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The Finnish government’s migration and economic policy lack credibility and are bound to cause more harm than good

Posted on by Migrant Tales

It is concerning for migrants and minorities in Finland that we have a government that is openly hostile to them. As in Juha Sipilä’s (2015-2019) government, there was an agreement that migration policy would be handled by the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party in exchange for the National Coalition Party (NCP) and Center Partry dictating economic policy.

It is the same situation now: The NCP remains silent on migration policy and the PS is silent on austerity measures in exchange for dictating migration policy.

Looking at the PS’ track record and its use of conspiracy theories to drive home its xenophobic message, one wonders if just erasing previous racist posts is enough to restore credibility in ministers like Mari Rantanen.

“Are you on our side or the other side’s,” asks PS Interior Minister Mari Rantanen. Source Ville Ranta, Iltalehti.

The question is not far-fetched. The PS is historically the first major contemporary Finnish party to have profited politically by promoting the polarization between different groups by claiming that Muslims, Africans, and other non-EU nationals, as less valuable.

Many of Rantanen’s social media posts before the 4 April election, which were deleted and whitewashed after the elections, were based on conspiracy theories, such as the great replacement. “We shouldn’t be so blue-eyed that soon we won’t be blue-eyed?” is one of his more unusual quotes.

In Finnish, being “blue-eyed” means being naive.

Moreover, even if these types of posts do not increase credulity, how can one even attempt to find a solution to the youth problem in society if Rantanen and her party blame social problems like pinning youth gang violence on ‘harmful migration?

Continue reading “The Finnish government’s migration and economic policy lack credibility and are bound to cause more harm than good”

Unequal social welfare for forigners: The wettest dream of the Perussuomalaiset and National Coalition Party

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Plans to pay migrants less social welfare planned by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government are a wet dream that spans back to 2016, when then Social and Health Minister Hanna Mantylä aimed to pass legislation that would grant migrants less social welfare than native Finns. Fortunately, such a law did not see the light of day since it was unconstitutional.

The unconstitutionality of such a law rests on Section 6 of the Constitution: “Everyone is equal before the law. No one shall, without an acceptable reason, be treated differently from other persons on the ground of sex, age, origin, language, religion, conviction, opinion, health, disability or other reason that concerns his or her person.”

Read the full story (in Finnish) here.

Thus, if you are going to pay less social welfare to a group, the measure must apply to everyone in order for it to be constitutional.

Efforts to get foreigners to get less social welfare than native Finns, was brought up again in 2018 by Finland’s Nobel Prize in economics, Bengt Holmström. He said that white Finns must not share power and privileges with migrants and their children. In other words, they should get lower salaries and social security benefits so that it does not irritate Finns.

According to Statistics Finland’s Working Paper series published in 2014, Finland is no land of opportunity for migrants, according to Pekka Myrskylä. He claims that the employment level of Estonians and Thai citizens matches that of white Finns. The majority of migrants, however, live in poverty in Finland because they make less money, according to him.  

I have tweeted to Riikka Purra about her suggestion not to pay social welfare to foreigners. My question to her was: If social welfare is left to a minunum, does it mean that foreigners have to pay taxes?

Surprisngly, she did not respond to my tweet.

National Coalition Party MP Pia Kauma is another politician who has been hellbent that migrants should be paid less social welfare.

Continue reading “Unequal social welfare for forigners: The wettest dream of the Perussuomalaiset and National Coalition Party”

Mahad Sheikh Musse: Nollatoleranssi rasismille

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Alla oleva lyhyt kirjoitus lähetettiin Helsingin Sanomille viime viikolla, mutta lehti ei jostain syystä julkaissut sitä.Siksi julkaisemme sen Migrant Talesissa.

Olen asunut suurimman osan elämästäni Suomessa ja työskennellyt viimeiset kaksikymmentä vuotta nuorisotyöntekijänä pääkaupunginseudulla. Somalitaustaisena henkilönä voin kertoa teille, miten paljon vihamieliset sanat ja ilmapiiri voivat aiheuttaa vahinkoa ihmisille. Jos haluatte, voin näyttää niitä haavoja, jotka minä ja yhteisöni olemme kokeneet Suomessa vuosien varrella.

Mielestäni maassa, jossa poliitikot voivat kirjoittaa rasistisia kirjoituksia vähemmistöistä ilman kovempia seurauksia tai jopa palkitaan nimittämällä ministeriksi, se ei ole vain loukkaus meitä vähemmistöjä vastaan, vaan se uhkaa koko yhteiskuntaamme ja ihmisoikeuksiamme sekä demokratiaamme.

