Is Somalia a “safe” country and do asylum seekers want to die in vain?
In light of the assessment published by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) in May, where it claims that countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia are “safe” to return asylum seekers we strongly challenge such a claim. I challenge Migri’s assessment because it is political and has little to do with reality.
Migrant Tales has documented at least three cases of people who returned to Iraq and Afghanistan after Migri’s assessment.
Of the three Iraqi asylum seekers that returned to their home country, one ended up in a hospital after being shot six times and two others died in bomb explosions.
One naturalized Finn originally from Afghanistan was shot dead in September in the capital Kabul shortly after he was wed.
All of these four people returned to “safe” Iraq and Afghanistan and got killed or ended up in the hospital shot.
What about Somalia, a country that has been absorbed in a civil war since 1991?
Is it a “safe” country as Migri alleges?
This Kenyan woman tells about her ordeal when she was kidnapped for two years in Somalia. Source: Amisom.
European Country of Origin Information Network (ecoi.net), the Austrian Red Cross information system, is one of many sources that warn about the security situation in Somalia. Apart from problems with Al-Shabaab, there is also bloodshed between different clans.
Continue reading “Is Somalia a “safe” country and do asylum seekers want to die in vain?”
Do ethnic agitation charges against Teuvo Hakkarainen give us a whiff of the rot spreading in government and our society?
MP Teuvo Hakkarainen, who is facing ethnic agitation charges, and the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party are deplorable examples of how low our society has stooped in the dubious racism and bigotry league.
The PS isn’t just any party but a member of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government comprised of the Center Party and National Coalition Party (NCP).
The silence of the PS in the face of Hakkarainen’s racist and bigoted statements in the PS’ Suomen Uutiset publication not only speak volumes about how racism is encouraged and spread in Finland at the highest levels of government and parliament.
We will translate most of Hakkarainen’s comments in Suomen Uutiset so that politicians and institutions around Europe can get a glimpse of the social illness inflicting Finland today.
According to Suomen Uutiset and Teuvo Hakkarainen, racism and bigotry are fine as long as it’s done by white Finns. Funding for the publication comes from tax-payers. Read full interview (in Finnish) here.
The asylum refugee center in Saarijärvi, a central Finnish town of 10,000 inhabitants that Hakkarainen represents, will close at the end of April.
SUPO, the Finnish Immigration Service and the police service reveal that we are today a country that even fears its own shadow
One of the matters that surprised me a lot when I visited my grandparents in Finland when I lived in Southern California was how he related to black people. The way my grandfather saw black people over forty years ago was so negative and shocking to me that I still remember his reaction.
It must have been in 1968 because my sister and I showed him a picture of starving black children in Biafra, an eastern state of Nigeria that declared independence and plunged the country into a bloody civil war. His reaction was so strong that we made fun of his reaction and taped a picture of a starving black child by his bed, which he immediately took away.
I don’t remember exactly the picture that I showed my grandfather of starving Biafran children, but it was something like the picture above. Source: Modern Ghana.
The way my grandfather related to blacks in the 1960s reveals a lot about how some Finns continue to see diversity as a threat that must be contained at all costs by denying it oxygen and living space.
You don’t have to be a star journalist to understand that the Finnish Intelligence Security Service (SUPO), the Finnish Immigration Service and the police service spread fear about asylum seekers and our ever-growing culturally diverse society.
Finnish PS MP Hakkarainen is charged (alas) for ethnic agitation
Perussuomlaiset (PS)* MP Teuvo Hakkarainen, who has made numerous racist and bigoted statements against Muslims, Somalis and gays, finally got charged for ethnic agitation by the state deputy prosecutor. Hakkarainen isn’t the only PS politician being charged for ethnic agitation. On that shameful list are Mertsu Merivireta, Terhi Kieumunki and Olli Sademies.
The deputy state prosecutor was considering charging Hakkarainen with ethnic agitation shortly after he was elected in 2011 after he appeared in a Helsingin Sanomat interview, where he stated that “the country’s borders were awash with “n-words” and went on to mock an Islamic call to prayer.
Hakkarainen recently said that being charged for ethnic agitation was like getting a speeding ticket.
