ENAR: Charlie Hebdo killings in France: Time for mourning, not for scapegoating

Posted on by Migrant Tales

As a member of the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), we repost the following statement below in light of the terrible news that we heard from Paris. If you want to read good insight on the tragedy, check out Juan Cole’s Why al-Qaeda attacked satirists in Paris (thank you Gaven Titley for the heads-up).

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Brussels, 7 January 2015 – Following the tragic killings at the office of the newspaper ‘Charlie Hebdo’ in Paris, France, the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) strongly condemns this attack against freedom of expression, a cornerstone of our democracy. Nothing can justify such an attack.

ENAR also warns against backlash and stigmatisation against Muslim communities in France following declarations about the alleged identity of the perpetrators, especially given the current anti-Muslim climate across Europe. Recent examples include arson attacks against mosques in Sweden and France and anti-Islam demonstrations by the Pegida movement in Germany. At this point, no information is available on the perpetrators’ identity and motivations.

ENAR calls for calm, unity and solidarity to defeat hateful and terrorist violence.

For further information, contact:
Georgina Siklossy, Communication and Press Officer
Tel: +32 (0)2 229 35 70 – Mobile: +32 (0)473 49 05 31 – E-mail: [email protected] – Website: www.enar-eu.org

Notes to the editor:
1. The European Network Against Racism (ENAR aisbl) stands up against racism and discrimination and advocates for equality and solidarity for all in Europe. We connect local and national anti-racist NGOs throughout Europe and voice the concerns of ethnic and religious minorities in European and national policy debates.

UPDATE (December 5): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

How does the Finnish media give politicians that spread xenophobia and racism inflated respectability and importance? How can they  spread their prejudices and lies about immigrants and minorities without the help of the media? Migrant Tales will begin to collect stories from January 7 written by careless journalists that have been taken for a ride by such politicians.

It’s one of the oldest tricks in the books used against journalists:  A politician makes an outrageous claim to a journalist, who doesn’t even bother to question its veracity. Eventually the journalist may do some investigating and find out that he or she was fed malarkey. By then it’s too late because the story is already out there.

Migrant Tales will send each story that appears in our Hall of “Fame” to the journalist who wrote the story.

There are so many of these types of stories published by the media that compiling a long list in a short time would be relatively easy. It’s important, however, to reveal media bias when reporting stories about migrants and minorities.

This video clip is one of the best that I’ve seen of how politicians with racist agendas took British journalists for a ride in the 1970s and 1980s. Watch video clip here.
Below is an example of good journalism when HARDtalk host Stephen Sackur grilled Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairman Timo Soini.  Two times the same interview has been taken down from YouTube. 

Common mistakes by the Finnish media when reporting on migration and minorities:    

  • White sources are always used as authorities when immigrants and minorities are the topic
  • Editors of Finland’s main dailies are white Finns
  • Immigrant and visible minority voices are rarely if ever permitted to make their case
  • Editors too often ask white experts – rarely if ever migrant or minority experts –  their view of the “immigrant problem”
  • We give inflated respectability and importance to racists because they mirror our attitudes
  • In Finland, the stronger racism became, the more airtime it gets
  • The rise of racism in our society and our coverage of it reveals how unbalanced and uncritical our media is
  • When it comes to fighting racism, the media are part of the problem

Continue reading “UPDATE (December 5): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism”

Migrants’ Rights Network: Reasons to be cheerful about migrants’ rights in 2015

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Don Flynn* 

Don_web_0

When someone gets around to writing the history of the UK immigration debate, there is a good chance that they will come to see 2014 as the year when things began to turn around and, eventually, tack off in a progressive direction.

Näyttökuva 2015-1-6 kello 23.21.24

Read original blog entry here.

 

Okay, against this sunny optimism are opinion polls which continue to show a large majority in favour of reducing migration levels. A major objection to receiving newcomers – that we are a small island with a finite amount of space – seems still to be firmly in place as a reason why so many people want to see less movement across borders.

But other anti-immigrant arguments have fallen by the wayside during the past year.  Politicians who want to argue that immigration is responsible for the British unemployment levels have been set back by the fact that the total volume of people in work over the past year has increased whilst net inward migration here continued to be strongly positive.

