Category: Enrique Tessieri

The Finnish police’s racism problem and ties with far-right groups like Kansallismielisten liittouma

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

Yle revealed in a story today that the far-right Kansallismielisten liittouma has distributed Green League Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo’s and Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen’s home address for harassment purposes.

Moreover, Kansallismielisten liittouma chairperson, Tero Ala-Tuuhonen, has been in touch with “a Helsinki police sergeant” who has advised the far-right organization on how to hide weapons and how to beat up asylum seekers without getting caught by the police.

Poliisin esitutkintapöytäkirja
Read the original story here.

According to Yle, Ala-Tuuhonen had the following conversation with the Helsinki police sergeant:

Ala-Tuuhonen: Jyväskylässä on matujengi alkanut uhittelemaan katupartoijille. Käydään lauantai iltana etsimässä niitä isommalla porukalla [kieliasu alkuperäinen].

Ala-Tuuhonen: “In Jyväskylä, an asylum seeker gang [uses the derogatory term matu] has started to threaten street patrols [they should be called vigilante group]. Let’s go search for them with a bigger group [of vigilantes].”

Continue reading “The Finnish police’s racism problem and ties with far-right groups like Kansallismielisten liittouma”

A Migrant Tales style guide to writing about migration: avoid words that hide our racism and denial

Posted on by Migrant Tales

After over twenty years in journalism and writing for some of the world’s most prestigious publications and having worked as a foreign correspondent in countries like Finland, Italy, Colombia, and others, I have learned a thing or two about journalistic style and correctness.

On top of my journalistic experience, I am a sociologist who has researched immigration topics like Finnish immigration to Argentina.

I have written about immigration and minority topics for almost 14 years in Migrant Tales. In those years, Migrant Tales has published 4,990 posts, which is an average of one posting per day.

Below is a list of terms and observations together with recommendations for journalists and others that write about this topic, which I plan to update in the future:

  • Maahanmuuttajat is the term in Finnish for migrants. By using the term, we perpetuate stereotypes about this vastly diverse group. We generalize and, with it, fall into the trap of perpetuating stereotypes.
  • When a reporter interviews an Islamophobic politician and uses the term maahanmuuttajat liberally, he gives such a politician a free pass. If we dig deeper and try to decipher what the term means, it is a code word for non-EU nationals who are Muslims and come from Africa.
  • If you disagree, ask yourself if Swedes and other EU nationals are called maahanmuuttajat.
  • Using such a term to speak about “foreigners” is the same as grouping all Europeans into one category, which would be absurd. This is misleading and wrong.
  • The use of terms such as maahanmuuttajat is not only enabling an anti-immigration party to continue labeling and victimizing non-EU citizens, it also helps us to cover up and deny the racism in our society.
  • Maahanmuuttajataustainen, a person of foreign origin, is a sinister word used by anti-immigration politicians and public officials to intentionally or non-intentionally exclude first-generation Finns.
  • Here is a question: What would happen if we would drop the concept label “person of foreign origin” from our vocabulary? In my opinion, it would fast-forward inclusion.
  • One of the biggest question marks that first-generation Finns and minorities have is their exclusion and how their background does not make them “a real” Finn.
  • Using such terms encourages exclusion and a sense of outsiderness of such people who are equal members of this society on their own terms.
  • By using “person of foreign origin” on children born here and who speak Finnish as their main language, we strengthen white Finnish privilege. We tell such brown and black Finns that they are outsiders and that white people are the only cultural standard.
Continue reading “A Migrant Tales style guide to writing about migration: avoid words that hide our racism and denial”

What threatens Finland’s Nordic welfare state? Follow the racism, stupid.

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There is a sense of déjà vu as the municipal elections in Finland near on April 18. Once again, the media is not questioning or challenging the toxic message of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, but showing its usual tacit approval.

The most notable examples of this type of approval demonstrated by the media are silence and inaction.

As Muslim activist Julie Pascoet stated, silence is not only a political statement but perpetuating white privilege and inequality. .

Source: Twitter (2018)

State-owned news outlets like Yle continue fueling the PS stranglehold on the country by stating that they will make significant gains in the municipal elections.

Opinion polls may indicate this to be the case, but where is the critical journalism?

Continue reading “What threatens Finland’s Nordic welfare state? Follow the racism, stupid.”

Slow due justice – if any – plaguing racialized communities of Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Hate speech, hate crime, and racism appear to rank low on police’s priority list. Many people who have turned to the police to report such a crime are usually surprised by the following fact: slow response and reaction; your case may never see the light of a day in court.

A shameful case is that of Fares Al-Obaidi, a young Muslim who was attacked in June by a group of enraged townspeople of Teuva, located in Western Finland.

