minority, which has lived in Finland for about 500 years, has suffered at the hands of the white Finnish majority.

While matters are improving, the Roma in Finland continue to face discrimination and racism daily.

Mubarak, one of the three authors of the book, states that its clear that a lot of problems will arise if children are told that they are equal to white Finns but rapidly find out that this isn’t the case.

somalit

 

So what is the value of such a book and what does it reveal?

Continue reading “New book on Somali community of Finland highlights what we’ve known for long: social hostility and blatant discrimination”

Finland’s attitude and experience of cultural diversity lag thirty years behind other European countries

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Watching YLE’s A-studio, which was aired Wednesday, is a prime example why we are still far away in Finland of having an inclusive society that is fair to everyone irrespective of their background. Spotting the red herrings in the debate on such a talk show isn’t easy but not impossible.

If National Coalition Party MP Wille Rydman argues that Finland needs structural changes in its economy and labor market, it really needs a major attitude overhaul on how it sees immigration and cultural diversity. Finland is at least 30 years behind other European countries like Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom in this respect.

Na?ytto?kuva 2015-5-21 kello 9.27.37Watch Wednesday’s A-studio (in Finnish) here.

The latter means in practice that we’re debating the same things and using the same false arguments and fears that were proven wrong at least three decades ago in other European countries. Debate is highly inflamed and hostile for those migrants and minorities living in Finland today.

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How hate crime goes unreported in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The European Network Against Racism (ENAR), an anti-racism NGO, reported the previous week that there were in 2013 a total of 47,210 racist crimes reported by NGOs throughout Europe. It claimed that those reported cases were only the tip of the iceberg of all recorded hate crimes.

Migrant Tales was informed recently about a case in Helsinki of an African man who was attacked in public by three white Finns. His case is a good example as any of why hate crime goes unreported in this country.

After visiting the hospital to treat his wounds, the victim went to the police to report what had happened to him. According to a source who knows and spoke to the victim,  he said that the police didn’t take what he said seriously and decided to drop the whole matter.

The person who was attacked was supposed to speak to Migrant Tales about what happened but didn’t do so possibly due to fear.

 

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Read full ENAR report here.

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The new Finnish dream: Become a member of the PS and speak out against migrants, minorities and cultural diversity

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Live by the sword die by the sword.

The saying found in the Gospel of Matthew, verse 26:52 is dedicated to Perussuomalaiset (PS)[1] chairman Timo Soini, who is also a devout catholic. This saying, live by the sword die by the sword, must haunt Soini. If I were him it would give me the creeps. 

Some are predicting gloomy days for the PS, even  the party’s implosion. The same anti-immigration rhetoric that made it into the second biggest party in parliament threatens to destroy it today.

The saying by Jesus quoted in the Bible says in pretty clear language that if you use violence, or other harsh means against other people, you can expect the same ending happening to you.

Everybody knows that the PS is hostile to migrants, minorities and to our ever-growing culturally diverse society. You don’t need to be a rocket sicentist to understand that.

The Finnish Dream

Meanwhile, blinded by media attention, power and money, one rapid way of becoming rich and famous in this country is to join the PS and become a populist with a clear anti-immigration message. You could even become a good cop like Soini by claiming that you’re against racism while supporting racism.

One way of attaining the new Finnish dream, like the USAmerican dream,  is membership in the PS, lots of imagination to make up and turn out urban tales about migrants and minorities faster than they are disproven. If you succeed you’ll become famous and well off.

Disagree?

The PS got last year 6.630 million euros in support from tax payers last year. That is a far cry from smaller parties like the Swedish People’s Party and Christian Democrats. In 2007, the PS were in the minor political leagues as the latter parties with only five MPs elected in 2007.

Näyttökuva 2015-5-17 kello 12.23.09

 

Read full story (in Finnish) here.

Continue reading “The new Finnish dream: Become a member of the PS and speak out against migrants, minorities and cultural diversity”

Finland, the PS and their racist improvisations

Posted on by Migrant Tales

What is wrong with Finland? Just because of 221,900 immigrants, which account for about 4% of the population, and since only about 8% of those live in Finland on humanitarian grounds, a party like the PS is on the warpath poisoning the air and soiling our good names. 

Their warpath, like the new government’s immigration policy, is a farce.

Racists who spread urban tales about migrants and minorities act in the way that racists have acted throughout the ages. Their ultimate aim is to destroy you. They do this by relegating us to second- or third-class members of  society.

Even some white Finnish seven-year-old children are taught this by their families.

I spoke to a teacher’s aid  recently who was telling a seven-year-old pupil that he had to do something. The pupil responded: “I don’t have to follow your orders because you are only a teacher’s aid and a foreigner.”

Where do children learn their racism? One breeding ground is the family.

Adults in parties like the PS spread intolerance with the help of urban tales like gang rape stories, which the police have warned are mostly made up.  Why do they make up such stories about people who want to live in peace and get on with their lives?

Because they are sick with hatred like part of the Finnish public that agrees with such politicians because they are just as racist as them.

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The police state that many gang rape cases are made up. Read full story (in Finnsh) here.

Continue reading “Finland, the PS and their racist improvisations”

UPDATE (May 15): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link.

May 15

Brittilehti: Kreikka, varo “karhumaista” Timo Soinia! (Ilta-Sanomat)

What’s wrong with this story? The Finnish media has been criticized in the past for being toothless when it comes to covering immigration and cultural diversity news. We’ve all seen too many examples of how the national media parrots what politicians want them to publish. This latter situation is partly guaranteed by the fact that politicians require Finnish journalists to show them what is going to be published for example in an interview. Tabloid Ilta-Sanomat like Iltalehti are sad examples of shoddy and racist journalism. They have done a lot to spread urban tales and suspicion about migrants and minorities. If you disagree, check out what they wrote about the first Somali refugees that came to the country in the early 1990s. In the story below, which cites a Daily Telegraph story about Perussuomalaiset* leader Timo Soini, defends the leader of the populist party when the London daily claims that he is “fiercely anti-immigration.” For some strange reason the reporter has to point out that Soini denies that he is “fiercely anti-immigration.” Is it the job of the journalist to tell us his opinion about Soini or is it the reader who decides if the PS leader is or isn’t fiercely anti-immigration?

Continue reading “UPDATE (May 15): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism”

Systemic racism in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

A video clip below by Jay Smooth published by Race Forward gives us simple good examples of how systemic or institutional racism occurs in the United States. Is systemic racism a problem in Finland? If so, how and where does it occur?

If we’re really interested in tackling all forms of racism and discrimination in this country, it’s important that we identify the problem and challenge it. We have a lot of good resources in Finland to challenge intolerance.

Just saying you are against racism won’t do. We need to be much more resourceful and determined in dealing with this social ill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rY5ORr0GsI

Continue reading “Systemic racism in Finland”