It’s highly probable that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a racist knock-on effect against Asians and other visible migrants and minorities. While this may be the case, the question is, why is it underreported or hardly ever mentioned by the media?
A story in Helsingin Sanomat, dated February 7, interviews a Chinese national: “People use the virus as an excuse for their racist behavior,” said Qi Hongjia, who has lived in Finland for over ten years.
Yle Newspublished on the same day as the Helsingin Sanomat article how the coronavirus targets Asians.
An Asian who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that she receives more looks than usual.
“Using a face mask in a completely normal way is now seen as really bad and suspicious,” the Asian said.
We at Migrant Tales have tried to get in touch with Asians and other migrants and minorities to write about their experiences during these difficult times.
If you have a story to share, please get in touch with us because exposing racism is one effective way of beating the social ill.
Even if we humans are resilient, the coronavirus has exposed the same problems that brought us to this situation in the first place.
Instead of investing trillions of dollars in defense or attack spending and servility to the economy and stock markets, why haven’t we paid enough attention to health care, environmental disasters that brought us global warming, human tragedies that our imposed wars have shoved down people’s throats.
In the United States, there is a huge demand for ventilators and other medical equipment to challenge the coronavirus pandemic.
We continue to invest trillions of dollars in war spending and servility to the economy and stock markets. Why haven’t we paid instead enough attention to health care, environmental disasters that brought us global warming, human tragedies that our imposed wars shoved down people’s throats?
In the United States, there is a massive demand for ventilators and other medical equipment to challenge the coronavirus pandemic.
Martin Luther King Jr. said a lot of wise things.
The 2.2 trillion-dollar package to stop the US economy from freefall is only a temporary bandaid. The answers we see today on how to steer through the crisis, which has seen endless investments in social inequality and wars, will not solve the problem but make it worse.
It will be worse since we are not even thinking about changing a very sick paradigm for one that invests and improves people’s lives.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, 69, said on Fox News that it was ok to sacrifice older people to save the economy.
“You know, Tucker, no one reached out to me and said, ‘As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’” he was quoted as saying in the Guardian. “And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in.”
Dehumanizing groups indicate that we are on a slippery slope.
Due to the Coronavirus spread throughout Europe, people are required to stay home in safe. Same in Finland, where also the hashtag #stayhome is in trend. Unfortunately, for many women, home doesn’t mean safety. On the contrary.
According to a 2012 study by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), 47% of Finnish women have experienced gender-based violence at some point in their lives, starting at the age of 15. It puts Finland as second in the list of the 28 European Union countries that participated in the survey, right after Denmark.
This is quite a smack on the face, considering that The Nordic countries are often praised for their achievements on gender equality.
But what do we mean with gender-based violence?
Gender-based violence is violence directed against a person because of their gender. The majority of victims of gender-based violence are women and girls. Gender-based violence and violence against women are terms that are often used interchangeably, but the ‘gender-based’ definition is the one that we should use more as it highlights more the aspect of inequality among men and women.
The Istanbul Convention is a Council of Europe Convention that focuses on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, and published its first evaluation report on Finland on 2 September 2019.
The UN Entity for GenderEquality have stated that generally women of ethnic and cultural minorities are more in danger to become victims of violence. There is not a research that states why it is so, but in my opinion one of the factor is the sexualization of some ethnic groups ( like women of color, or south Asian women ) with an exasperation of their sexual characteristics and even porn categories only about them.
The Rape Crisis Center “Tukinainen” reports to receive 1000-1200 calls and attempted calls each month. The risk of physical assault is highest between the ages 15 and 34 years. ( datas from Tilastokeskus ) .
Nearly half of African background women reported experiencing discrimination during the past five years, that study found — most often at the hands of strangers. They were often subjected to name-calling or other forms of verbal abuse. (source Yle)
However, estimating the prevalence of sexual violence in Finland is difficult, because a big number of are not reported to the police.
Instead of telling to women how to dress up for not being raped and to blame the victims for not having reported the perpetrator to the authorities, let`s try to analyze some of the possible causes of lack of reaction from the immigrant women victims of gender-based violence:
·Failed integration: Following a quote of Mia Poutanen, chief superintendent on the National Police Board: “Integration programs focus on educating foreigners with regard to attitudes and values, but in many cases, it unfortunately does not start quickly enough, because asylum processing takes too long.”(source Yle). This explication speaks for itself, and I totally agree.
Often, even with integration program completed, the sensation of not being part of the community is strong: social integration is only feasible once immigrants are accepted as members of the society. Unfortunately, for many minorities this represent a big struggle.
