The deportation of Mohammed, the twenty-one-year-old Afghan asylum seeker detained on December 10 and sent to the Joutseno immigration removal center, was halted today, according to Stop Deportations. Thanks to an appeal, the voluntary association against deportations and Mohammed’s lawyer were able to stop the deportation until his case is reviewed by the supreme administrative court.
Mohammed was very happy about the news.
“I don’t know when they will release me from here if today or tomorrow,” he said, adding that he might attend a Christmas party on Friday at the school he is studying.
This is the second time Mohammed has been detained and released.
This police statement above is about an attack against a Muslim 10-year-old who was attacked by her classmates. Nowhere in the statement does it state that the girl is Muslim or that the attackers were white Finnish children. Probably because the victim and suspects are children, the police believe it is a good idea to hide their religious and ethnic backgrounds.
Migrant Talesinsight: This story below received a lot of attention on social media. Even if some of the claims made in the picture aren’t apparently true like tearing off of the girl’s hijab (veil), there are other sources close to the parents of the girl that contradict and put in question the police’s and school’s claim that racism did not play a role in what happened. Please read an updated version here.
A ten-year-old Muslim girl was allegedly beaten in Espoo, according to MTV. The picture of the victim was posted on Instagram and Snapchat. The victim was left unconscious due to the attack, according to sources that contacted Migrant Tales.
MTV, which did not mention the religious background of the victim, said that the suspects were around 10 years old.
Migrant Tales will continue reporting on the story as it develops.
Picture of the alleged unconscious child posted on Instagram. The original picture was updated 19.12 at 10.20 am.
(UPDATED): What do they teach [children] at Finnish homes? That Muslims are terrorists? The little girl [in the picture above] is spending a normal day at school when four boys [classmates] tried to rip off her hijab from her head and kicked her unconscious. We are not talking now about a migrant but about a victim. @iltalehti [tabloid] I want you to write out loud that racism must stop once for all, this girl is an angel!
Mohammed*, 21, who was detained at Mikkeli’s Suonsaari asylum reception a week ago on Monday (10.12), will probably face deportation on Wednesday and flown with a one-way ticket back to Afghanistan. Mohammed, who lived a part of his life in Iran, admits that he is penniless.
The young man came to Finland like so many of his countrymen in 2015. He has four rejections for asylum from the Finnish Immigration Service.
Mohammed was apparently taken from Joutseno to the Metsälä immigration removal center of Helsinki to deport him on Wednesday.
Mohammed writes on Messenger:
It’s a very difficult situation.
But I don’t have any money.
What should I do?
Even if Mohammed wants to return to Iran, he would need money to do so. There are no bus connections between Kabul and Iran. The only way to get Iran’s capital is by plane.
The cheapest flight from Kabul to Tehran, if he left on December 28, is 265 euros. But then, Mohammed would need a passport and visa to travel to Iran. A passport would take two months to obtain in Afghanistan, according to him.
Certainly, we could wire money via Western Union to Mohammed. This is, however, not possible since he needs a valid ID, which he doesn’t have, to retrieve the money.
Migrant Tales insight:Fiona Musanga, in the story below, is the type of people we need more of in Finland. Charging somebody of racism is a serious matter. Usually, visible migrants and minorities not only have to muster a lot of courage but go against a system that is sometimes stacked against them and outright hostile to them. The only way we will beat racism in Finland is by challenging it and, importantly, ask those institutions whose purpose is to guarantee our safety and dignity, to do their work.
Fiona Musanga, 22, is a corporal who was recently conscripted in the Finnish Army, filed charges against a conscript for calling her the n-word while enlisted. The decision to press charges wasn’t easy. It took her two days to weigh things before she went to the head of her unit to file charges.
“When I told the head of the unit what had happened,” she said, “I was asked what I wanted to do about what happened. The answer left me confused because I thought the army had a procedure to handle these types of cases.”
Musanga said that in her case, the army didn’t do enough to help her.
