Martin Al-Laji Archives - Migrant tales

UPDATE: Minor asylum seeker at the Villa Meri reception center sent to hospital after getting pepper-sprayed by security guard

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Migrant Tales

UPDATE (3:52pm): According to one security guard contacted by Migrant Tales, pepper spray can only be used on a person if the security guard is assaulted physically. Pepper spray is used only for defensive purposes.

The source at Villa Meri claims that the minor who was pepper-sprayed did not attack the security guard physically. “He didn’t put a hand on him,” said the source.

If pepper spray is used, the security guard must inform the police and remain next to the victim if he or she needs help. A report is written with one going to the police, the security company, and to the client, which would be in this case Hoitopalvelu Metsätähti.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens in this case and if the asylum seeker didn’t attack the security guard.

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We continue to get worrisome news from the Villa Meri asylum reception center of Rauma. An asylum seeker at the center, who is a minor, was peppered sprayed on Friday and taken to the hospital. Why? Because he protested that his sister, who came from Helsinki to visit him, had to leave the center.

The Villa Meri reception center, which is located 91km north of Turku, is managed by a private company called Hoitopalvelu Metsätähti, which is a subsidiary of Helsinki-based health care and social services company Mehiläinen.

“The problem was that the [young] asylum seeker didn’t want his sister to be kicked out of the camp since there were no buses to Helsinki and because she had no place to stay,” an asylum seeker at Villa Meri told Migrant Tales by phone. “After the security guard sprayed him with pepper spray, the police came and he was taken to the hospital. He came back to Villa Meri the next day.”

The minor’s sister is believed to have slept at the bus station since she had too little money to go to a hotel.

The minor had tried to speak with the manager of the camp, Päivi Nikkola, for quite a while, according to the asylum seeker.

“She always tells him that she doesn’t have any time to talk to him,” the person said.

Are the stricter rules at Villa Meri due to the suspected rape case of an adolescent that took place in October or just arbitrary bullying by the staff?

The minor who was pepper-sprayed was taken to the hospital for treatment. He returned to the camp the following day.

Continue reading “UPDATE: Minor asylum seeker at the Villa Meri reception center sent to hospital after getting pepper-sprayed by security guard”

Finland faces a challenge with the rise of undocumented immigrants

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Migrant Tales

Finnish society will remain divided on immigration. It is an issue that transcends the traditional left-right paradigm that keeps erupting. Should undocumented immigrants become documented? If so which ones?As a group and at the risk of causing a fuss, should they be offered preferential treatment? Or should they be encouraged with financial incentives to return back to their home countries or forced to leave?

It’s clear that the present state of Finland’s immigration policy is in disarray with our asylum policy being even in worse shape. Both are cynical and costly policies out of step with other countries’ asylum policies and work against the interests of world refugees.

Since 2016, Finland’s immigration policy was designed to satisfy the special interests of immigration lawyers, private medical companies, private housing companies and other special-interest groups. Sharks in Finland are sucking taxpayers’ money at the cost of non-profit organizations, which have a smaller role. This is clear when looking at the Finnish Immigration Service’s (Migri) decision to close down asylum centers. Private companies are prevailing over non-profit ones.

A number of stories have been published by Migrant Tales concerning special interests that profit from the refugee situation.

We are now going to face a new problem: undocumented immigrants. Where are these asylum seekers going to go after they’re kicked out of the asylum reception centers that Migri decided to close? Where will these asylum seekers end up in and in which shark’s belly?

Continue reading “Finland faces a challenge with the rise of undocumented immigrants”

Luona, Kolari, Villa Meri, Keuruu, Laajakoski asylum reception centers in Finland that are shameful examples

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Migrant Tales

When asked about how the government reacted to the 32,476 asylum seekers that came to Finland in 2015, the answer is simple: The government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä states that they did a good job in finding shelter for such people. Well, sort of…

Even if many asylum centers, their management, and staff did a good job, it’s clear that many didn’t.

One reason why the government isn’t too excited about talking about those asylum reception centers that have operated poorly is because it would be a political embarrassment. Close to a billion euros have been spent on taking care of asylum seekers. Has the government got what it paid for?

What a bad investment,no? First, you invest hundreds of millions of euros and then you proceed to kick two-thirds of them knowing that our population is aging and that we need labor. But hey, they’re Muslims, right?

Throughout the year, Migrant Tales has exposed a number of reception centers that have done a poor job in serving and helping asylum seekers.

After we started reporting more of these cases from January, the Finnish media started to get interested as well.

But before that, the national media wasn’t very keen at all. When we approached Helsingin Sanomat in January, a reporter turned down our findings because they were similar to what pensioners suffer at rest homes.

Little by little, Helsingin Sanomat started to report more about the abuses that asylum seekers suffered at some reception centers, particularly those run by a private company called Luona.

Some of the complaints from asylum seekers made about reception centers were that they were treated “like livestock” and that it costs money to live in what an asylum seeker called a reception center “hell.” One Iraqi in Helsinki said that the first word he learned in Finnish was vittu, or f**k, because the Luona staff commonly used such a word to address the asylum seekers.

There are many more shameful examples of abuse and unprofessional treatment that have gone unreported in Finland. Even so, we have exposed a number of cases: asylum reception centers run by Luona, which has reception centers in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Hyvinkää; a reception center in Kolari run by the Red Cross where asylum seekers were charged 0.50 euros for a tomato, among other serious issues; Villa Meri (private company Mehiläinen); and Keuruu (Red Cross), where people are not allowed to celebrate religious and cultural holidays.

In our attempt to give asylum seekers a voice, some of our efforts have paid off. One such case was the Kolari asylum reception center where the deputy manager was sacked in May.

Reports of abuses and poor management continue to reach us. The latest one comes from the Laajakoski asylum reception center near Kotka, where the management, among other complaints, allegedly tells asylum seekers to go back to their country if they don’t like it here.

The Laajakoski reception center is located near Kotka in southeastern Finland. It started operating in January. Read the full story (in Finnish) here.

Migrant Tales has a recording of a manager of the Laajakoski reception center telling an asylum seeker who is crippled to go back to his country because the manager doesn’t want to give him a pillow and blanket.

Continue reading “Luona, Kolari, Villa Meri, Keuruu, Laajakoski asylum reception centers in Finland that are shameful examples”

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”