Even the claim that high levels of migration create pressure on our public services has been eclipsed by the evidence that public spending cuts mandated by the austerity agenda have been the real culprit behind longer waiting times and more restricted resources. If migration shows up in any way in the news stories of struggling A&E departments and hard-pressed social care it is more likely to be through the image of migrant doctors, nurses, care workers and ancillary staff battling to keep things going, in defiance of inadequate budgets to do the job.

Also on the positive side is the evidence of a sector of public opinion which seems utterly resistant to the idea that migrants are to blame for the difficulties of recent years.  Across the country the figure is around 20 – 25% of the public, but its real significance lies in the groups of people where these views are concentrated.  Young people who have grown up in families and communities with histories of migration are rejecting the idea that migrants are to blame and are most likely to see their presence in the neighbourhoods and towns where they live as evidence of dynamism and opportunity.

We should also be encouraged by the support for this viewpoint among forward-thinking elements in all the main political parties.  Groups of Conservatives as much as Labourites and Lib Dems have conceded this point and are increasingly visible in policy dialogues as they try to work out ways to reconcile the new reality of migration with their wider philosophical commitments.

This is a good place to be as we think about what groups working to support migrants might do as the challenge of a general election looms in May.  The ‘migrants contribute’ message is one that needs to be taken up and reinforced in towns and regions across the country.  Better still, we should be looking to build local platforms which can marshal the basic facts and data on the ways migrants are contributing to local communities, and work out how to get these out through regional media.

But we should also look for the chance to raise the ante in the public conversation by making the case that so much more could be achieved if newcomers were accepted as active partners in tackling fundamental problems, like housing, quality jobs, health services, education, inequality and the negativity of racism and xenophobia where it exists.

This means that as well as proclaiming “Hell Yeah, Migrants Contribute!” during the coming months, we should also say “And it’s high time they got a Fairer Deal out of immigration policy!”

MRN has offered up its ideas on how this can be done in the ‘Migrants Manifesto’ which has been endorsed by 120 organisations across the country.  We are planning for intensive activity across the coming weeks to get these ideas out as widely as possible and engage with people as they work out the messages that are coming across during the course of the election campaign.

We are keen to hear from all people who are interested in joining in this effort to get across positive messages about migration.  Drop us a line at [email protected] if you would like to get involved!

So, from all of us at MRN, here’s wishing you a Happy New Year and the very best for all your hopes that 2015 will be a year in which things truly turn around!

The “Hell Yeah – Migrants Contribute!” t-shirt in the picture has been produced by the #MigrantsContribute! coalition of campaigning groups.  Check them out at http://www.migrants-contribute.org.uk. You can get your t-shirt from MRN priced at £12 + £1 post and packing (total £13).  Please indicate your preferred size, L, M or S.

Read original story here.

This piece was reprinted by Migrant Tales with permission.

* Don Flynn, the MRN director, leads the ogranization’s strategic development and coordinates MRN’s policy and project work. He is a regular and sought-after speaker at conferences, seminars and lectures on behalf of MRN.

Defining white Finnish privilege #15: Case Halla-aho and the PS

Posted on by Migrant Tales

It’s clear that the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are trying to regain their balance as their popularity in the polls continues to plummet. This week MEP Jussi Halla-aho, who was sentenced for ethnic agitation, tells his party that a tougher stand on immigration is needed to regain voter confidence. 

“It would be good that the party leadership understands that one of the central pillars of our support hinges on our critical view of immigration,” he was quoted as saying on Kaleva. “This is not a marginal issue for voters.”

A marginal issue?! Would it be ok for me to be sexist and paint all women with a single brush because some voters agree with my prejudices?

That is Halla-aho’s reasoning for his xenophobic attacks on migrants and minorities in this country. He doesn’t care if what he thinks is true or an exaggeration as long as it attracts votes.

 

Näyttökuva 2015-1-6 kello 12.06.42

Read full story (in Finnish) here.

 

Thanks to Finnish white privilege, Halla-aho and the PS can declare war on migrants in Finland. If a Muslim or a migrant made a similar statement about white Finns, he’d be lynched on social media chat sites and platforms.

