Waa ruuxi uku horeeye oo muwaadin Finlandes noqday 1899, oona ah qof madow asalkeeda. Rosa Emilia Clayna ina la hello wadoyin waawen ina magaceeda laku qoro si xasuusta laku daro.
Waa mid eenu u aragno sooyalka qurxoon.
Varför finns det inte någon gata i Finland Som har fått namnet efter Rosa Emilia Clay (1875-1959)?
Här är en enkel fråga : Varför finns det inte någon gata i Finland som fått namnet Rosa Emilia Clay, den första afrikanska naturaliserade finnen 1899? Det finns ingen gata i Tammerfors som fått namnet efter henne. Rosa Emilia Clay bosatte sig i Tammerfors en kort tid före hon immigrerade till Förenta staterna 1904, även på Mustinlahti där hon var en förskolelärare fanns ingen gata som har fått namnet efter henne.
Borde vi inte sträva efter att få en gata i Finland namngiven efter Rosa Emilia Clay?
Rosa Emilia Clay.
Miksei Suomessa ole katua nimeltä Rosa Emilia Clayn (1875-1959) kunniaksi?
Tässä yksinkertainen kysymys: Miksei Suomessa ole yhtään katua nimeltä Rosa Emilia Clayn kunniaksi? Clay oli ensimmäinen afrikkalainen, joka sai suomen kansalaisuuden vuonna 1899. Rosa Emilia Clayn katu ei löydy Tampereelta, jossa hän oleskeli vähän aika ennen kun muutti pysyvästi vuonna 1904 Yhdysvaltoihin eikä Mustinlahdessa, jossa hän oli kansakoulunopettajana.
Eikö olisi korkea aika että Suomessa olisi katu nimeltä Rosa Emilia Clay?
Rosa Emilia Clay.
Continue reading “Miksei Suomessa ole katua nimeltä Rosa Emilia Clayn (1875-1959) kunniaksi?”
Why isn’t there any street in Finland named after Rosa Emilia Clay (1875-1959)?
Here’s a straightforward question: Why isn’t there in Finland any street named after Rosa Emilia Clay, the first African naturalized Finn in 1899? There is no street in Tampere that carries her name, where she resided shortly after migrating to the United States in 1904, and in Mustinlahti, where she was an elementary school teacher in 1898.
Shouldn’t we strive to get a street in Finland named after Rosa Emilia Clay?
Rosa Emilia Clay.
Continue reading “Why isn’t there any street in Finland named after Rosa Emilia Clay (1875-1959)?”
Iraqi asylum seeker in detention cell 406: “Migri doesn’t believe I’m a Christian”
Just like the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) proclaims violent countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia to be “safe” for such nationals but not for Finns, they don’t have any problems about deporting you back to such countries if you are a Christian. If what Iraqi asylum seeker in detention cell 406 in Joutseno* states is correct, his life is in danger if deported as a Christian back to his former home country.
The document below, provided by the asylum seeker is an interview with a grand mufti, an authority that interprets and spells out Islamic law. Grand Mufti Mahdi Ben Ahmed Al-Sumldei states quite clearly in the document that any Muslim that changes religion should suffer death.
“The death of such a person is based on an order by the prophet Muhammed: a person who changes his religion must die,” the document states citing a book.
The asylum seeker in detention cell 406 alleges that his father was killed in Iraq in 2010 for being a Christian.
“They warned that if my father converted to Christianity he and his family would be killed,” the asylum seeker said. “We escaped to Syria [after he was killed] and didn’t want to return [to Iraq] because we feared for our lives.”
“I didn’t mention this in the first interview with Migri because fear hit me,” he added. “I was afraid to tell anyone this fact about my family. I fear for my life in Iraq.”
* The asylum seeker who was locked up in this cell thought he was in Lappeenranta but in fact he was at the Joutseno immigration removal center located 20km away.
Iraqi asylum seeker in detention cell 406: “I fear they will deport me next week”
We published last week a story about Iraqi asylum seeker in detention cell 406 in Lappeenranta, Finland. He was detained on October 23 in the eastern Finnish city of Mikkeli by the police and sent to Lappeenranta.
The Iraqi asylum seeker launched a new case for asylum while in detention, but it was rejected. His lawyer said that if the appeal doesn’t go through his deportation could happen as early as next week.
Here is an excerpt from our messaging this evening:
The picture on the left was taken last week by the asylum seeker from his detention cell last week. The picture on the right is of the same detention cell but taken tonight.
If anyone wants to send messages of hope to Asylum Seeker in Detention Cell 406, they can do so by emailing to [email protected]
Let’s hope everything turns out well for him.
A letter from a Palestinian asylum seeker who fears his family will be deported from Finland
Good evening,
I am Fadi,* a Palestinian refugee born in Lebanon at Ain Alhliwa refugee camp. The camp itself is a big prison, just like Gaza.
I couldn’t stand living at Ail Alhilwa where fights, shootings, and bombings happened almost every day. This went on despite the fact that the Lebanese army surrounds the camp, and which they turned into a prison,
We were all suffering. All my family, especially the children. It was never safe. I came to Finland seeking peace for my family and me. After waiting for almost two years, our psychological condition is terrible; we are suffering, my wife cannot stand waiting anymore. For this reason, I hope that the ministry would have mercy on us.
We are holders of Palestinian – Lebanese refugee travel documents.