On tärkeää, että poliittiset puolueet ja poliitikot osoittavat johtajuutta vastustamalla kaikenlaista syrjintää ja rasismia, eli nollatoleranssi tälle yhteiskunnalliselle sairaudelle. Tämä pitäisi olla itsestään selvää kaikille, koska perustuslaki takaa yhdenvertaisuutta ja oikeudenmukaisuutta kaikille ihmisille riippumatta taustoista.

Mahad Sheikh Musse on monikulttuurisen nuorisotyön ammattilainen joka omaa vuosien kokemus viranomaisten ja eri yhteisöjen kanssa työskentelmisestä.

Liar, liar PS pants on fire!

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Riikka Purra is the chairperson of the radical right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, which has made its political career by bullying minorities like Muslims. Since most of their xenophobic arguments are based on lies and smears, it should not surprise anyone that they’d break their election promises rapidly.

One of the biggest promises that the PS made during before the election was that they would not accept any austerity measures that would affect the most vulnerable sectors of society like the unemployed, single mothers and others.

The original campaign promise and how Purra eventually ate her words: “The difference between parties like the National Coalition Party and us is that they want to cut [social] support for lower-income people. This is unacceptable for us.”

If you look at the new government’s program, the biggest cuts will be made in health care (1.3 billion) and social security (1.2 billion) to the tune of 2.5 billion euros. It’s clear that such cuts are going to bite hard at those people who depend on social welfare to make it through the month.

How Purra flip-flops on her promise: “We are happy with the [government] program and the PS has decided to form part of this government. There were no dissenting voices. The decision was unanimous.”

Dmitry Gurbanov Tweeted that Purra’s U-turn is a Finnish record!

Riikka Purra flip-flops on her original promise that she would not accept to form part of a government that will cut social security befits of the most vulnerable sectors of society. Her promises are just as big lies as her xenophobic rhetoric. Source: Twitter

The new government’s immigration program can be best described in two words: disenfranchisement and suspicion

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The new right-wing government of National Coalition Party (NCP) Prime Minister-designate, Petteri Orpo published its government program Saturday. With respect to migrant policy, it reinforces what many have feared: deep-rooted suspicion of migrants.

The new government, which is considered to be the most right-wing since the 1930s and the most anti-immigration in a long time, is made up of the NCP, radical-right Perussuomalaiset(PS)*, Swedish People’s Party, and Christian Democrats.

The Guardian: Finland’s ‘most rightwing government ever’ to cut spending and immigration

The tightening of immigration policy in the government program also reveals that, apart from keeping migrants on short leashes, such people are second-class members of society with fewer rights. Disenfranchisement and suspicion are good words to describe the new government’s policy.

By changing citizenship requirements from five to eight years is a prime example of disenfranchisement. If you cannot vote, for example, your oppressors can keep you marginalized.

Other draconian changes include making asylum temporary. It also has the same message: we don’t want you, we don’t like you – Finland will never become your new home.

In order to get a permanent residence, you need to live six years in the country. If you make, however, 40,000 euros a year, you can get a permanent residence in four years. But be careful! If you become unemployed, you will have to leave the country if you cannot find new employment in three months.

Under the threat of a fine, employers must inform the Finnish Immigration Service about the unemployed employee.

The further disenfranchisement of migrants will lead to greater abuse by employers and the Finnish system in general.

Also, when applying for a permanent residence, you will be given a Finnish- or Swedish-language test to prove that you have basic language skills.

The government program also shows that migrants are an economic commodity.

Media Monitoring Group of Finland [1]: The media should stop labeling minorities and oversimplifying social problems

Posted on by Migrant Tales

An immigration and inclusion policy based on deep-rooted suspicion and racism always fails.

It was a very tough week in Sweden. One boy was stabbed to death in the Stockholm suburb of Älvsjö, there were also three shootings in Stockholm where a 15-year-old died and many others were treated in hospital for their wounds.

With dog whistles, parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and even the National Coalition Party (NCP), cherry-pick news in Sweden to push their xenophobic agendas.

Despite the terrible news from Sweden, the media and politicians revert to their simplistic arguments: It’s all the migrants’ fault.

Migrants’ fault? What about all the social services that have been subcontracted and made redundant in Sweden?

Has anyone thought that Finland’s alleged gang “problem” is also an outcome of all the negative news spread by the media, politicians and the police about youths who aren’t white Finns?

The Media Monitoring Group of Finland revealed the latter in. a comprehensive report published in March.

While parties like the PS and NCP conveniently forget to remind us that Sweden’s economic growth was also made possible thanks to migrants, the new government of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is failing miserably in dealing with Sweden’s gang violence.

