After the good showing of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* in April’s parliamentary election, it is surprising how little media attention the national media gave to the dismal showing of the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party (DPP) in this month’s election in Denmark. The DPP, which is a close ideological ally of the PS, lost 21 of its seats to end up with 16 seats.
“It’s great that the Danish People’s Party suffered such a loss in the election and it is a new chapter in Danish politics,” a Danish Muslim told Migrant Tales.
The election in Denmark was significant for two reasons: It showed that if traditional parties use the same anti-immigration rhetoric of populist parties they can win elections; populist parties can be beaten in their own Islamophobic game.
Apart from cries by PS vice chairperson Riikka that the party will win the next parliamentary election, the result in Denmark must have sent shivers up hers and the party’s spine.
What is worrying about the Social Democratic election victory in Denmark, and the defeat of the DPP, is that it may offer Finland’s Social Democrats an option to take the wind out of the PS’ sails.
Looking at the ever-anti-immigration rhetoric of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), it is already happening.
The rise of populism and anti-immigration parties in the Nordic region reveal that racism is a powerful political force and that present politicians are at a loss on how to confront it or, possibly, don’t care to challenge it.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017,
into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called
Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet
from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in
English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official
translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
In Finland, there are parties and groups whose sole aim is to defend Finnish white supremacy, a concocted lie to justify one’s racism and oppress and exclude people of color.Who are these groups and how do they operate?
In Finland, there are parties and groups whose sole aim is to defend Finnish white supremacy, a concocted lie to justify one’s racism and oppress and exclude people of color.
The Association of Finnish Culture and Identity (Suomalaisuuden liitto), responsible for whitewashing cultural diversity in Finland, and Suomen Sisu are prime examples. The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo), Finnish Criminal Police (KRP), academics, and the Council for the Mass Media (JSN), labeled Suomen Sisu a “Nazi spirited” association.
“The traditional role of the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity is to awaken and strengthen knowledge and the way of thinking as well as in every way promote Finnishness, especially Finnish-language based culture. ” The statement should, however, read: “The traditional role of the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity is to whitewash diversity in Finland by promoting Finnish white culture.”
Finland’s second-biggest party in parliament, the Perussuomalaiset (PS),* is where these far-right ethnonationalist groups have found a platform and springboard to expand and normalize their ideology.
One matter that unites them ideologically is that they live in a cultural time warp where culture remains near-stagnant and is under threat by migration and minorities.
Suomen Sisu’s mission statement reads: “Finnishness cannot be redefined, it can only be maintained and developed, or it will be displaced.”
While Suomen Sisu, an association that is openly against Finns marrying and hostile to non-Finns, has caused little outrage and is a source of concern.
Whenever you talk about your group as “a tribe” you start to flirt or flirt with racism. The PS Youth, which had their funds cut this year due to a racist tweet, is a prime example.
The logo of the association gives the impression that Finnish women walked around in ethnic costumes at a time where many people could not afford proper clothing.
The PS Youth’s logo. White women and romanticism for a period where most Finns could not afford to have Finnish costumes. Source: Perussuomalaiset nuoret.
The PS held on Saturday its annual congress where it reelected Jussi Halla-aho as their chairperson and three vice presidents, Arja Juvonen, Riikka Purra, and Juha Eerola.
While Halla-aho and all of the vice presidents of the party have built their political careers on the anti-immigration message, its newly elected party secretary, Simo Gönroos, is a member of the ethnonationalist Suomen Sisu and the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity.
Apart from his anti-immigration stance, Grönroos is the executive director of the Suomen Perusta Foundation, whose aim is to “prove” that immigration is costly and harmful to Finland.
Grönroos, an ethnonationalist to the core, was quoted in Helsingin Sanomat by giving his views of Finnishness and Finnish identity. He stated that “the starting point is that one is born a Finn.”
Then he offers a typical Halla-aho interpretation to justify the latter claim.
“If a Finn moved to Somalia, he will not become a Somali,” he reasoned. “If a Somali moves to Finland, he will not become a Finn even if he could be a Finnish citizen.”
This is exactly the same copy-and-paste response that Halla-aho gave in a YLE interview in February. “If I would for some reason go to Somalia and become a Somali citizen would that make me a Somali,” he asked.
In the search for terms to maintain white Finnish supremacy, Halla-aho, like Grönroos, want to separate so-called “ethnic” or white Finn from Finn just like the terms English from British.
“The question who is a Finn is [an] interesting [question],” Halla-aho was quoted as saying in the YLE interview. “The problem is that in Finnish we don’t have a term that classifies who is an ethnic Finn and a Finnish citizen.”
If the above isn’t an example of white Finnish supremacy and relegating Other groups as second-class members of society living as eternal outsiders without history, nothing is.
A clarification to Halla-aho and Grönroos: None of us want to be white like you never mind hold the same racist views as you. That would be horrible. However, everyone, irrespective of their background, is an equal member of society that defines Finnishness in the way he or she wishes. Finnishness does not and never will mean being white.
