Enrique Tessieri & Yahya Rouissi Archives

The Finnish-Russian border is not an open-and-shut case

Posted on December 16, 2023December 16, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Article 3 – border control measures must be without prejudice to the rights of
refugees and other people requesting international protection, in particular as
regards the principle of non-refoulement.

European Convention on Human Rights

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantnanen called herself Tuesday a “tough border lady” on A-studio. After opening two border checkpoints Thursday at Vaalima and Niirala, Rantnan announced they’d be closed again on Friday at 8 pm due to about 200 asylum seekers.

“We have seen an immediate resumption of illegal immigration at the eastern border [and therefore we will close to border again],” Rantanen was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat.

Illegal immigration? Even Yle reporter Juulia Tillaeus at Vaalima, said Russia was allowing “illegal asylum seekers” to go to Finland.

Migrant Tales sent Juulia Tillaeus an email stating that her reporting was biased since there was no such thing as “illegal asylum seekers.” Such terms are used by anti-immigration politicians to discredit and dehumanize asylum seekers.

Send her an email ([email protected]) and ask her to stop labeling asylum seekers wrongly. Ask her to read at least the European Convenion on Human Rights.

The billboard was published om 2015-2016, claiming that 10,000 “illegal” refugees were coming to Finland. The claim that refugees are “illegal” is preposterous since such people have a right to ask for asylum in another country. The claim that refugees are coming to the country “illegally” is a good example of the xenophobia spread by the Finnish media. Source: Iltalehti

Regurgitating her favorite echo chamber hits about asylum seekers, one claim by Rantanen tops them all: such people coming from Russia are “a threat to national security.” Really? How?

After opening the two vborder crossings, the government decided to shut them the following day. Source: Yle News

When Rantanen speaks about asylum seekers, she reflects the ongoing toxic anti-immigration narrative so common in many EU countries.

Ydin: Suomalaisista katujengeistä

Posted on December 6, 2023December 7, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Viimeisin kirjoitus Ydin-lehdessä (4/2023) vanhasta ja ajankohdasta aiheesta.

The Finnish youth gang “problem” is a monster concocted by the radical right

Posted on September 28, 2023April 15, 2024 by Migrant Tales

What drives the government, particularly Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen of Perussuomalaiset (PS), to give utmost attention and tackle the issue of youth street gangs? Is it a sincere attempt to
solve such a social problem, or an opportunity to further victimize migrants and minorities in Finland?

The assertion isn’t far-fetched. The PS is historically the first major contemporary Finnish party to benefit stigmatizing other groups, such as Muslims, Africans, and other non-EU nationals, as less valuable.

Many of Rantanen’s social media posts before the April election, which were deleted and white-cleaned after the election, were based on racist far-right conspiracy theories. “We shouldn’t be so blue-eyed that soon we won’t be blue-eyed,” is one of her infamous quotes. Sinisilmänen, or blue-eyed, means being naive in Finnish.

Source: Reilumedia report [1].

Moreover, although these types of quotes do not instill credibility in Rantanen’s ability to find solutions to youth problems, her efforts are further shot to pieces when she blames the “problem” on the “wrong” type of immigration policy.

Another takeaway is the government’s statements about clamping down on youth crime and its near-silence on far-right terrorism.

Another matter that raises red flags is the PS’s track record. In all the general elections in 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2022, the party has used successfully a migrant crime theme to attract voters to the polls.

Neighboring Sweden held its election in September 2022 against a backdrop of spiraling gang violence where over 60 people were killed.

By promising to get tough on such crime, the Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi roots, and the Moderate Party led the right-wing bloc to victory. Their success also provided the PS with an important migrant crime theme to exploit politically. The problem, however, was that Finland’s youth gang problem was small compared with Sweden’s.

In the autumn of last year, the police estimated that there were 100-200 gang members in Helsinki and Turku.

As crime is usually an important topic covered by the media, it attracts more attention if so-called people of foreign backgrounds are part of the narrative. Should it surprise us that coverage of Finland’s youth gang “problem” started to grow rapidly in October after the September elections of Sweden?

Source: Reilumedia

Yahya Rouissi: Is the government serious about racism?

Posted on August 30, 2023August 30, 2023 by Migrant Tales

“The government must unequivocally distance itself from racism,” emphasizes Anna-Maja Henriksson, Swedish People’s Party chairperson and minister of education. National Coalition Party Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, declares, “As a government, we maintain a policy of zero tolerance for racism.”

Upon hearing the above-mentioned statements, one should not be surprised why some are in a state of doubt and shock, especially when people are told that they should forget and forgive the racist statements of some MPs who were appointed as ministers in June.

For example, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Vilhelm Junnila resigned in disgrace after about 10 days as trade minister but was recently elected as the first vice chairperson of the PS parliamentary group.

Junnila’s successor, Wille Rydman, assumed the role of trade minister but faced a scandal due to his racist, anti-Semitic, and dehumanizing private messages, which were made public by Helsingin Sanomat. These messages also exposed Rydman’s disturbing Nazi views and ideologies. Surprisingly, the minister did not offer a public apology for the offensive messages.

The series of scandals involving the PS this summer prompts us to question whether these so-called self-proclaimed saviors of Finland understand the term “racism.” It’s important to note that Finland is bound by various international agreements aimed at addressing the social ill:

· Finland has ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which places significant obligations on the government to dismantle racially discriminatory structures in society. Additionally, freedom from discrimination is enshrined in several UN treaties and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

· The Durban Declaration and Program of Action, adopted in the World Conference against Racism in 2001, commit states to anti-racist efforts and addressing the consequences of colonialism.