·Lack of peer support and network: A big part of the foreign women living in Finland comes for following their partner/spouse. Women with a foreign mother tongue are more likely to be married than Finnish-, Swedish- or Sami-speaking women.: 43% of women with a foreign mother tongue and 32 % of women with a national mother tongue were married. (source ulkomaalaistaustaisethelsingissa.fi).This means that they don’t necessarily have a network of supportive people in case of need. They might face loneliness and exclusion, and the risk of social isolation is high. In case of danger or need, they might not have a person that can support them in the hard times.
·Poor language skills: According to a study of 2019, 82% of the population of foreigners living in Helsinki is born abroad. Immigration is still a relatively new phenomenon in Finland: The majority of Helsinki residents born abroad have migrated to Finland less than 10 years ago. This means that the majority of the international community, doesn’t speak Finnish as mother tongue. Reaching for help, searching information online, even just explaining what happened can become a struggle.
·Lack of knowledge of own rights: Many foreign women don’t know that they don’t have to stay in an abusive relationship for staying in Finland. The perpetrator might blackmail the victim by claiming that she might lose her kids or be deported if she calls the authorities.
·Women poverty: Despite the welfare benefits available in Finland, the struggle of poverty is still real, especially for those women that are not in the working-age anymore. Indeed, nearly 70 percent of over-65-year-olds are living exclusively on basic benefits are women. In practice this means that they only receive a guarantee pension of 784 euros monthly, paid to persons whose pre-tax pension income is otherwise less than 777.84 euros per month. (source Yle)
·Fixed-term work, unemployment and zero-hours contracts: Higher education does not protect residents with a foreign mother tongue from unemployment as efficiently as Finnish- and Swedish-speaking residents. The unemployment rate among residents with a foreign mother tongue remains fairly constant regardless of their education. Residents with refugee background have had more difficulties in finding a job than other people.
But how can to get help?
If you are a victim of gender-based violence, don’t be afraid to ask for help. You are not alone, it is not shameful to reach for help and it is more common than you imagine.
Here there is a list of some of possibilities to reach for help. If you have become or see someone else becoming the victim of violence, immediately call the emergency number 112. Intervention is always required in cases of violence.If you have sustained physical injuries, go to the nearest emergency room or call 112 for help.
Here is a list of some organizations that can be a good support:
· Monika Naiset ry is probably the most famous for promoting the equality and inclusion of immigrant women in Finland and prevents violence against women.
· Mieli the Finnish Association for Mental Health, provides crisis assistance and support in order to prevent mental health problems and suicides.
· RIKU, the Victim Support Finland`s organization, aims to improve the position of victims of crime, their loved ones and witnesses of criminal cases by influencing and producing support services.
Tukinainen, the crisis centre for sexually abused women, is a national victim support centre that provides support and guidance for people who have been sexually assaulted/ or abused, as well as providing guidance for their families.
Hoy, el 24 de marzo, hace 44 años que la Argentina vivió su pesadilla más larga después de un golpe de estado que cambió el país para siempre, pero que nos dió también una promesa: ¡nunca más!
Uno de los héroes de la guerra sucia (1976-83) fueron, indudablemente, los padres y familiares que sufrieron la desgracia de la pérdida y la desaparición de sus hijes.
Las fotos en esta nota fueron tomadas en agosto de 1983 cuando el pueblo argentino repudió la autoamnistía que se autoproclamó el gobierno de facto.
Estoy sumamente orgulloso de ser una pequeña parte de ese movimiento social que jamás abandonaré y olvidaré especialmente cada 24 de marzo.
Cuando veo esta foto, me pregunto ¿quién es esta pareja? ¿Quiénes son los que están a su alrededor? ¿Qué historias nos contarían? Foto: Enrique TessieriLuchas sociales son luchas en contra de la impunidad e injusticia. Foto Enrique TessieriEs nuestro deber mantener vivos a los que querían silenciar para siempre. Foto: Enrique Tessieri¿Dónde está mi hije? No se preocupe demasiado porque están en nuestras memorias y corazones. Foto: Enrique Tessieri
Migrant Tales insight:I got in touch with Danilo Canguçu, whom I thanked for bringing to public attention what had happened after being harassed in a racist manner. He did the right thing, and others should follow his example. Since public authorities too often only offer lip service instead of action in fighting racist abuse, we need to raise our voices when this occurs.
Danilo said he will file charges to the police and get in touch with Helsingin Uutisetif the woman who harassed him and his friends is employed by that community paper.
Helsingin Uutiset, like other ones in the same league, is known for their biased reporting that is sometimes racist. Since they have no subscribers, they are dependent on ads to finance their newspaper.
Turkulainen, a community paper owned by Etelä-Suomen Media, which owns Helsingin Uutiset, published a sensationalist story and headline in 2017: “A shocking figure from the beginning of the year: Rape crime grew by over 400% in Turku compared previously.”
But wait a minute. The “over-400%” claim is based on a figure of 4 suspected cases in 2016 compared with 21 in the first quarter of 2017.