“Bring it on if I get sentenced [for hate speech]. I’ll take care of this in my own way,” he was quoted as saying. “Of course [one should follow the law]. But this [possible sentence for hate speech] is like a speeding ticket. Everything is today seen as hate speech.”
The video below shows the MP’s first day in parliament in 2011. It is a good example of the politician’s acting skills.
Hakkarainen denies any wrongdoing and claims, after insulting near-constantly Muslims, migrants, and minorities such as gays that “everyone is innocent before proven guilty.”
Ironically, if the PS MP would have followed that advice, he wouldn’t be in legal hot water now.
Ethnic agitation charges against Hakkarainen and other PS politicians isn’t a light matter. The PS is a government party and rules Finland together with the Center Party and National Coalition Party.
While it is a good matter that the state reacts and takes action against hate speech, one matter that surprises us is that it took so long?
This is the comment by Hakkarainen that got him in trouble when he wrote on his Facebook wall in mid-July after the Nice killings:
“We’ve got to stop pussyfooting. Muslims out of this country! Not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims. We shouldn’t accept Muslims from the Middle East and Africa to our country.”
Read the full story here.
Two PS politicians, who have made a dubious name for themselves for their Islamophobic and xenophobic statements, came to Hakkarainen’s defense.
Continue reading “Finnish PS MP Hakkarainen is charged (alas) for ethnic agitation”
A naturalized Finn who returned to a “safe” country like Afghanistan and was killed last month
The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) announced in May that countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia are “safe” to return refugees who get their asylum applications rejected. Migrant Tales documented two deaths and one shooting of Iraqi asylum seekers that returned recently to Iraq.
When asked about such cases, Migri tweets the following: “Good morning Marianne. Without confirmation we cannot comment on the fate of those [asylum seekers] that have been refused to stay [in Finland].”
We would like to introduce Reza Hasani, a naturalized Finn originally from Afghanistan, who got shot and killed on September 19, or seven days after he got married in the capital Kabul.
Tampereen perussuomalaisten puheenjohtaja on islamivastainen
Terhi Kiemunki, jonka vastaan on nostettu syytteet kiihottamisesta kansanryhmää vastaan nousi viikonloppuna Tampereen perussuomalaisten johtoon yksimielisesti.
“Syyttäjän mukaan Kiemungin blogikirjoituksessa paneteltiin ja solvattiin islaminuskoisia. “
Nyt tuli selväksi Tampereen perussuomalaisten ajattelu. He antavat tukensa Kiemungin kaltaisille “ajattelijoille”. Samalla kun perussuomalaisten pamput kiemurtelevat tuoleissa kun heiltä kysytään miksi antavat tilaa rasisteille ja rasismille. Toimittajat eivät enää edes kysy, koska ilmeisesti rasismista on tullut normi tai kuten Jan Vapaavuori sanoi Uuden Suomen jutun mukaan, Suomi “puolipersuistui”. “Suomessa media ja muut puolueet flirttailevat iloisesti perussuomalaisten kanssa, ja ikään kuin pyrkivät tekemään siitä tavanomaista puoluetta siinä missä muutkin. Tämä on poliittiselle kulttuurille turmiollista, Vapaavuori sanoi.”
Kiemunki työskentelee yhä yhden perussuomalaisen kansanedustajan avustajana. Mitä se kertoo Suomen eduskunnasta? Mitä sanovat Jan Vapaavuoren puoluekaverit hallituksesta ja Keskustalaiset ministerit ja kansanedustajat? Hallituspuolueet tekevät niin mielellään yhteistyötä Terhi Kiemungin kaltaisten suomalaisten kanssa.
Puolueiden “puolipersuistuiminen” ei kerro paljoakaan kaikista suomalaisista ja se näkyy ehkä puolueiden kannatuksessa tai/ja poliittisissa loikissa. http://www.savonsanomat.fi/kotimaa/T%C3%A4m%C3%A4n-vaalikauden-poliittiset-loikat-ovat-hy%C3%B6dytt%C3%A4neet-eniten-keskustaa/864184?pwbi=6994b542cc933650bc64f94176a449deSavon Sanomien mukaan kaikista puolueista perussuomalaiset ovat eniten menettäneet valtuutettuja. Perussuomalaisten valtuustopaikkojen määrä on vähentynyt kuntavaalien jälkeen 70:llä. Lähtijöitä on ollut ainakin 86 ja tulijoita ainakin 16.