Nine months have gone by that terrible incident that changed Al-Obaidi’s life, and no charges have been brought against anyone.

“What happened to me changed my life,” he said. “I have to take sleeping pills and for stress and depression.”

Al-Obaidi said in December: “The fact that I know nothing about my case [and the charges] gives me the impression that what happened to me isn’t important to the police. Those who attacked me are walking freely with no consequences.”

“Helsinki City Councilor Fatima Diarra states in one of the tweets below that whenever she is racially harassed, since 2007, she has always filed a complaint to the police since they go nowhere.

She continues in the second tweet: “I got information from the police last Friday that one of these cases will be dropped. With this type of [racist] harassment, [the perpetrators] try to scare you or silence brown and black people. But dear ones, we are not going anywhere. Finland is our home.”

Source: Twitter
Continue reading “Slow due justice – if any – plaguing racialized communities of Finland”

Populism and lack of leadership under Petteri Orpo fuel Kokoomus’ tailspin

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The National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) received a political bomb that exposed the party’s internal strife between its liberal and populist-conservative wing.

Kokoomus’ candidate for Helsinki mayor, Kirsi Piha, and Helsinki city councilor Hanna Gullichsen, both party’s liberal wing, announced they would step aside.

Piha stated in a blog posting her decision to pull out from the mayorship race of Helsinki exposed the deep ideological fight between the liberal and populist-conservative factions.

Just like Piha, who said she would not stand for Helsinki city council, so did Gullichsen announced not to seek reelection.

Both Piha and Gullichsen were clear about their decision.

Piha said that her values conflict with the leadership of Kokoomus under its leader, Petter Orpo.

“Kokoomus’ base value is to create wellbeing and active society where everyone has opportunities, work and to live a good life,” she wrote. “Everyone. It is not based on stereotypes and by the thought that marginalizes [other groups]. Human dignity must not be politicized.”

Continue reading “Populism and lack of leadership under Petteri Orpo fuel Kokoomus’ tailspin”

Former PS MP Ano Turtiainen gets sacked from the party

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It took a while, but, in the end, it came: MP Ano Turtiainen got sacked Friday from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party after being expelled in June from the PS parliamentary group. The interesting question that the PS board’s decision offers is what it means for the party and Turtiainen’s political future.

An incident between PS Speaker of Parliament Juho Eerola and Turtiainen after a session was the stick that broke the camel’s back. Eerola had asked Turtiainen, who believes that Covid-19 is a conspiracy, to wear a mask while in a parliamentary session.

Ano Turtiainen. Source: Facebook

The comment by Eerola angered Turtiainen, and he started to insult the speaker of parliament in the hallway.

For the PS, the incident shows how little due diligence they do on their party members. If you hate migrants, gays, and feminists, that’s ok.

By kicking out a member, who is an MP, is already a serious matter. The PS board made its decision to save the party’s skin and dubious reputation. There are no ethical considerations except for the fear that Turtiainen can undermine the party’s popularity.

Continue reading “Former PS MP Ano Turtiainen gets sacked from the party”

Perussuomalaisten mukaan, maahanmuuttopolitiikka säädellään valtuustossa

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Ovatko nyt menossa kuntavaalit tai eduskuntavaalit? Jos tärkkäillään perussuomalaisten vaalimainoksia, voidaan päätellä, että valtuustossa tehdään maahanmuuttopolitiikka kuten eduskunnassa.

Värin.

Perusuomalaisten puoluesihteeri, Simo Grönroos (huom. ruotsalainen sukunimi), ruokkii vastakkainasettelua ja valetietoja maahanmuutosta. Hän on äärioikeistolainen etnonationalisti ja fasistisen Suomen Sisun aktiivi.

Mitä Grönroos ja perussuomalaiset oikeasti tarkoittavat, kun puhuvat “maahanmuuttajista?” Suurin osa maahanmuuttajat Suomessa ovat valkoisia eurooppalaisia.

Vaalimainos väittää:

  • Maahanmuutto tuo enemmän julkisia menoja, kun se kasvattaa verotuloja
  • Kadut muuttuvat turvattomiksi, koulut levottomiksi, asuinalueet suomalaisille vieraiksi
  • Suomi on toistamassa Ruotsin virheet maahanmuuton suhteen.

Washington Post olisi antanut näille väitelle neljä Pinokkiota.

Nolo ja harhaanjohtava mainos perussuomalaisista.

Vaalimainos on mielestäni potaska.

The far right and their rabid show dog in Finland that knows no master

Posted on by Migrant Tales

If there is one matter that will bring down the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, it is their racist and nationalistic ideology. We already saw this on 22/7 with Anders Breivik and now with political violence against Pekka Kataja of the same party.