Migrants and their families who live in this country have every right to respect, equality before the law and security. Halla-aho and the national media erode and make Finland a hostile place for migrants and minorities.

In which way do Halla-aho’s statements and the media, which regurgitate them, foster respect for those who live in Finland and aren’t white Finns? Hostility breeds hostility.

Definition #15

When you have white Finnish privilege, you are permitted to declare war on groups like migrants and minorities. They are only foreigners and therefore it’s perfectly acceptable.

Moreover, the media continues to classify hostile statements by politicians like Halla-aho as someone who is only “critical” of immigration. In our book, this type of language should be labelled as xenophobic and outright racist.

A get-tough stance by Finland’s third-largest party in parliament should not only be seen as a declaration of war against migrants and minorities but against everything that our Nordic welfare state should stand for.

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.

Migrant Tales (September 14, 2013): The Finnish and European media still have a lot to learn about racism and intolerance

Posted on by Migrant Tales

One matter that is interesting to note when looking at the media before the historic victory of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party in April 2011, is the present controversy surrounding the Youth League of the National Coalition Party’s program. Is the media giving racists, radical anti-immigration groups and voices inflated respectability and importance?

Näyttökuva 2015-1-5 kello 11.20.26

The whole Susanna Koski affair is a case and point. Like poking an angry beehive, there is initial shock that soon subsides after the stings don’t hurt because we’re wearing protective clothing. Our protective clothing to the far right and anti-immigration message of the National Coalition Party’s youth wing program appeared like a knee-jerk reaction, which subsided thanks in part to our prejudice.

In other words, the program of the National Coalition Party’s youth league started to sink in.

Why is the Finnish media swept off its feet and dazzled so often by intolerance, racism and nationalism? Our media has been so generous in the past to these social ills that it was in part responsible for the rise of the PS and the election of a number of far right MPs like Jussi Halla-aho and James Hirvisaari, both sentenced for ethnic agitation.

Migrant Tales published recently a story where it looked at how the Finnish media gave inflated respectability and importance to racists in this country. This is nothing new in Europe. It happened in Britain about thirty years ago and is happening here in Finland right now before our eyes.

Below are some of  obvious symptoms when the media writes about cultural diversity:

  • White sources are always used as authorities when immigrants and minorities are concerned
  • Editors of Finland’s main dailies are white
  • Immigrant and visible minority voices are rarely if ever permitted to make their case
  • Rarely if ever do editors ask if whites are the source of the”immigrant problem”
  • We give inflated respectability and importance to racists because they mirror our attitudes
  • In Finland, the stronger racism became, the more airtime it gets
  • The rise of racism in our society and our coverage of it reveals how unbalanced and uncritical our media is
  • When it comes to fighting racism, the media are part of the problem

Another important point I would like to add to the list above is conflict of interest. People who are card-carrying members of a political party write and promote their views in the national media.

A good example is columnist Tuomas Enbuske, who is a Helsingin Sanomat columnist and hosts a popular television talk show. He interviewed this week Koski, and gave the youth leader of the National Coalition Party a platform to spread her neoliberal and racist points of view.

Embuske had advertised on Uusi Suomi that he is a member of the National Coalition Party.

No, the show hosted by Enbuske was not outraged by what Koski suggested, that the Ombudsman for Minorities office and laws that govern ethnic agitation should be scrapped.  Why? Because all of them are white.

In my opinion, the Youth League of the National Coalition Party’s program to scrap ethnic agitation laws have the potential to unleash the same hate as the Nuremberg Laws did in 1935 against the Jews.

If the Finnish media wants to bolster its credibility, it should look at dailies like The Guardian. Possibly then our embattled media, which is the victim of Finland’s growing nationalism and intolerance, can start to gain more credibility in the eyes of the public.

It’s odd but those that want to change radically our country, like the Youth League of the National Coalition Party and others, believe that we can “debate” matters like more intolerance. To put it in a white Finnish perspective, can we “debate” watering down women’s rights, lower pay and further sexism?

Can we “debate” greater approval of human rights violations?

I doubt it.

Our Nordic social welfare state has made remarkable gains in the areas of social equality. We should defend these rights instead of “debate” how to further and make social inequality more acceptable.

