Category: Enrique

Migrant Tales February 1, 2012: Why write about a Somali immigrant who died in Oulu, Finland?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

One of the matters that has surprised me after Migrant Tales scooped more information about the tragic death of a Somali national in Oulu on February 1 is the lack of empathy for the victim.  Finland and the Nordic region have not been the same after the April election and when Anders Breivik went on the rampage in Norway in July killing 77 victims. 

In both cases above, anti-immigration and anti-Muslim rhetoric played a role.

One gets the impression by reading some of the threads on Migrant Tales and My Finland is International that since what happened in Oulu wasn’t considered a hate crime by the police, we should not give it much importance.

Abdisalam Mohamed Abdulahi was one of three young Muslim victims who was killed in Finland’s Black February.

Some have even gone as far as to claim that the tragedy in Oulu had nothing to do with immigration or racism.

I beg your pardon!?

What happened in Oulu had everything to do with immigrants and the social ills that threaten our society today.

We are proud that we can speak out for the victim and share on this blog our sorrow for what happened.

Add to what happened in Oulu the horrific events in Norway in summer 2011 and Finland’s ever-worsening atmosphere for immigrants and minorities, it is only natural that we react to a crime involving an immigrant, especially one where three Finns break into his home by force and perpetrated his death.

Migrant Tales will continue to report crimes against immigrants and hopes it will have the opportunity to do so in the future.

 

Somali taxi driver assaulted in Helsinki

Posted on by Migrant Tales

A Somali taxi driver was assaulted by two Finnish men on Thursday at 4:30am at the Helsinki Railway Station, according to a Migrant Tales reporter. The man was taken to hospital by ambulance with injuries to the lower jaw and chin. The two attackers were later apprehended by the police.

The victim, who was second in a taxi line waiting for customers, was approached by two men who asked if they could be taken to an unknown destination.

“I said ok and waited for a couple of minutes for them to enter the car because they were chatting between themselves,” he said. “I got suspicious and  decided against taking them because I feared that I could be robbed [or beaten up]. When I got out of the car and told them I’d refuse to take them anywhere, they attacked [me on the spot] and threatened to kill me.”

The taxi driver said that the two attackers called him the n-word and told him to go back to the country he came from.

The man was taken to hospital by ambulance. He was released the following day and is presently recovering at home.

 

Which party should I vote for in the Finnish municipal elections of October?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Which political party should I vote for in the upcoming municipal elections of October? If you are an immigrant or a naturalized Finn, probably one criterion is the party’s record on immigration and cultural diversity.  

The first important decision you should make, however, is to vote on October 28.

Very few immigrants vote in municipal elections. In 2008, only 19.6% voted compared with 60% Finnish citizens.

Those eligible to vote are:

  • Finnish citizens;
  • Citizens of the European Union, Norway and Iceland;
  • Other nationalities that have lived permanently in Finland at least two years.

While all political parties in Finland are officially against all forms of discrimination, it’s not clear what their real views are on the issue. How do they promote cultural diversity and how often do they speak out against racism?

The Christian Democrats are a case in point. They promote Christian values but there is not too much brotherly love shown by Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen when it comes to gays and refugee minors from Somalia who want to be reunited with their families.

The Center Party, Social Democrats and National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) suffer from the same type of split political personality as the Christian Democrats. You will find in all of these parties members who are for and against immigrants and immigration. No other party has, however, so many openly anti-immigration members as the Perussuomalaiset (PS).

The PS is the only party in Finland that has capitalized politically on anti-immigration and especially anti-Muslim sentiment  as we saw in last year’s parliamentary elections.

The Greens and Swedish People’s Parties, and even the Left Wing Alliance with some reservations, appear to be the most open to immigration and cultural diversity, according to some polls.

This municipal election poll was published by Helsingin Sanomat. 

One matter that concerns me the most about all of the parties I mentioned is that none of them speak specifically about the need in our ever-growing culturally diverse society for mutual acceptance, respect and equal opportunities.

What are some good questions you could ask a Finnish political party as the municipal elections near?

One question would be their big picture of Finnish society in this century. What is their stand on cultural diversity? How is our culturally diverse society supposed to function? Is it something that should be promoted or discouraged?

If they promote cultural diversity, the second question should be how. If they are against it, ask them what they plan to do with those people who live here and aren’t white Finns.

Remember to vote on October 28!

Blaming undocumented immigrants is sweeping the issue under the rug

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The treatment of an ever-growing problem like undocumented immigrants in Finland by the media and politicians resembles a debate where nobody really wants to tackle the issue. Our attention too often shifts to the undocumented immigrant, who is seen as the culprit and root of the problem. 

The ongoing  debate resembles discussing the reasons behind prostitution. Is is the woman’s fault for offering sex or the customer’s who buys such services from her? Who is to blame: demand, supply, or both?