Toive toisenlaisesta Suomesta kuin Kiemungin Suomi elää vahvasti monissa suomalaisissa. Media voisi puhua perussuomalaisista oikeilla termeillä: äärioikeistoystäväälisenä- ja jopa rasismimyönteisenä puolueena.
Kirjoitus on ilmestynyt Uuden Suomen Puheenvuoron palveluksessa. Samassa paikassa, jossa ilmestyi kuvassa oleva kirjoitus Terhi Kiemungin pääsiäisnoitien kommenteista.
Two Iraqi asylum seekers who returned to “safe” Iraq and were killed
In May and much to the surprise of many, especially asylum seekers and concerned citizens, the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) announced that countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia were safe to return asylum seekers.
Migrant Tales reported in September about Mohammed Khulbus Idnan’s return to “safe” Iraq after waiting for a year for his residence permit without luck. He returned to Baghdad to be at his mother’s side since she was going to die. He returned and was lucky: He got shot six times and survived.
Two other persons weren’t as lucky as Khulbus Idnan when they returned in summer to “safe” Iraq. Both of them were killed by bombs.
Hussein Ali Shawi Al-Frajas was twenty-nine years old when a bomb planted in his car detonated and ripped him in half from the waist down. We have pictures that show him inside the car that we won’t publish because they are so shocking.
Al-Frajas had been in Baghdad only three days before he was killed.
He left Finland after Migri had turned down his asylum application. He was a father of two.
Hussein Ali Shawi Al-Frajas died in summer three days after his return to Baghdad from Oulu, Finland.
The second young man to die in summer is Ahmed Kadhim Ali Alsultani, who returned back to Baghdad because he missed his two children and wife. He had come to Finland in September and waited for months without luck for a decision from Migri.
Continue reading “Two Iraqi asylum seekers who returned to “safe” Iraq and were killed”
The Finnish Immigration Service, with the blessings of the government, aims to separate migrant parents from their children
In August, the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) is reported to have given asylum reception center instructions that only their children can stay at the reception center if the parents have their asylum application turned down and won’t leave the country, according to MTV.
The Red Cross has already said that it won’t comply with Migri’s instructions because they breach the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Finland has ratified, and the association’s values to treat asylum seekers in a humane manner.
“We don’t want to worsen with our actions their vulnerability,” Red Cross legal advisor Jani Leino was quoted as saying.
Migrant Tales confirms that the Red Cross told asylum seekers at some camps that they won’t be abandoned by the association. “You will not be neglected or kicked out of the reception center,” an asylum seeker told us over the phone. “We are here to support you.”
While the Red Cross will not comply to Migri’s instructions, it would be interesting to see if private companies like Luona and Mehiläinen feel the same way about offering support and not abandoning those that they now serve.
Read the full story here.
Finland’s government, which is one of the most hostile and anti-immigration seen in a long time, believes that the only way to deal with asylum seekers and migrants in Finland is to prohibit and pass inhumane laws like the tightening of family reunification guidelines.
Case Villa Meri: Is the job of an asylum reception center to promote the well-being or suffering of those they serve?
“Silence is beautiful” is a saying that most people in this country will appreciate but if the authorities don’t act and keep the public in suspense, that silence can turn into poison in a country like Finland where there are interest groups that make it their business to spread hatred, victimize and destroy the good name of migrants.
There are many examples we could cite of this “silence,” or inaction that encourages apathy.
Silence also fuels speculation, which in turn greases the wheels of those that spread racism, bigotry, and hatred.
Good examples of that social gangrene are MV and Nykysuomi and others that rob, spin and spoonfeed to their readers their daily dose of racism with lies and exaggerations about migrants.
The existence of these types of publications, which have a readership and are supported by some politicians of anti-immigration parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, show that many are trying to cash in on xenophobia because such a social ill brings attention and power.
The Villa Meri asylum reception center, run by a private company that profits from people’s suffering, is at the center of a scandal fed by silence due to the rape of a 15-year-old.
Read the full complaint here.
While not all asylum reception centers are managed poorly, there are others that do a good job. One important matter that a well-functioning center requires is good management that is available to the people they serve and offer shelter.