On July 17, Kataja was paid a visit by three men who attacked him with a hammer and another weapon. After receiving twenty blows to the head, he was kicked on the floor by the suspects.

Read original story here.

At first, two men were suspected but were released later from custody after offering credible alibis.

The police believe that the attempted murder case against Kataja is political. A 41-year-old person is now in police custody as one of the suspects, with two others still at large.

The prime suspect has published on far-right websites under his own name.

Since the crime against Kataja is somehow connected to anger against Kataja for not allowing Torssonen to run for parliament in 2019 because of his far-right ideology, it will be interesting to see who the perpetrators are and their connections to far-right ideology and the PS.

Is there greater complicity, and what about the PS? Even if Torsssonen was sacked from the PS, it does not rule out wider complicity. If there is a clear connection to the PS, it may impact the party’s success in the upcoming municipal elections.

Migrant Tales has referred to racism as a rabid dog shown off by Islamophobes. The dog, which attracts a lot of attention, is kept on a short leash. Even so, the rabid dog may bite its master, and hard.

The rise and fall of Timo Soini as PS chairman is a perfect example of the rabid dog. It also resembles the plot of the 1931 classic Frankenstein movie, where a monster is brought to life that later kills his creator.

Kokoomus’ and Finland’s downward spiral

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The last opinion poll published by Helsingin Sanomat doesn’t show us any big surprises. A few percentage-point fractions up or down and, end of story. If, however, we take a longer view, the situation of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) raises some questions.

Just like Jutta Urpilainen and the Social Democrats learned before the 2011 parliamentary elections, which revealed the ugly face of racism and our toothless reaction to it, copying the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is a bad idea.

Apart from the Social Democrats, Blue Reform, which splintered from the PS in June 2017, tried and utterly failed at becoming a “light” version of the PS.

With the municipal elections scheduled for this spring, Kokoomus is feeling the heat. Instead of lowering the heat of racism and bad taste, they are just raising throwing more petrol on the fire.

The best example of this strategy’s failure under the leadership of Petteri Orpo is the latest opinion poll.

Orpo and his party are trying to be a light version of the PS’ racism and populism but are failing. The failure of such a political strategy would be costly.

One of these campaign messages by Kokoomus is by Atte Kaleva, who states in the tweet below that “I have a dream: Helsinki without communists. Let’s work together to turn this into a reality.”

How many Finns vote for the Communist party anyway? Does 0.1% sound right for the whole country?

Atte Kaleva, the Kokoomus municipal party candidate revealing his political gray matter. Source: Twitter

One wonders about Kaleva’s desperation and how he is sucking up to populist buffoonery, and how Kokoomus, like the Republican Party of the US, have veered to the radical right.

If you think of it, the same is happening in Finland right under our noses: Kokoomus is becoming more populist and abandoning its liberal ideology to cozy up to the PS, which terrorizes – just like Trump’s voters – all those that disagree with it.

Wake up Kokoomus, wake up Finland, before it is too late.

KOTOUTUMINEN #14: Disseminate and vanish

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Remember back in the 1990s when Finland brought Vietnamese refugees and dispersed them like pepper throughout Finland? It appeared back then that the main goal of the migration authorities was to disseminate newcomers and make them vanish.

One matter that this type of coercive assimilation aimed at doing was to ensure that these Vietnamese boat people would not form communities. By not enabling them to form strong communities, white Finland was ensured.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Image1-53_edited-1.jpg
Finns living together in a house in Colonia Finlandesa, Argentina. Source: Olavi Lähteenmäki, “Colonia Finlandesa – Uuden Suomen perustaminen Argentiinaan 1900-luvun alussa”

Even today, you will hear, as I did this week, complaints by some municipal politicians that “too many migrants live in one area of the city.”

“Why don’t they disperse them and force them to live elsewhere?” one of the persons in the room asked. “They try to but then they always want to return [to where they lived].”

Not accepting cultural diversity shows how difficult it is for some to share public spaces and accept that Finland has changed. Instead of trying to sweep these people under the rug and pretend that their communities do not exist, why not accept them as an integral part of our society? Aren’t they the new face of Finland?

I wonder what such Finns I heard this week believe is an effective path towards inclusion. Apart from being too simplistic and revealing racist attitudes, such policies would never work.

And what about the hundreds of thousands off Finns that emigrated to other lands? Many stuck together, formed associations and groups, newspapers to defend their culture and lives in their new homeland.

The same thing that migrant and minority communities are doing today.

See also:

*Kotoutiminen is the Finnish term for integration. It came about in the late-1990s because there was no such term in the Finnish language.