Another problem with the debate on undocumented workers in Finland and Europe is terminology. The media and the rest of the public use a dehumanizing slur like “illegal.” Calling a human “illegal” is wrong and not only permits the employer to wash his hands of the problem, but is disrespectful. It opens the door to ethnic profiling and victimization of groups like immigrants.

If we take an extreme case like the United States, where there are an estimated 11-12 million undocumented workers, the answer why this type of activity takes place is clear: Businesses and the economy benefit immensely from undocumented workers.

As long as there are clear economic benefits for employers and the economy to hire undocumented workers, it’s wishful thinking that the issue will magically disappear. Moreover, our attention should shift  to the real culprit, the employer, rather than victimize undocumented workers.

Certainly undocumented workers are part of the problem but not in the same degree as employers, who have more resources and choices open to them than undocumented immigrants.

The first time I knew of an undocumented worker in Finland was in the 1980s. He worked for  a restaurant called Mexicana in Helsinki.  The cook, a Mexican, complained about low wages, long hours and how he had to sleep at the restaurant.

Whatever your view of this serious problem, a good and effective way to begin understanding and tackling it is by asking why this type of activity happens too often right under our noses.

Syrjäytyneet Suomessa ja epäonnistumisen merkkiä

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Meillä on hyvä yhteiskunta Suomessa mutta tämä väite tarvitsee toisen kysymyksen: kenelle? Kannustetaanko todella eri vähemmistöjen oikeuksia elää Suomessa tasavertaisena jäsenenä ja turvallisessa yhteiskunnassa?  

Mielestäni kansanedustaja (ps) Reijo Tossavaisen viimeisin blogikirjoitus, Somalien kokemuksia tutkitaan 0,6 milj. eurolla, edustaa sitä Suomea, joka syrjii sanoin toisia.

Tossavainen väittää blogikirjoituksessa, että Suomen Akatemian tutkimushanke somaleista on turhaa, koska olisi ”tähdellisempää tutkia vaikkapa suomalaisnuorten sopeutumisongelmia?”

Mielestäni tutkimalla suomen neljänneksi suurinta maahanmuuttajienryhmää voisi valaista monta tärkeää asiaa. Jos tiedämme paremmin miksi jotkut somalit syrjäytyvät yhteiskunnastamme, voisimme haasta tämä ilmiön ja ongelmaan.

Missä on maa, joka on hyötynyt syrjäämällä toisia ryhmiä? Jos on paljon syrjäytyneitä yhteisnunnassamme, kaikki häviämme ja maksamme kovan veronhinnan tästä.

Niin kauan kun Suomessa on syrjäytyneitä riippumatta taustoista, se on aina epäonnistumisen merkkiä.

OAJ union: Teachers (and immigrants) should report hate speech and harassment cases to the police

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Finland’s Trade Union of Education (OAJ) recommends that teachers should file a complaint to the police if they are victims of  hate speech or harassment at school, reports Helsingin Sanomat, citing Finnish News Agency (STT). Should immigrants and visible minorities follow OAJ’s example if they are victims of racist harassment in public?

Migrant Tales reported last year on the case of an African student who was harassed and bullied in public in Jyväskylä. Uncertain if the incident should be reported  or not, the student got in touch with the police and Ombudsman for Minorities. The police said the student should not report the case but the Ombudsman for Minorities advised to the contrary.

The announcement by OAJ reveals concern about the growing number of hate speech and harassment cases reported by  teachers at school. The union recommends teachers to get in touch directly with the police if the perpetrator is 15 years old and with social welfare officials if younger.

Your safety is the most important matter you should keep in mind if somebody harasses you in public. Walk away from the situation but get a good description of the perpetrator so you can report the person to the police.

Finland’s mini Breivik: gunman kills two and wounds seven

Posted on by Migrant Tales

What motivates a young man to take the law in his own hands and kill indiscriminately defenseless people? While we still don’t know the motives behind the killings in Hyvinkää, the suspect’s “likes” on Facebook may offer us some clues. 

Writes YLE in English: ”Police in the town of Hyvinkää, some 50km north of Helsinki, say a young man dressed in military fatigues began shooting with a rifle from the roof of a building in the city centre at 1:53am Saturday…

An 18-year-old woman was killed. Another victim, a 19-year-old man, died later in a hospital. Seven other people have been hospitalised with gunshot wounds, including a 23-year-old woman police trainee, who has critical injuries.”

Human rights activist and writer, Jussi K. Niemelä, states that the suspect’s “likes” on Facebook suggest the usual far-right ideology. Some of the suspect’s “likes” include the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset party, Bundeswher, the German Defense Force, and Simo Häyhä, a Finnish sniper nicknamed “White Death” by the Red Army during the Winter War (1939-40).

Some have called the gunman Finland’s Anders Breivik, who killed 77 victims in Norway.

While we have to wait for the final report by the police to know the killer’s probable motives, one matter is certain: The attack was senseless and reveals the illness that has inflicted our society today.  It is the same ogre that we saw kill innocent victims in Jokela and Kauhajoki.

