Somali National Television: Stop deportations! demonstration in Helsinki

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Xassan Kaafi Maxamed Xalane is a Somali National Television journalist who shares another news clip about the Iraqi and Afghan asylum seekers demonstrating since February against unfair deportations and rejections for asylum by the Finnish Immigration Service. 

We at Migrant Tales agree and support 150% these people who were attracted to Finland by their hope to live in a country that could give them shelter and which respects human rights.

That was pretty much a lie if we look at the track record of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FmVWkkwmXE

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Asylum seekers: Finland is not a country that abides by the rule of law

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What does a comment by a police service official say about our country if he obstructs an asylum seekers’ right to justice? Migrant Tales understands that an Iraqi family, made up of a husband, wife, mother-in-law and a child, was told the following by a police official after receiving their first rejection for asylum from the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).
 
“Don’t appeal the decision [to the district court] because you’re going to get a negative decision anyway,” the police official is said to have told the family.
 
What does the answer from the police official reveal about his knowledge of our legal system and who has access to it? 
 
Children demonstrating in May at the Kolari asylum reception center that led to the sacking of the deputy manager.

The police official’s answer to the family reveals, in our opinion, not only contempt for the asylum seekers but for our laws and institutions.

If we have police officials that advise and give legal counsel to asylum seekers as if they had a crystal ball, it’s clear that we’re in trouble. We are in a predicament because for the police official to give such advice it means that their is widespread complicity.

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Anomus Lex Gaudius: Maahanmuuttotoimistolle, poliisille ja hallituksille

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Johdanto

Aseellinen konflikti a?a?rija?rjesto? ISISin seka? kurdien, Irakin armeijan ja hallitusta tukevien militioiden va?lilla? on leimannut Irakin ihmisoikeustilannetta vuodesta 2014 alkaen. Allekirjoittaneet lausunnon antajat pyyta?va?t, etta? Suomen Maahanmuuttovirasto tosiasiallisesti ottaa turvapaikkapa?a?to?ksia? antaessaan huomioon Irakin todellisen turvallisuustilanteen, jota koskevia tietoja ta?ssa? lausunnossa annetaan.

Yhdistyneiden kansakuntien mukaan summittaiset teloitukset, autopommit, salamurhat, tykisto?tulitus seka? ilmaiskut tappoivat tai vahingoittivat vuoden 2015 aikana yli 20.000 siviilia?. ISISin on raportoitu tehneen seka? sotarikoksia etta? rikoksia ihmisyytta? vastaan. Irakin valtion heikkouden takia merkitta?viksi yhteiskunnallisiksi toimijoiksi ovat nousseet lukuisat Irakin valtiota tukevat militiat, jotka suorittavat salamurhia, tuhoavat omaisuutta ja kaappaavat siviileja?. Vuodesta 2014 alkaen konflikti on pakottanut miltei 3,2 miljoonaa irakilaista ja?tta?ma?a?n kotinsa seka? keskeytta?nyt koulunka?ynnin yli 3 miljoonalta lapselta samoin kuin pa?a?syn terveydenhuoltoon, riitta?va?a?n ravintoon seka? puhtaaseen juomaveteen. Taistelut Ramadin, Tikritin ja Mosulin kaupunkialueilla seka? Diyalan, Kirkukin, Saladinin, Anbarin seka? etenkin Ninawan maakunnissa ovat aiheuttaneet raskaita tappioita kaikille osapuolille.

ISISin sotarikokset ja rikokset ihmisyytta? vastaan

ISISin sotarikoksissa ja rikoksissa ihmisyytta? vastaan on ollut kyse hyo?kka?yksista? siviileita? vastaan, summittaisista massamurhista ja muista laittomista tapoista, kidutuksista, kaappauksista, raiskauksista ja muusta seksuaalisesta va?kivallasta, orjuuttamisesta, lapsisotilaiden ka?yto?sta?, ryo?stelysta? seka? tarkoituksellisesta siviiliva?esto?n omaisuuden tuhoamisesta. ISIS on ilmoittanut tehneensa? kaksi tuhoisaa pommi-iskua, jotka tappoivat yli 115 henkilo?a? Khan Bani Saadissa Bagdadin pohjoispuolella heina?kuun 17. pa?iva? ja 67 henkilo?a? Jamilia-markkinoilla Bagdadin Sadr Cityssa? elokuun 13. pa?iva? 2015. [1] ISIS suoritti 3.7.2016 Bagdadin kaupungissa shiiojen asuttamassa Karradan kaupunginosassa tuhoisan pommi-iskujen sarjan, jossa kuoli yli 300 ihmista? ja haavoittui lisa?ksi satoja muita.