In order to understand how misplaced Halla-aho’s and Grönroos’ views are, we could apply them to countries like the United States, Canada, Argentina, and others.
The result: Minorities and Other groups would be outraged because it is justifying the whitewashing of their history and white supremacist ideology.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativistnationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
“Mikäs mies tuo Enriikke Tessieeri on olevinaan? En oikein tykästynyt miehen teksteihin, tuntui vähän siltä että näppäimistöön kajotessaan Enriquella on alkanut pyryttää pahemman kerran.
Eipä sillä, varmasti Suomessa on syrjintää, ryssävihaa, sovinismia ynnämuuta, mutta mitä sitten? Eikö niitä voitaisi jo laskea suomalaiseen kulttuuriin, on niistä niin kauan valitettu. Ja kun ne olisivat virallisesti meidän kulttuuriamme, voisimme vedota silmät vetistäen tiedostaviin tahoihin että meidän kulttuuriamme on suojeltava maahanmuuttajien vastaavalta. Se luultavasti toimisi….Ai ei?”
Migrant Taleswrote on Monday about an Iraqi family with two children aged 6 and 5 that were evicted from the Kemi asylum reception center and given five days room and board by the city. The family left Kemi and went to Tampere, where the city gave them room and board.
The father was desperate on Monday and feared that his family would be thrown in the street penniless after Kemi offered room and board for five days.
“I am very worried,” he was quoted as saying. “I don’t know what to do and what will happen to us.”
Asylum seekers (from left to right): the father, son, daughter, and wife.
The story about the fate of the family attracted a lot of attention and Tweets on Twitter. The Red Cross promised to get in touch with the family, which had left Kemi for Tampere on Wednesday.
We are grateful that our efforts helped to alleviate the family’s problems for now.
A friend of the family said that the family “is ok” but could not say for how long they would get room and board.
The Iraqi family with two children aged 6 and 5 will meet in Tampere with a representative of the Red Cross at noon. The family was evicted from the Red Cross-managed Kemi asylum reception center after the Finnish Immigration Service said their asylum process was over and had to leave the country.
The father said that he was worried if his family would get the same treatment as in Kemi.
The city of Kemi turned its back on the family by granting only 10 days of room and board in two 5-day installments.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Asylum seekers (from left to right): the father, son, daughter, and wife.
Isabela Mihalache, who is an expert on the Roma in Europe and who works at the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), Europe’s largest anti-racism NGO, speaks to Migrant Tales editor Enrique Tessieri about the situation of the Romany minority in Europe.
Migrant Tales received a message from the Iraqi family in Kemi, which had only received 10 days of room an board after being forced to leave the asylum reception with his wife and two children aged 6 and 5.
The family first went to Helsinki and then to Tampere.
Asylum seekers (from left to right): the father, son, daughter, and wife.
The message was sent Wednesday afternoon:
After making a call to him, we discovered that he went with his family to Helsinki and then to Tampere, where he is staying with some friends.
We at Migrant Tales are especially concerned about the fate of the family’s children. How is it possible that the Red Cross and the Finnish Immigration Service can throw families with children in the street?
This is shameful and unacceptable.
This is a developing story and I will report when I have more information.
The ongoing debate in Finland if the so-called Isis wives and their children, who are Finnish citizens, should be given assistance and allowed to return to the country is another example of the former government’s lofty disdain of Muslims, human rights, and the rule of law.
It is shameful that a country like Finland, which stands by its laws and institutions, would put obstacles by prohibiting its own citizens and their children from returning to the country.
“Finnish citizens shall not be prevented from entering Finland or deported or extradited or transferred from Finland to another country against their will.”
The reason some ministers of former Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government (2015-2019) have difficulty grasping Section 9 of the Constitution, is that politics and their prejudices against Muslims get in the way of their good judgement.
Petteri Orpo, the chairperson of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) tweets: “Finland should not help Isis wives to return. I have no sympathy for them, who left Finland voluntarily to serve in a terrorist organization. The situation of the children is different and should be looked at on a case-by-case bais.”
Sakari Timonen, one of Finland’s most popular bloggers, would put it in the following words: First take away one group’s rights and eventually it will be your group’s turn later.
Orpo is the same politician who was interior minister responsible for tightening immigration policy against asylum seekers, who were mainly Muslims.
He belonged to the same government that wanted to water down civil and human rights even of Finnish citizens. Orpo has led Kokoomus in becoming, after the populist Perussuomalaiset*, the most anti-immigration party in Finland.
We should not be discussing whether a Finnish citizen has the right to assistance and if he or she can return to the country. If a person committed crimes while in Isis, that person should face justice. In our country, everyone is innocent before proven guilty by a court of his/her peers.
Comments by ministers of the former government sound like lynch-mob leaders that want to score the maximum amount of political points.