A media that is critical and independent has a very important role to play in Finland and the rest of Europe today as far right and ultra nationalistic voices gain momentum.

Those voices of intolerance, which never give you any effective solutions except for scapegoating, are the real threat to Europe together with rising social inequality and poverty.

The media plays a crucial role in being the critical watchdog of our democratic system.

Without it we’re doomed.

Excuses and arguments to eat our prejudices and keep our bigotry

Posted on by Migrant Tales

One common argument one hears when you try to show cultural understanding for Muslims is that if Saudi Arabia, one of the most extremist Muslim countries in the world, doesn’t permit us to eat pork then we shouldn’t offer halal meat at schools.

Why do we compare a country like Saudi Arabia? Why not compare a Muslim country like Malaysia, where it is possible to eat pork just as long as you don’t do it in a halal-certified restaurant.

Why don’t we ever speak of Muslim countries like Malaysia and Indonesia (see video clip below of UC Riverside professor, Reza Aslan) but prefer instead to use one of the most extremist Muslim countries in the world to drive home our point?

Here’s another example that follows the same logic why we don’t have to change even if our society become more culturally diverse: Migrants that move here cannot expect us to change our habits and traditions because this would never happen in their country.

Which country are they talking about? Canada? Australia, maybe? Or are we going to compare Finland to Saudi Arabia again?

 

 

 

 

 

Migrant Tales (October 5, 2013): Microaggressions: How “law-abiding” community members discriminate

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Microaggressions, the subject of a book by Derald Wing Sue of the Teachers College, Columbia University, highlights perfectly one of the ongoing problems in Finland. Microaggressions occur unconsciously and underline inclusion-exclusion and superiority-inferiority.  They are everyday putdowns, insults that aim to undermine the dignity of visible minorities, women, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights or those who are marginalized, according to Sue. 

Microaggressions

One example of microaggressions that the video shows is between a student (Oriental background) and a university official (white). The official thinks he’s offering the student a compliment: “You know you speak excellent English,” he says.

The seemingly innocent comment disturbs the student, which implies that he isn’t a true US American and is made to feel like a perceived alien in his country.

How many times have we been in the same situation in Finland?

My son, who was born in Finland, was once told by a manager at work that he spoke “excellent Finnish.”

While the manager meant no harm, the comment revealed his narrow view of who he considers Finns. His comment suggests that Finns have Finnish first and last names.

Says Sue: “Microaggressions often appear to be a compliment but contain metaommunication or a hidden insult to the target group…it is delivered by people who engage in microaggression [and] are ordinary folks who experience themselves [as] good moral decent individuals.”

And adds: “Microaggressions occur because they are outside the level of conscious awareness of the perpetrator.”

So how should we challenge daily microaggressions?

Sue offers five points that we need to do individually:

  • Learn from constant vigilance (study your own biases and fears)
  • Experiential reality (interact with people who differ from you in terms of ethnicity and culture)
  • Don’t be defensive (don’t take it personally)
  • Be open to discussing your own attitudes and biases and how they may have hurt others
  • Be an ally (stand up against bias and discrimination)

Thank you Glenn Robinson of Community Village for the heads-up. 

MEP Halla-aho wants a tougher PS stance on immigration

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The popularity of the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* plummeted to a record low of 13.3% in December and this has caused visible cracks in the party’s leadership. MEP Jussi Halla-aho, who was sentenced for ethnic agitation, blames PS chairman Timo Soini’s too soft stand on immigration for the drop in popularity, according to Oulu-based daily Kaleva. 

“It would be good that the party leadership understands that one of the central pillars of our support hinges on our critical view of immigration,” he was quoted as saying on Kaleva. “This is not a marginal issue for voters.”

 

Näyttökuva 2015-1-4 kello 12.13.14

 Read full story (in Finnish) here.

 

In order to understand Halla-aho’s real message, all you have to do is go back to 2008-11 when politicians like him were openly labeling and victimizing migrants and minorities as rapists and criminals with the help of a near-toothless media.

Halla-aho’s attack of Soini for being too soft on immigration is a typical Frankenstein movie plot. The mad scientist, in this case Soini, creates a social Frankenstein called Halla-aho, who turns against and kills his master.