Irakin media on raportoitunut ISISin edustajien tappaneen tuhansia ihmisia?, joskus na?yto?sluonteisilla summittaisilla teloituksilla. Mosulin oikeusla?a?ketieteen laitos on lausunut ISISin pyyta?neen kuolintodistuksia 2.070 henkilo?lta?, jotka on teloitettu Ninevehin maakunnassa vuoden 2014 kesa?kuun ja?lkeen. Uhreina on ollut valtion paikallisten elinten ja?senia? seka? poliisin ja armeijan ja?senia?. Teloitettuihin on kuulunut turvallisuusupseereita, heimojohtajia seka? muita jotka ovat kielta?ytyneet vannomasta uskollisuutta ISISille tai muita, joiden ryhma? on epa?illyt tyo?skenteleva?n Irakin hallitukselle. 1.7. ISIS on vahvistetusti tappanut 22 ja?senta? Juburin heimon ja?senta? Bandushissa, Mosulin pohjoispuolella. [2]

ISIS on teloittanut henkilo?ita? va?itetyista? islamilaisen lain rikkomisista. On ollut kyse va?itetyista? homoseksuaalisuudesta, aviorikoksista, jumalanpilkasta ja noituudesta. ISIS on toistuvasti teloittanut homoseksuaalisuudesta syytettyja? ihmisia?. Teloituksia on suoritettu erityisen julmilla ja kivuliailla menetelmilla? kuten polttamisella, hukuttamisella, sa?hko?teloituksilla tai kivitta?misella?. Henkilo?t, jotka ISISin hallitsemilla alueilla ovat kielta?ytyneet rekrytoitumasta ja?rjesto?o?n, sa?a?nno?nmukaisesti kaapataan ja tapetaan. [3]

Vuonna 2015 ISIS rekrytoi lapsia itsemurhatehta?viin ja kantamaan ra?ja?hteita?. Kesa?kuussa Anbarin maakuntavaltuuston ja?sen Farhan Muhammad kertoi toimittajille, etta? ISIS oli kaapannut 400 lasta sotilaskoulutukseen.

Hallituksen ja sita? tukevien militioiden sotarikokset ja rikokset ihmisyytta? vastaan

Enimma?kseen ISISta? vastaan taistelevat shiiamilitiat, kuten Badrin ja?rjesto?, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq ja Kata’ib al- Imam Ali ovat suorittaneet laaja-alaisia ja systemaattisia ihmisoikeuksien ja seka? kansainva?lisen humanita?a?risen oikeuden vastaisia rikkomuksia. Kyse on ollut etenkin ISISilta? takaisin vallattujen sunnialueiden tuhoamisesta.[4]

Militioiden seka? Irakin turvallisuusjoukkojen taistelijat ovat elokuussa 2014 onnistuneet ajamaan ISISin taistelijat pois shiiaturkmeenien ja sunniarabien asuttamasta Amerlin kaupungista ja myo?hemmin hyo?ka?nneet useisiin kymmeniin naapurikyliin kostoksi. Ta?llo?in he ovat karkottaneet alueen sunneja kodeistaan muuttaakseen alueen va?esto?pohjaa. [5]

Hallituksen turvallisuusjoukot seka? militiat suorittavat jatkuvasti vakavia ihmisoikeusloukkauksia seka? kansainva?lisen humanitaarisen oikeuden loukkauksia ilman, etta? tekoihin puututtaisiin tai niista? rangaistaisiin. Joukot kohdistavat konfliktialueilta pakeneviin sunniarabeihin pida?tyksia?, kidutusta, kaappauksia, sa?ilo?o?nottoja seka? laittomia tappoja sieppaamisen ja?lkeen. [5] Esimerkiksi 30.5.2016 Irakin shiiamilitioiden kattoja?rjesto? Kansan mobilisointijoukot (Popular Mobilization Units, PMU) teloitti ilman oikeudenka?yntia? va?hinta?a?n 16 Jumalia-heimoon kuulunutta miesta? ja poikaa, jotka pakenivat siviileina? taisteluita al-Sijrissa? Fallujan pohjoispuolella. Edelleen 73 muuta miesta? ja poikaa kyseisesta? heimosta on kadoksissa. [6] Vaikka Irakin pa?a?ministeri Haydar al-Abadi ei omien lausuntojensa mukaan hyva?ksy tekoja, pita?a? ha?n niita? yksitta?isina? tapauksina, va?ha?ttelee niita? seka? on varoittanut liioittelemasta na?ita? ”rikkomuksina” pita?mia?a?n tekoja. Kyse ei kuitenkaan ole yksitta?isista? teoista.