Migrant Tales offers its heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims.

Finland’s future recipe for success is based on social equality, mutual acceptance, respect and equal opportunities

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Why would any political party seriously care about immigrants and their children if these newcomers form part of a fragmented group that has little political and economic power? Should they be concerned about high unemployment and ever-growing social inequality among such groups in Finland? 

Our success story as a society was never based on social inequality but on social equality, or tasa-arvo.  If you disagree, look at our violent history between 1918 and 1945. The crucial fuel that fed the wheels of internal and external strife back then was suspicion of other groups and nations.

Despite our rocky start as an independent nation, we have built today a model society that is the envy of other nations. Another welcome characteristic of our society is its strong sense of community and belonging. Not everyone, however, enjoys being part of such a great family. Some of these are  visible minorities like the Roma, Saami, non-white Finns, homosexuals and other groups.

As we race deeper into the depths of the new century, we need more than ever those tools that turned us into a successful nation and helped mend our differences as a society. We especially need values such as inclusion to rub off on those that form part of our ever-growing culturally diverse nation.

Are we putting Finland in harm’s way again by reviving those same class divisions, inequality and loathing that once impoverished us? Are those very values that fueled strife now entering our society through the back door as anti-immigrant sentiment and intolerance?

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that humans are social animals and that our successful Nordic welfare society is based on social equality.  Social vices like greed, apathy and even racism therefore constitute today the greatest threat to our society.

Some politicians in Finland and Europe naively believe that they can revive these above-mentioned social ills and control them with a short leash. Nothing could be further from the truth. The mass killings in Norway that we witnessed last year are tragic proof of the contrary. What attacked Norway wasn’t a mass killer called Anders Breivik but his racist values and fear.

Political parties are playing with fire if they fuel class divisions and hatred of other groups like immigrants and visible minorities.

It is an encouraging sign, however, that more politicians, political parties and common Finns are finding the courage to openly question racism and all forms of discrimination.

A lot more work is still needed on this front. We should hear more than ever those values, together with new ones, that turned us into what we are today:  social equality for all based on mutual acceptance, respect and equal opportunities.

 

Amnesty International Annual Report 2012 criticizes Finland for accelerated asylum procedures

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Amnesty International (AI) has criticized Finland in its Annual Report 2012 for accelerated asylum procedures, which include forced returns to Baghdad, according to YLE.  The report noted as well that Finland was unable to provide figures on how many irregular migrants and asylum-seekers it detained during the year.

AI reports: “However, there were concerns that many of those being detained were held in police detention facilities, contrary to international standards. In these cases, many were detained in mixed-sex facilities, together with individuals suspected of crime. Children seeking asylum, including unaccompanied children were also detained.”

The report said Finland provides inadequate protection for asylum-seekers and their right of appeal.

Migrant Tales understands that the Finnish authorities forcibly return asylum-seekers back to their original country if their request has been rejected 2-3 times.

“I know of some asylum-seekers who have been deported [from Finland] to Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, Chechnya, Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Cameroon,” said a former asylum-seeker, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “If the first country that took your fingerprints is Sweden, they can deport you to that country [as stipulated in the Dublin Agreement].”

The former asylum-seeker said that the Finnish police have three ways of deporting you.

“One is by letter informing you that they will pick you up at a certain day and time, the second is by surprise incarceration after being requested to appear at a police station,” he said. “The third is by detaining you at the refugee center without any warning.”

 

 

PS MP Olli Immonen plans to boycott YLE “for a short while”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Far-right anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP, Olli Immonen, said Monday he will boycott YLE “for a short while” since the state-owned radio and television company reports unfairly about the PS.  According to him, there is a systematic propaganda campaign against the PS by YLE

I doubt that many will lose sleep over Immonen’s decision, taking into account that his pet political topics include anti-Immigration, anti-Islam and an odd nostalgia for Finnish fascism of the 1930s.

Immonen has done the right thing, however. In English we say: “If you can’t take the heat stay out of the kitchen.”

It is clear that the PS MP from Oulu cannot take the heat.

Why are so many PS party members so hypersensitive about the media? Is it an indication that the party has lost touch with Finland, never mind its convoluted political program?

Immonen is a sad example of the illness that has inflicted Finland these days. Mention the magic word “Muslim” to a person like him and he changes into a political Mr. Hyde.

Ulla Pyysalo is another sad example.  She is PS MP Juho Eerola’s aide, who got her fingers burned when her name appeared on a neo neo-Nazi membership list.

Pyysalo was recently active on Facebook:

Ulla Pyysalo: …it’s been known for some time that a Muslim man can beat his wife. Maybe they didn’t believe this before… Ulla Pyysalo: and force them to have sex, or rape…

Pyysalo, like Immonen and her boss Eerola, belong to the same far-right faction of the PS. Others that form part of this same group are PS MP Jussi Halla-aho and James Hirvisaari.