“If the army wants to help conscripts in similar cases like mine,” she continued, “they should have a procedure that involves legal advice, access to relevant websites, and, very importantly, support and counselling…In other words, a simple information guide on what to do [if you are attacked or harassed by racists].”
Corporal Fiona Musanga.
While some cases like Musanga’s may take a long time before they end up in court, she filed charges in January and in August her case was before a court.
Suomessa on jo pitkään ollut esillä turvapaikanhakijoiden arveluttava kohtelu. Pakkopalautuksia tehdään maihin, joihin kansainväliset pakolaisjärjestöt eivät suosittele ketään palauttamaan. Turvapaikanhakijoiden hakemusten käsittelyssä on paljastunut suuri määrä epäselvyyksiä, heikkoa käännöstyötä, loukkaavaa ja välinpitämätöntä kohtelua haastattelijoiden ja oikeusavustajien taholta, lastenkin vangitsemista odottamaan palautusta epäinhimillisiin oloihin. Osa virheistä ja huonosta kohtelusta on johtunut poliittisesta tahdosta: on haluttu saada vieras väki ulos maasta niin pian kuin mahdollista, keinolla millä hyvänsä.
Pakolaisten tyly kohtelu on joidenkin poliitikoiden mukaan hyvä tapa viestittää, että meille ei kannata tulla. Minun mielestäni sellaista viestiä ei kannata lähettää. Haluan, että minun kotimaastani leviää kaikkialle maailmaan sellainen viesti, kuin aikaisemminkin: suomalaiset ovat rehellisiä, ystävällisiä ja vieraanvaraisia. Tuollaisilla vetovoimatekijöillä kun ei houkutella pakolaisia, vaan lahjakkaita nuoria työntekijöitä ja varakkaita investoijia. Pakolaiset taas lähtevät liikkeelle pakosta, ei houkutellen.
Myös oman maan asukkaille olisi tärkeää saada neutraalia ja positiivista tietoa pakolaisista. Nyt meillä on tilanne se, että poliisi tiedottaa, kuinka monesta vaarallisesta olennosta ollaan nyt päästy eroon ja sisäministeri muistuttaa, kuinka monesta turvallisuusuhasta vielä pitäisi päästä.
Se, mitä tarvitsemme rasismin sijaan on tiedottamista siitä, kuinka moni turvapaikkaa hakenut on saanut turvapaikan tai oleskeluluvan toissijaisen suojelun perusteella, kuinka moni on päässyt töihin tai koulutukseen ja saanut sen vuoksi oleskeluluvan, kuinka monta turvapaikkaa hakenutta lasta on koulussa tai päiväkodissa, kuinka monta avioliittoa on solmittu ja kuinka monta uutta suomalaista on syntynyt.
Ehdotankin, että sisäministeriö keskittyy vastedes antamaan reaaliaikaista, positiivista tietoa turvapaikanhakijoista. Näin poliisin jatkuvat ilmoitukset onnistuneista yksityislennoista Kabuliin eivät lävähtäisi verkkokalvoillemme niin kylminä ja ikävinä, ainoina tiedonmurusina meille ja maailmalle, kuinka me pakolaisia kohtelemme ja kuinka he ovat onnistuneet aloittamaan integroitumisen yhteiskuntaamme.
Ajatelkaapa, mikä ihana, positiivinen ruiske se olisi väestöllemme ja rauhanomaiselle rinnakkainelolle, jos sisäministerimme tiedottaisi Twitterissä vaikkapa tähän tyyliin:
Olen miettinyt, mitä tehdään suomalaisille, jotka menettävät kansalaisuutensa. Heitähän tulee olemaan tuhansia, jos hallituksen kaavailut onnistuvat. Siis sellaisia, jotka ovat tehneet törkeitä raiskauksia.
Nythän ajatus on sellainen, että kansalaisuuden voisi menettää vain, jos henkilöllä on kaksoiskansalaisuus. Tällä on tietysti pyritty siihen, että päästään kurittamaan kovemmin epäinhimillisiä, tuskin edes täysin ihmisiä, jotka ovat tunkeutuneet maahamme muukalaismaista.