Eritta?in vaaralliset alueet Irakissa (Ninewa, Kirkuk, Anbar, Salahuddin, ja Bagdad)

Yli 80.000 ihmista? on joutunut pakenemaan Mosulista taikka sen la?hialueilla, joista puolet on ollut 18- vuotiaita lapsia. Mosulin valtausoperaation alettua 17. Lokakuuta 2016 UNICEF on vastaanottanut 138.000 va?litto?ma?sti apua tarvinnutta maan sisa?ista? pakolaista. [7]

Kaikkiaan 480.000 ihmista? on hiljattain joutunut pakenemaan vuonna 2016 ISISin vastaiseen konfliktiin liittyvia? taisteluita. Kaikista maan sisa?isista? pakolaisista pera?ti 75 % eli 2,2 miljoonaa pakolaista on kotoisin Ninewan ja Anbarin maakunnista. [8]

YK:n tilastojen mukaan Irakissa on marraskuussa 2016 kuollut 2.885 ja haavoittunut 1.380 henkilo?a? terrorismissa, va?kivallassa ja aseellisissa konflikteissa. [9]

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Announcement by Lex Gaudius: Immigration Service, police and government petition

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IMMIGRATION SERVICE, POLICE AND GOVERNMENT PETITION

Dossier Faulty decisions made by the Immigration Service to the asylum seekers and actions of the authorities related on them.

Underwrites Representatives of the asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Iraq; In cooperation with International law firm Lex Gaudius

 

I. FAULTY DECISIONS MADE BY THE FIINISH IMMIGRATION SERVICE

– (GENERAL) There have been many faulty decisions depending on different reasons some as:

  1. Unprofessional translators;
  2. Unprofessional new employees, who did not receive a proper training in such a delicate matters as issues regarding asylum requests;
  3. The employees who were responsible on valuating and making the decisions regarding singular asylum requests, were put under pressure because of the goal settled by the directors of the Immigration Service;
  4. Sources used by the Immigration Service are not comprehensive. Sources should be updated and enlarged. A crucial matter is that the Immigration service uses a large  amount of sources and facts given by the Human Right organizations’ reports;
  5. The Finnish Immigration Service’s country reports regarding Iraq and Afghanistan are not in line with the Swedish one. Country reports are not in line with the Swedish or international Human Rights organizations;
  6. The Finnish Immigration Service is interpreting the law more strictly than required, due to political pressure. For example, the Finnish Immigration service is applying the internal flight option against recommendations by international Human Rights organizations or the Swedish guidelines. For example, Sweden does not apply internal flight to Sunni Arabs in Iraq;
  7. Many times cases are not evaluated individually. Standard statements are copied to different kinds of cases, even when it has nothing to do with the person in question.

(SINGULAR) There have been many contradictory and illegal decisions some as:

  1. Huge amount of asylum cases where it is applied the article 88 e of the Finnish Law for the foreigners (Ulkomaalaislaki is applied 2004/301). There are too many cases where the Immigration service believes that the asylum seeker is persecuted in his home country and that he would have all the grounds for being granted a refugee status, nut still the Immigration service decides that the asylum seeker can return safely in another part of his/her home country. Asylum seekers coming from South and North Iraq are sent in Bagdad and asylum seekers coming from Bagdad are sent to Southern Iraq;
  2. Three brothers from Bagdad with same personal stories and backgrounds, one living in Helsinki and the other two living in Seinäjoki. The one living in Helsinki got refugee status while the 2 brothers living in Seinäjoki got negative decisions by the Immigration service and are now appealing to the administrative court.
  3. Two brothers, one gets asylum and the other one not, although they have the same case. The only difference is that the one with a positive decision is 13 years old; [1]
  4. The Finnish Immigration service claims that they apply the benefit of doubt in unclear cases. However, reality is quite the opposite – in many cases the Immigration service claims without further proof that there is no persecution or danger of persecution in the future; [2]
  5. Breaking the UN convention of the Rights of the Child, article 10 (families whose members live in different countries should be allowed to move between those countries so that parents and children can stay in contact, or get back together as a family). The Finnish Immigration stated in this decision that is in the best interests of the child to grew up without the presence of the father. [3]

The administrative court has serious difficulties in finding a remedy to all deficiencies made by the Immigration Service. All of those negative decisions given by the Immigration service on wrong grounds, put in danger the legal rights of some asylum seekers.