Writes Aftonbladet: “Several laws have been tightened. The police have received increased funding. Nevertheless, gang crime is increasing.”

In another story by the same daily: “Instead, Ulf Kristersson’s main idea to maintain Sweden’s unity is to make it more difficult to become a citizen. In his speech, he basically linked all of the country’s problems to immigration. ”

The new Finnish government may find it easy to continue to blame all of Finland’s problems on immigration, but they will not resolve the underlying problems of our ever-growing culturally and ethnically diverse society.

It will fail miserably as we have seen Kristersson’s government in Sweden. Tough policies only break things, they don’t fix them.

Finland should not follow the Swedish government’s path but start to take a more inclusive and less hostile view of migrants and minorities that live in this country.

[1] Media Monitoring Group of Finland aims to promote fair and accurate reporting by the Finnish media of underrepresented cultural, racial, ethnic, and religious groups. As Finland’s cultural diversity continues to grow, the role of the media in forming public opinion and attitudes about minorities becomes even more relevant.

Mikael Kallavuo: Mihin kohtiin demokratia–fasismi -akselilla Jussi Halla-ahon näkökulmat sijoittuvat?

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Toimittaja Lauri Nurmen tekemä Jussi Halla-ahon epävirallinen elämäkerta -teos auttaa syvemmin ymmärtämään perussuomalaisten puheenjohtajan poliittisia päämääriä.

Tuskinpa kovin moni edes tietää, kuinka tiiviit kytkökset Jussi Halla-aholla on äärioikeistolaisena ja jopa fasistisena pidettyyn Suomen Sisuun. Aluksi keskustelu- ja kirjallisuuspiirinä toimineessa Suomen Sisun perustajien Thule-ryhmässä luettiin monia Natsi-Saksan ja äärioikeistolaisten kuuluvia teoksia.

Lukemistoon kuuluu muun muassa ”Ku Klux Klanin entisen suurvisiirin, antisemitistin ja valkoisen ylivallan kannattajan David Duken omaelämäkerrallinen My Awakening” ja ”Hitlerin johtaman kansallissosialistisen puolueen pääideologin Uutta Eurooppaa kohti” teos, kirjoittaa Lauri Nurmi, (Ks. s. 89. Jussi Halla-aho – epävirallinen elämäkerta, Into).

Äärioikeistolaisen lukemiston takia kirjallisuusryhmän Thule-nimi oli tuskin sattumalta sama kuin Saksassa vuonna 1918 perustettu Thule-seura, jonka jäsenistön egoa paisutettiin propagandalla arjalaisen rodun ylivertaisuudesta. Thulelaiset perustivat vuonna 1920 Saksan kansallissosialistisen työväenpuolueen, josta tuli Hitlerin työkalu valtaan.

Lauri Nurmen mukaan Suomen Sisua voikin ”kirjallisiin lähteisiin tukeutuen luonnehtia kansallissosialistiseksi” (s. 101). Suomen Sisun ääriliikemäinen propaganda alkaa herättää huomiota ja se erotetaan Suomalaisuuden Liitosta vuonna 2000 (s. 90–93).

Pian julkisen erottamiskohun jälkeen Jussi Halla-aho alkaa osallistua Suomen Sisun toimintaan. Halla-aho ei ole tällöin enää nuori vaan jo 29-vuotias maisterivaiheen opiskelija, joten kyseessä on tietoisempi yhteiskunnallinen suunnanvalinta kuin teini-ikäisen nuoren kapinoiva etsiminen. Hallo-aho valitaan peräti kahdesti Suomen Sisun hallitukseen (s. 98).

Jussi Halla-aho vuonna 2020. Kuva:Wikipedia.

Natsi- ja rotupropagandaa

Kansallissosialistien nuorisopropagandaa johtanut Helmut Stellrecht yleni SS-Brigadenführeriksi eli kenraalimajuria vastaavaan arvoon. Hänen vuonna 1938 ilmestyneessä Usko ja teot –teoksessaan ylistetään saksalaisen rodun puhdasta perintöä ja juutalaisten juuriminen ”pois Saksasta on ylin laki.”

Suomen Sisu julkaisee tiivistelmän tästä teoksesta vuonna 2002 ja kirjoittaa verkkosivuillaan olevansa ”iloinen voidessaan tarjota tämän historiallisen harvinaisuuden suomalaisille lukijoille” (ks. s. 101).

Continue reading “Mikael Kallavuo: Mihin kohtiin demokratia–fasismi -akselilla Jussi Halla-ahon näkökulmat sijoittuvat?”