Human rights ranked low in Finland during the Cold War (1944-1991). Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, a well-known xenophobe, is drafting legislation that would take Finlnad back to the Cold War, when Russians and other migrants were denied the right to asylum. In criticizing government plans to pushback asylum seekers at the Finnish-Russian border,…
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How Yle spreads and reinforces xenophobia with the help of stenography journalism
It is surprising that Finland’s national broadcaster, Yle, spreads xenophobia and suspicion of asylum seekers via its news reporting. Yle, never calls people attempting to enter Finland via the Finnish-Russian border asylum seekers but people who are attempting to enter the country illegally. The narrative spread by Yle reporters is a toothless stenographic copy of…
Yle Poll: A poor showing for the government
Even if some news outlets like Yle claim that parties belonging to the government “have increased” their support, according to the latest opinion poll published by Yle, another fact is left out of the story. Is this the case? The full story? The total support given to the parties in the government stood at 48.5%,…
Finland’s government is heading the country towards a path of disaster
The government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo is anticipating with some dread the opening of the Finnish-Russian border on 14 January. In order to deny people the right to asylum, Orpo has gone as far as to suggest that asylum seekers should be sent directly back to Russia supposedly because it is a safe country….
2023 taught me that racism is the poison that threatens democracy and human rights
Russia is not unpredictable. In its operations against Finland, it exploits racism because Finland is a racist country. The observation by writer Sofi Oksnanen is the only one I have read that reveals the government’s pushbacks and their draconian immigration and asylum policy. The government’s knee-jerk reaction to closing the Finnish-Russian border shows how Finnish…
Minister Mari Rantanen and the government aim to trash human rights
Is it a coincidence that Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Interior Minister Mari Rantanen’s letter Tuesday to the EU Commission on scraping asylum rights temporarily is an accidental coincidence? News of Rantanen’s letter, which has received harsh criticism from Professor of International Law Matti Koskenniemi, was published after a story by The Guardian claiming global inaction on human…
Racism and xenophobia will turn Finland into a Nordic Hungary
Since 2011, Finland has found a powerful political force in racism. If the country heads down the path of Hungary, it will do so with fearmongering about migrants and how such people abuse and use social welfare at the cost of white Finns. Even if the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* don’t hide their disdain for migrants and…
Fake news by Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen on how to take the media for a ride
Finland’s Perussuomalaiset (PS)* interior minister, Mari Rantanen, has pulled another fast one on the media. Anti-immigration politicians usually make outrageous statements that are then rebuffed by the media. It is a course in Fake News 101. Even if Interior Minister Mari Rantanen admits her claim, that millions of migrants are coming to Finland, to be…
“Black Friday:” Two Finnish government lies about migrants for the price of one
THE STORY WAS UPDATED In order to expose the lies of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government, just look at the flagrant denials and outrageous claims. There are two that fit the far-right playbook to a tee: (1) We can shut the Finnish-Russian border and deny people the right to asylum; and (2) Vladimir Putin can…
Migrant Tales Media Monitoring: Yle spikes it up with parties that promote fear and uses their xenophobic labels
Yle’s reported Tuesday building a border fence between Finland and Russia. Reporting from Estonia’s capital Tallinn, Yle reporter Rain Kooli said that the wall between Estonia and Russia was to stop migrants – not asylum seekers – and illegal migrants. The project, which the Finnish Border Guard is spearheading, will cost hundreds of millions of…