When I called the editor of Turkulainen, to ask him if this is fair and ethical journalism.
“Don’t you understand that we need to attract advertisers!” he said justifying the headline
Community newspapers are some of the worst examples of unethical and biased journalism in Finland.
Here is the person who was filmed allegedly in racist harassment. Source: Facebook.
EN ESPAÑOL
“TODOS USTEDES DEBERÍAN VOLVER A SUS PAÍSES, USTEDES NUNCA SERÁN DUEÑOS DE ESTE PAÍS!”
El Día Internacional para Eliminación de la Discriminación Racial fue ayer, 21 de Marzo. Este mismo día, mis amigos y yo – todos extranjeros – vivimos el ataque más racista que ya vi sufrí en Finlandia. Era cerca de las cinco y media de la tarde y el sol brillaba. Nosotros tres estabamos yendo a “visitar” a una amiga quien recién llegaba de Brasil. Queríamos verla y recibir unos regalos que nos trajo. Para mí, dos ediciones de mi revista favorita, revista piauí, mayoritariamente sobre política y un aire fresco en tiempos de Bolsonaro. Para mi amiga, roomate y también Brasileña, un libro: “Ideas para adiar el fin del mundo”, de Ailton Krenak. El tercer amigo, Francés-Canadiense, nos condujo con su carro y también participó del encuentro. Yo dije que la “visitamos” porque no entramos en su apartamento ubicado cerca a la estación de metro en Kontula: Estábamos parados en el andén (primer piso), mientras le hablábamos. Ella estaba en el balcón (en el tercer piso) en quarentena. Sus padres están en el grupo de riesgo del Coronavirus. Los tres estaban encerrados en el balcón de vidrio. Ella empacó nuestra literatura en una bolsa plástica, la amarró con una cuerda y – como las trenzas de Rapunzel – el conocimento llegó hasta nosotros. Nos reímos. Compartimos nuestros sentimientos sobre la quarentena, sobre el aterrisaje del virus en Brasil – aquí no nos reímos para nada – etc. Estábamos hablando en Portugués, nuestra lengua materna. Somos orgullosos de hablarla y nos sentimos seguros de usarla en Helsinki, en Finlandia, en Europa. O por lo menos nos sentíamos. Por la derecha, una mujer en sus 40 apareció. Ella tenía un carrito-caja lleno del periódico Helsingin Uutiset. Cuando pasó por nosotros, habló en Finés de una manera muy agresiva y superior. Yo no hablo Finés pero mis amigos sí, así como el padre de mi amiga – por lo menos un poquito. Entonces entendí que decía que olía mal (‘Hyi haisee’) mientras pasaba por nosotros. Uno de mis amigos respondió, ironicamente, en Finés: “Guau, eres muy inteligente!”. La señorita de la entrega, en su camino de entrada al edificio de mi amiga, nos miró y escupió en el piso, de una manera bastante obvia. Mientras tanto, afuera, mis amigos traducían qué había dicho ella y estábamos en choque. La señorita salió diciendo – o casi gritando – más palabras de odio hacia nosotros. Mis dos amigos respondían también en Finés. Yo empecé a responderle en Inglés – de pronto no debería haberlo hecho. Sentí (y todavía lo siento) que a veces estaba siendo agresivo – no como ella. Ella entró en el edificio al lado. Intentando entender qué pasaba, nuestros ojos hablaban más mientras nuestros pensamentos corrían dentro de nuestras cabezas. Mi roomate tuvo una idea: “Yo voy a coger uno de los periódicos de allá”. Yo tuve otra: “Alistaré mi cámara para cuando regrese ella”. Con el periódico escondido bajo la chaqueta de mi amiga y mi teléfono listo para grabar, la señorita salió del segundo edificio. Sí, más palabras agresivas. “Yo te estoy grabando!”, grité. Ella vino hacia nosotros diciendo “Qué derechos tienes de filmar una empleada?”. Yo tenía miedo. Nosotros teníamos miedo. Yo pensé que ella cogería mi celular y lo tiraría en la nieve. Mi roomate pensó que ella nos iba a golpear. No sé qué pensaba nuestro tercer amigo pero estaba aterrorizado, riéndose desconfortablemente. Ella siguió gritándonos: “Ustedes nunca serán Fineses”. Ella señaló su dedo hacia mi amiga y dijo: “Eres una prostituta y una drogadicta” mientras pasaba el indice por la garganta, como quien corta un cuello. “Todos ustedes deberían volver a su país, ustedes nunca serán dueños de esta tierra!” – la frase ecoaba por la calle vacía. Ella se alejó de nosotros, todavía gritando. Yo empecé a gritarle: “Chao! Vete!”. Nosotros, los seis, separados por tres pisos y el coronavirus, vivimos el evento más racista de nuestra vida en Finlandia. Pensábamos que estábamos seguros pero cuando eres inmigrante, tienes que acordarte todos los días: tú siempre estás en el grupo de riesgo.