The Finnish Chancellor of Justice, Jaakko Jonkka, has criticized the methods of the Immigration service when its employees examined the cases of the asylum seekers. This is extremely serious criticism, that has to be taken in consideration properly. The Immigration Service has admitted its mistakes but still many of those faulty decisions have now power of law, meaning that all this new information, which is coming out, can’t rectify the faulty decisions.

Continue reading “Announcement by Lex Gaudius: Immigration Service, police and government petition”

Behind Timo Soini of the populist Perussuomalaiset party is a hefty and mini #socialmediafrankenstein called Jussi Halla-aho and Sampo Terho

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One of the biggest questions some observers have asked for a while in Finland is what political house of horrors will appear after Timo Soini retires and the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* return to the minor political leagues? We got the first glimpse of that answer today when PS MEP Jussi Halla-aho announced that he too is vying for chairman of the party. 

Soini, the PS’ long-term leader who will step down in June after leading the right-wing populist party for 20 years, has given a home to eccentrics like Halla-aho, among many others.

This time, however, matter didn’t go according to plan as he got bit by the same anti-immigration forces he unleashed against our ever-growing culturally diverse community.

The whole story of Soini’s political creation, the PS, could be summed up in two scenes from the 1930’s classic Frankenstein.

The first scene below is when Dr. Frankenstein creates his monster.

In the second scene the monster destroys his creator.

Continue reading “Behind Timo Soini of the populist Perussuomalaiset party is a hefty and mini #socialmediafrankenstein called Jussi Halla-aho and Sampo Terho”

Saturday’s demo by far-right groups like the Perussuomalsiset, Suomi Ensi, Rajat kiinni! and neo-Nazi fanatics was a stinging flop

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A handful of well-organized Afghan and Iraqi asylum seekers demonstrating against deportations at the Helsinki Railway Square since February scored a victory over a splintered far-right anti-immigration counter-demonstration that turned out a flop. They were all there: the Perussuomalaiset* (PS), Suomen Sisu, Suomi Ensi, Rajat kiinni!, Suomen vastarintaliike and who knows what. 

Juha Mäenpää is a councilperson from Ilmajoki and a deputy MP of the PS who was at the counter-demonstration. He said in December 2015 that “god had answered his prayers” when an asylum reception center was razed to the ground.

Juha Mäenpää’s campaign ad when he ran for MP. Source: www.persujuha.fi

Some state that Mäenpää was one of the organizers of the counter-demonstration against the Afghan and Iraqi demonstration but he denied such claims.

“I don’t know who organized the event,” he told Migrant Tales by phone. “There were a number of demonstrations going on at the same time.”

On Facebook and about two weeks before the event, the counter-demonstration was announced as a “purge” against “illegal migrants who should leave Finland.”

“Do you think that the organizers would advertise that they’d ‘purge’ by force [such people] and advertise it on Facebook? the councilperson said denying that there were any plans of using violence. “[If they’d use violence] they’d keep their plans a secret.”

Mäenpää, who doesn’t appear to get along with Suomi Ensin leader Marco de Wit, said that in his opinion both demonstrations (Suomi Ensin and the asylum seekers) should be forced to leave the Helsinki Railway Square.

“It’s naive not to think that these people [asylum seekers] aren’t dangerous,” he continued. “We don’t know who they are. They could be criminals or Isis terrorists and therefore we need to lock them up like [asylum seekers] in Hungary and Estonia until we can figure out who they are.”

Hungary’s parliament has voted to put all asylum seekers in detention camps and to live in containers, according to the Guardian. Estonia has taken similar steps to lock up asylum seekers, according to Mäenpää.

He said that Muslim asylum seekers could never adapt to life in Finland.

Continue reading “Saturday’s demo by far-right groups like the Perussuomalsiset, Suomi Ensi, Rajat kiinni! and neo-Nazi fanatics was a stinging flop”

Thank you asylum seekers for exposing Finland for what it is!

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Finland got during 2015 and 2016 38,017 asylum seekers mostly from Iraq (21,698), Afghanistan (5,939) and Somalia (2,408), according to the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri). Even if these asylum seekers have received the government’s and Migri’s cold shulder, we should thank hem for exposing our deep denial of racism as a society and ineffective immigration-integration policy.

While the government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä is quick to point out that those 38,000-odd asylum seekers were housed and taken care off when they came here, it’s only part of the truth.