Hallitus on kuitenkin unohtanut, että todella monet jalosuomalaiset muuttavat nykyään muutamiksi vuosiksi muukalaismaihin töihin ja ottavat – vilpillisesti – toisen maan kansalaisuudenkin. Myös nämä ihmiset raiskailevat ja tekevät muita törkeitä rikoksia.
On tietysti väärin niitä jalosuomalaisia kohtaan, joilla ei ole kutsumusta muuttaa raukkamaisesti merten taa, että heillä ei tule olemaan oikeutta menettää kansalaisuuttaan. Tasa-arvo ei tässäkään toteutuisi.
Koska nyt kuitenkin kovasti näyttää siltä, että osalla suomalaisista tämä kohtalo tulee toteutumaan, on alettava suunnitella heidän loppusijoitustaan. Minne karkotetaan, kun ei ole olemassa toista kotimaata?
Ehdotan, että nämä tapaukset palautetaan Afganistaniin. Sinne Suomen viranomaisilla on jo selkeät rutiinit lähettää ihmisiä, jotka eivät ole maata nähneetkään ja se on hallituksemme mukaan turvallinen maa elää ja rakentaa uutta tulevaisuutta.
When you are with asylum seekers in Finland, you see them one day they end up detained and soon deported, an episode in one’s life that he or she will remember the rest of his or her life. This is now the case of twenty-one-year-old Mohammed*, an Afghan asylum seeker who came like so many to Finland in 2015.
The police detained Mohammed at Mikkeli’s Suonsaari asylum reception center on Monday at 6 am. He was taken to Savonlinna and ended up Wednesday at 11 am at the Joutseno immigration removal center,a former prison.
“I don’t know what o think,” he said. “I’m sad and I have cried.”
Afghan asylum seeker Mohammed in cell 222 awaiting deportation.
Mohammed said that he was very disappointed by the answer of his lawyer, who said that she “regretted” his deportation.
Mohammed moved to Iran when he was 15 years old and does not want to go back to Afghanistan.
Afghan asylum seeker Mohammed’s cell at the Joutseno immigration removal center, which is a former prison. Picture by Mohammed.
“What similarities are there between the victim of rape and racism? Deniers of rape blame the woman for causing the man to rape her. Deniers of racism blame the victim for causing the man or woman to insult him or her.
Racism feels like being raped. Racism and rape are chronic social ills. Arguments used to give such ills cover and aim to perpetuate them and dilute the victim’s suffering.”
Message denouncing far-right marches on Finnish Independence Day
Anti-Hate Crime Organisation Finland* denounces all forms of far-right marches in Finland on Finnish Independence Day.The “612 torch parade”, initiated on Finnish Independence Day 2014, originated as a far-right joint effort.
The march organized by the far-right from the start had (at least) three political goals:
To bring the far right into the streets, and break the prevailing consensus in Finnish society that the far-right doesn’t hold demonstrations;
To gather the scattered far-right into one demonstration to unite their forces;
and to create a new fascist Independence Day’s tradition, for the members of the far-right and their sympathizers who wish to celebrate the day in a political way.
In past marches, we have seen violent counter-protests which have sometimes turned in to a brawl between the protesters and the police. In the last few years, many on the Finnish right have re-branded themselves as ‘ethno nationalists’. This is one of the new buzzwords for extremist groups across Europe which has helped to show the links between the Finnish right-wing groups and their international counterparts.
The British campaign group Hope Not Hate, which is backed by politicians and celebrities, has said “people, ideas, and tactics cross borders with an ease not previously possible” and has highlighted a number of events where North American right wing thought leaders are teaming up with European right-wing groups to endorse and amplify their message.
* Anti-Hate Crime Organisation Finland was founded in September and registered as an NGO in October. The aim of the NGO is to tackle and eradicate hate crime and all forms of discrimination in Finland such as anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Afrophobia, misogyny and other forms of social exclusion through education and training, seminars, events, conferences, among others.