Now, as far-right parties aim to capitalize on the coronavirus with the help of fake news, we must stay vigilant to challenge their sinister and selfish aims.
We saw this happen in Finland on Yle’sA-talk when Perussuomalaiset* MP Riikka Purra claimed that a hospital was washing and using disposable equipment.
“I have received information from a hospital that they wash disposable equipment,” she tweeted, declining to say who her source is. state her source.
Purra’s claim that she cannot reveal her source is an old tactic even used by US President Donald Trump playbook: “There’s that guy who told me…” “I’ve a very nice friend who told me…” “Many beautiful experts told me…”…etc. [1]
In the face of fake news and claims by opportunist and irresponsible påoliticians, EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) director Michael O’Flaherty has an important message below.
On this date of March 21, 1960, the police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire on a group of peaceful protestors demonstrating against that country’s apartheid laws. In commemoration of the 69 people that were killed on that day, the United Nations called on in 1966 the international community to intensify its efforts to banish all forms of racial discrimination.
Despite celebrating this important day, there is still a lot of work to be done.
About two years and a half ago on February 23 in the Helsinki suburb of Vantaa, a Pakistani man was brutally attacked by three young white Finnish youths.
Writes the Helsinki Times: “Assailants inflicted 20-30 stab wounds on the victim using knives and other edged weapons. His lips were also cut and was stabbed near the eye. Fortunately, the victim was transferred to the hospital urgently and underwent major surgery. Although still in ICU [intensive care unit] and in critical condition with severe injuries, his situation is not life-threatening anymore, and he has regained consciousness.”
Anti-Hate Crime Orgnisation on the forefront of anti-racism activity in Finland. The association was founded in Helsinki on September 8, 2018, and officially registered on October 3, 2018. One of the guiding forces of the association is Rashid and his family. Rashid, who was the victim of a brutal crime in 2018, wished after recovery to do work against hate crime and racism. Ther association’s first board (from left to right): Enrique Tessieri (chairperson), Tegha Abeng (substitute board member), Thomas Babila (board member), Ali Rashid (board member), Ahti Tolvanen (secretary), Rashid (honorary and board member), Sobia (vice-chairperson), and Mounir E. Eliassen (treasurer).
Much to the amazement of the family and other NGOs, the police did not consider what happened to Rashid a hate crime.
“The police called us the following day after what happened to my husband,” said the wife of the victim. “The first question I asked the police if it was a hate crime. They said it wasn’t because the suspects were intoxicated.”
The three youths received 9.5-year prison sentences each after they raised the charges in April from attempted manslaughter to attempted murder.
What does this day, The International Day for the Elimination of Racism, mean to Rashid and Sobia?
“We left our own country, our people, and family to live in peace in a foreign land, but this horrible matter happened to Rashid and us,” she explained.
Sobia said that apart from having a profound economic, social, and psychological impact on their lives today, the family has not recovered from what happened. “It made us lose trust in Finland as a safe country,” she added.
Sobia states that she and her husband continue to get suspicious looks from strangers when they are in public.
“You can tell when you are not wanted because some people give you angry looks,” she said. “And this is because you may have dark hair and don’t look like them.”
What happened to Rashid and the rest of his family after that February evening shows that only one day to celebrate the elimination of racism is not enough.
It is also a reminder that racism can strike at you.
Populists like Perussuomalaiset MP Riikka Purra are desperate for attention in the face of the coronavirus pandemic because fewer are interested in their Islamophobia broken record.
MP Purra, who is also the PS’ first vice president, pulled a fast one on Yle’sA-talk by stating that she has doubts about Finland’s health infrastructure. “I have received information from a hospital that they wash disposable equipment,” she tweeted, declining to say who her source is. state her source.
If she were speaking the truth, she’d get in touch with health authorities to investigate the claim.
This will, supposedly, not happen because it is spreading fake news.
Source: Twitter.
The I-can’t-disclose-the-source comment by Purra is one of the oldest tricks in the book. Since her statement instills fear among the population, such fake news should be strongly condemned.
The PS is worried about their standings in opinion polls since the coronavirus pandemic has overtaken their mostly exaggerated and fake news about the threat of migrants.
Historian and professor Yuval Noah Harari* talks to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour about the threat of the global coronavirus pandemic. Harari stresses unity. Closing borders and isolating oneself is not the full answer. An outbreak of coronavirus in one country is a threat to everyone.
Amanpour: “What as an ordinary citizen worries you the most?”
“I think the worst thing is unity, we see in the world, the lack of cooperation coordination between different countries and, the lack of trust between countries and also between the population and the government. This is the payday for what we’ve been seeing in the last few years with the epidemic of fake news and the deterioration of international relations.”