The full story is radically different and kept under wraps: The government squandered hundreds of millions of euros just to fulfill theirs and especially the Perussuomalaiset’s (PS) anti-immigration policy that hinges on racism, prejudice and greed for political power.

We spent hundreds of millions of euros just to keep tens of thousands of asylum seekers in asylum reception centers twiddling their thumbs.

Most of the organizers against the asylum seekers’ demonstration Saturday were members of the Perussuomalaiset party, according to the Kaivuri blog. We can’t say for certain but in the picture above is Ilmajoki city councillor Juha Mäenpää of the PS speaks at the event. Mäenpää said in December 2015 that “god had answered his prayers” when an asylum reception center was razed to the ground. Migrant Tales will post another story later today about the impact of Saturday’s demonstration.

Apart from revealing how unjust the government’s and Migri’s immigration and asylum policy is, asylum seekers in Finland have brought out the best in our society by showing that there are many of us who still believe in Nordic ideals such as social equality and fairness.

It’s clear that the government has lost its humanitarian compass if we look at its track record on immigration policy and its treatment of the most vulnerable sectors of society, like the unemployed and those that live below the poverty line.

Continue reading “Thank you asylum seekers for exposing Finland for what it is!”

How the Perussuomalaiset party permit racism to see another day in Finland

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As almost everyone knows in this country, Finland will hold municipal elections on April 9. The right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are in shock for a number of reasons: their chairman, Timo Soini, who has run the party for 20 years is stepping down in June, and recent polls suggest that they will suffer a stinging defeat in the municipal elections. 

Janne Hurme is a singer who is running for the Turku municipal council on the PS ticket.

He is one of a long list of examples of how the populist anti-immigration party and Finland eat their racist cake and keep it at the same time.

Migrant Tales wrote about a tragic suicide attempt of an asylum seeker near the railway station on Wednesday. The comments made in social media about the attempted suicide revealed the racism and bigotry that is well-entrenched in our society.

Hurme keeps it going with the following post on Facebook:

A hanging? The idiot [asylum seeker] with hair jell climbed a tree but doesn’t know how to come down. Nothing special considering that the place of a monkey is the tree.

The snapshot of the comment was taken from Jori Eskolin’s blog:

One thing is what Hurme wrote but the most incredible matter of all is the reaction of the PS.

Continue reading “How the Perussuomalaiset party permit racism to see another day in Finland”

Defining white Finnish privilege #33: Appropriating our narrative to maintain the status quo, amass more power and privilege

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One of the most important matters that one learns when reading about our ever-growing culturally diverse society in Finland is that there is fierce opposition from some circles against cultural and ethnic diversity. According to these groups, the only way that a multicultural Finn, migrant and minority can live in Finland is if they have control of the narrative. 

Catchwords such as social equality (tasa-arvo), equal opportunities and Nordic social welfare democracy are minefields laid by white Finnish society to amass power, privilege and, most importantly, keep minorities passive.

Far-right group Suomi Ensin (Finland First) demonstrating aganist asylum seekers at the Helsinki Railway Square. They are the vocal side of bigotry and racism in Finland. Many Finns are closet racists who don’t come out like Suomi Ensin. Photo: Enrique Tessieri.

Another catchphrase used ad nauseam in this country by politicians, public servants and the like is “we have zero tolerance for racism.”

When xenophobic and ultranationalistic politicians like Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Ville Tavio can state with a poker face on A-studio: talk that he has zero tolerance for racism, you understand that such a statement isn’t worth much.

White Finnish society in this context means the effective whitewashing that has taken place in Finland during its near-100 years of independence to erase as much as possible all traces of cultural and ethnic diversity off the map.

Definition #33

The fact of the matter is that despite all the rhetoric about being “against racism” there are in the backdrop of that statement few if any multicultural Finns, migrants and minorities in places of power. When a public official states “he or she is against racism” it is usually code for maintaining the status quo and keeping cultural diversity on a short leash or passive.

If politicians were really interested in doing away with racism and bigotry they would stop using catchphrases and take concrete steps to give multicultural Finns, migrants and minorities representation in the police service, Finnish Border Guards, politics, management, and many other professions.

The reason why nobody wants to change the narrative, and why it has been appropriated by those that have power and privilege, is because nothing is supposed to change.

For many of us, social equality is nothing but a catchphrase used to pacify multicultural Finns, migrants and minorities from demanding their rights and to be treated as equal citizens.

See also:

* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names of the party adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We, therefore, prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings. The direct translation of “Perussuomalaiset” is “basic” or “fundamental Finn.”