Another matter that helps uncover Halla-aho’s opportunistic motives is his constant whining about migrants and minorities. Like the legendary Spanish antihero Don Quixote who attacked windmills with Sancho Panza, Halla-aho’s windmills are migrants and cultural diversity.

PicassoDonQuixoteSancho

Is Don Quixote Halla-aho and Sancho Panza Soini?

 

Why are they windmills? Because Finland is already culturally and ethnically diverse. The only way you are going to turn Finland into an imaginary white Finnish country is by placing all those who aren’t ethnic Finns into box cars.

Halla-aho divides Finland into two groups: the so-called ethnic Finns (the good people) and migrants (those that are ruining Finland).

In the ongoing debate about immigration, there is one group that is always forgotten. This group, which is made up of tens of thousands of people, are Finns with multicultural backgrounds.

One of the reasons why this large group of people is largely ignored is because it would force some to see and accept Finland as a culturally and ethnically diverse country. For far right politicians like Halla-aho, it means giving up the fight to keep Finland white.

In Halla-aho’s world, a white Finn is any person who is ethnically white and speaks the Finnish language as white Finn. Swedish speakers aren’t included never mind groups like Estonians and Russians.

It’s highly doubtful that one person can change the misfortunes of a party like the PS. The party’s track record speaks volumes. Even so, it reveals that a more radical anti-immigration party like the Sweden Democrats and Danish People’s Party may be lurking in the PS background.

This party – if created – will be many times scarier than the PS.

* The Finnish name of the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The names 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 posting

More red lights flashing in Sweden after three mosques set ablaze within a week

Posted on by Migrant Tales

After one mosque was set ablaze on Christmas Day in Eskiltuna, two others have been targeted by suspected arsonists in the southern town of Esilöv on December 29 and in Uppsala on New Year’s Day, reports Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest daily. 

The attacks against three mosques took place within a week. The far right Sweden Democrats caused a political crisis that would have required the minority government of Stefan Löfven to call snap elections in March. An agreement announced on Saturday between the government and opposition parties helped call off such elections.

Apart from being a direct attack against religious freedom in Sweden, the suspected arson attacks are a direct threat to Sweden’s cultural and ethnic diversity.

 

Näyttökuva 2015-1-1 kello 17.03.51

Read full story here.

 

Elvir Gigovic, chair of the Muslim Council of Sweden, told The Guardian that the spate of attacks against Muslims in 2014 was systematic. Justice Minister Morgan Johansson described the Eskilstuna fire as a “heinous atrocity” that was nothing more than violence directed against the Muslim community.

Expo, an anti-racism NGO, claimed that there have been at least 13 suspected arson attacks against mosques in Sweden this year alone.

The fact that a handful of people are taking the law in their hands and committing acts of violence against a religious groups should be enough proof of the ugly face of intolerance but our resolve to not be intimidated by vigilante style violence.

We hope the authorities in Sweden capture the perpetrators soon.

What kind of a year was 2014 for our ever-growing culturally diverse society?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

For Finland’s ever-growing culturally and ethnically diverse community, 2014 will be remembered for many good and bad things. At the top of the good things, there’s the Olen suomalainen video but the list of toxic news far outweighs the latter like Tom Packalén’s “racist youth mobs with migrant backgrounds” and Pia Kauma’s “baby carriages.” 

IMG_3052

Migrant Tales wishes its readers a wonderful New Year.

 

The year brought us some disturbing stories about migrant children, who lag two years in Pisa tests when compared with white Finns. Children with migrant parents were also more prone to face bullying, physical and sexual harassment at schools.

One of the best myth-busting stories written in the year was by Pekka Myrksylä, who claimed in a blog entry  that the majority of migrants in Finland live in poverty.

There were many, many more stories in 2014 about our cultural diversity that will be published more in detail in Finland & cultural diversity 2014  in the beginning of January.

Migrant Tales is a blog community. We therefore seek your opinions and input about what you considered the biggest story or challenges facing our culturally diverse community this year in Finland and Europe.

We’d love to hear from you on our Facebook page, email ([email protected]) or Twitter @MigrantTales.

Thank you!