Ein al-Hilweh is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. It had a population of over 70,000 Palestinian refugees but swelled to nearly 120,000,[1] as a result of the influx of refugees from Syria since 2011. The camp is located west of the village Miye ou Miye and the Mieh Mieh refugee camp, southeast of the port city of Sidon and north of Darb Es Sim.
Source: Weatherforcast.com.
Ain al-Hilweh was established near the city of Sidon in 1948 by the International Committee of the Red Cross to accommodate refugees from Amqa, Saffuriya, Sha’ab, Taitaba, Manshieh, al-Simireh, al-Nahr, Safsaf, Hittin, al-Ras al-Ahmar, al-Tira and Tarshiha in northern Palestine.
In 2016 Lebanese authorities began constructing a concrete wall with watchtowers around the camp. The wall has faced some criticism, being called “racist”.
Ein Alhelweh is a ticking time bomb.
* The asylum seeker’s name was changed.
Exposing white Finnish privilege #42: Labeling and shaming
Migrant Tales published in 2015 a Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism that aimed at highlighting the too frequent shoddy reporting by the national media of our ever-growing non-white community of Finland. A story published by Iltalehti on October 27 is not only an example of shoddy journalism but one that is racist as well.
One of the oldest stereotypes about the Roma minority in Finland is that they are thieves and cannot be trusted.
The Iltalehti story reinforces such a stereotype with a story about a 30-year-old woman, who shoplifts food from a market and hides it under her skirt. While the story doesn’t use the term “Roma” once, they use code to identify the ethnic group: “hides produce under her skirt.”
Read the full story (in Finnish) here.
White Finnish privilege #42
One of the ways that white Finnish privilege exposes itself is through the media. The story by Iltalehti of the suspected Roma shoplifter is an example of how stereotypes of specific ethnic groups are maintained.
Continue reading “Exposing white Finnish privilege #42: Labeling and shaming”
Exposing white Finnish privilege #41: An Islamophobic politician and gender equality
A campaign for gender equality by Naisjäjestöt NJKL is an excellent example of white privilege and denial. In the tweet below with four pictures of only white women, we know that Elisabeth Rehn and former Helsiniki Bishop Irja Askola have spoken out against racism and hate speech. However, on the top right hand of the picture we find Blue Reform* (New Perussuomalaiset) MP Maria Lohela, who made her political career by spreading Islamophobia and hatred towards migrants.
I remember before the 2011 elections Lohela’s hostile posts against Muslims. She was one of the signatories of the Nuiva Manifesto in 2010. What does the it propose? In the simplest terms it is a manifesto that aims to further disenfranchise migrants and minorities in this country.
Here are some of the policy recommendations that Lohela endorsed in 2010:
- Finland should not copy Sweden’s “multicultural” policies;
- The Finnish state should stop financing immigrant groups’ culture, language, identity and religion;
- They want to keep neighborhoods white with a red herring argument that they are against them becoming ghettos;
- Endorse white supremacy by keeping neighborhoods “white” and peppering migrants as far apart from each other as possible so they will lose their culture and identity;
- The manifesto recommends that new migrants should only be given social assistance for a year maximum. This, as anyone understands, is unconstitutional;
- Deport migrants who commit crimes even to countries that are responsible for gross human rights violations;
- Finnish citizenship will be granted on a conditional basis and can be revoked.
The policy recommendations of the Nuiva Manifesto are a far cry from social equality never mind gender equality. That is why Lohela’s picture in the Naisjärjestöt NJKL campaign is problematic.
Read the original tweet here.
White Finnish privilege #41
A Cameroonian’s rendezvous with near-deportation in Finland
After publishing the detention of an Iraqi asylum seeker in Lappeenranta on Tuesday, another asylum seeker contacted us on the same day. The asylum seeker was in police custody in the city of Vaasa. Contrary to the Iraqi asylum seeker, the Cameroonian was married to a Finn who is was expecting a child.
His Finnish wife wrote a letter in case the authorities went through with her husband’s deportation.
“What am I thinking? I can’t think straight. I feel empty inside…They detained my beloved husband on the same day we heard about his rejection for asylum…What will I tell my unborn child the day he will ask where his father is and why he is not by our side?”
Matters looked bleak on Friday for the Cameroonian asylum seeker, who was transferred from Vaasa to the Metsälä immigration removal center in Helsinki. At 2 pm, however, he got a call from his wife who told him the good news: “The lawyer called and said your deportation was canceled.”
While the asylum seeker was relieved by the news, he was released at 5:11 pm. He wasn’t offered any compensation from the police to travel back to Vaasa from Helsinki.
The asylum seeker does not understand why he had to endure this ordeal and detention.
“Even if I feel relieved,” the asylum seeker said. “This has been a horrible experience.”
The asylum seeker applied for a residence permit after he got married in 2016, but it was turned down.
“It’s clear that they [Migri] doesn’t want me here,” he added.
Despite all that happened, an unanswered question remains: How can Migri deport an asylum seeker who is married to a Finn that is expecting a child?
A lawyer who works with asylum seekers told Migrant Tales that the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) deports even married people because they believe it would be in the best interest of the child.
“Migri is especially suspicious of Africans and non-Europeans who get married to Finns,” said another activist who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Email from the Cameroonian who got sent to the immigration removal center of Metsälä in Helsinki.
Continue reading “A Cameroonian’s rendezvous with near-deportation in Finland”