Finnish immigration-refugee debate food for thought: the future and present

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Have you noticed how different politicians speak of multiculturalism, immigrants, immigration, a- and b-class workers in the future tense?

Since they speak in the future tense, it means that there aren’t any immigrants nor any a- and b-class workers in Finland. These politicians, like from the Social Democratic Party and others that support a tougher anti-immigration policy, try to sell to us the idea that they are SAVING us and the country from these matters.

Disproving them is easy.  All you have to do is to take a walk to the center of any Finnish city. You will see people from different cultures, globalization, immigrants, unemployed,  a-, b- and even c-class workers.

When you read the next comment by a politician on immigration, check to see if he speaks in the present or future tense.

Forging healthy ethnic relations in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The ongoing debate on labor immigrants and refugees goes much further into the schizophrenic relationship that some Finns have of the outside world and diversity.On the one side, you have people who have no issues with cultural and ethnic diversity because Finland is already such a country. It is a normal and welcome characteristic of our society. But then you have others that see themselves as the last Mohicans defending “Finnish values and race.”

Here is a list of observations I have made during the past months concerning the ongoing immigration-refugee debate:

(1)Debating openly the role of immigration and refugees is healthy. When has Finland debated so openly issues like racism and diversity? Despite all the hysteria and xenophobia, some believed that racism did not exist or was a minor issue. Today we know that it is a visible  sore spot of our society.

(2) The core of the debate and the schizophrenic view of other cultures offers us a good opportunity to attack such deficiencies at schools. Our educational system has failed because it has never paid enough attention to what diversity means in our society. In 1870, 15% of the population of Helsinki was foreign-born. Why have we intentionally forgotten such facts about ourselves and that we are officially a bilingual country? How many of us come from other cultures? Why do we sidestep such historical facts about Finland?  ANSWER: It isn’t mentioned enough because some, intentionally or unintentionally, have pretty closed and racist views of the outside world.

(3) Change in our educational system will come when immigrants and their children have decision-making power and influence over how things are taught and what values are strengthened at school and in society generally.  This is what we call equal opportunity in the labor market and participatory democracy.

(4) We need new historians to take a fresh look at Finland and to not echo what has been taught and continues to strengthen stereotypes and old suspicions of others.  For example, the Russians are “bad” people because they attacked us in 1939. True, it was the Communist government, but that was over 80 years ago!

(5) Our perception of ourselves as a nation is outdated as well and seated in many respects in the 1930s, when eugenics helped find our identity through race. In most of the Western world, these types of “theories” have been disproven and are nothing more than boloney. This type of education is crucial since the immigrant population is growing. Some 4% of people who live here come from other cultures.

(6) Since some of us don’t have a clue what racism and discrimination is because they feel that they can treat newcomers anyway they wish, we defend such questionable values by portraying some ethnic groups like demons. Education should stress and encourage healthy ethnic relations among people who live in this country.  The ongoing debate and Finland’s stance on immigrants, which has changed slowly, reveals that too many Finns have no idea what it means to live in a society with people from other cultures.

(7) The aim of this country in this century should be to create healthy ethnic relations and pathways of incorporation into our society. Today, unfortunately, some of us are busy building walls on those pathways.  The road to good ethnic relations is a two-way street, where there is a generous amount of give-and-take on all sides.

Take two of the SDP-Heinäluoma anti-immigration saga

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Social Democrat MP Eero Heinäluoma, who outraged a number of politicians, some Finns and immigrants over the weekend in an HBL interview on Saturday over his statements on labor immigration, incredulously states in the Social Democratic Party daily Demari that the party’s immigration policy has not stiffened.

Taking into account the reaction and the editorials in some of Finland’s major dailies on Monday, it seems that Heinäluoma is the only person who does not yet know that the SDP’s immigration policy has taken a sharp turn to the populist right.

(UPDATED 26.4) Moreover, the reckless path that Heinäluoma and Urpilainen have taken the SDP threatens to split the party in two.  Either way, the SDP will lose if their election-campaign gamble backfires or pays off. If it does not work, guess whose heads will roll and if it pays off, they will have to put into practice their populist immigration policy.

As a rude insult to all those immigrants working and living in this country, he suggests that foreigners that come to Finland are apparently too dumb to learn the Finnish language and therefore will be condemned to earning slave wages. “Those foreigners that come here with deficient language skills and knowledge of Finnish culture can be used to work for lower wages,” he said.

This argument and spreading the stereotype that “immigrants only work for slave wages” appears to be a new trick by some SDP members to incite nationalist sentiment against foreign workers. I wonder if he has not, with his populist statement, contributed to greater discrimination of immigrants in the job market?

If I had the opportunity to face Heinäluoma and the SDP chairperson, Jutta Urpilainen, I would tell them in plain and clear Finnish:  Everything has its limit. Stop using immigrants for your opportunistic political goals!

(Updated 26.4) Heinaluoma is “concerned” over the labor situation

Heinäluoma said he is concerned about the labor situation in Finland but has not raised a finger, never mind not even made a suggestion, how he plans to resolve what he calls “a- and b-class employees.” Probably somebody should tell him that those types of wage-earners exist in Finland today.

Taking into account official 26% unemployment among immigrants in Finland, I have yet to hear from Heinäluoma how he plans to further  equal opportunity for all in this country.

The reason why these issues have not been addressed is because Heinäluoma is not interested in improving the lot of immigrant workers in Finland. He finds it easier to maintain a climate of distrust than take concrete steps to help Finland’s ever-growing immigrant community.

Väyrynen backs SDP’s Heinäluoma’s anti-immigration rhetoric

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Foreign trade and development mininster, Paavo Väyrynen (Center Party), who served as foreign minister during 1977-1993 under President Urho Kekkonen (1956-82) and Mauno Koivsto (1982-94), Finland’s last cold war president, supported in Ilta-Sanomat Eero Heinäluoma’s stance on immigration.

The Social Democrat MP was quoted in Saturday’s HBL as stating that Finland should not encourage labor immigrants from coming to Finland because of high unemployment. He even incredulously suggested that immigrants would be responsible for inciting racism because they would take jobs from Finns.

Väyrynen, who is vying for the party chair in June, took distance from his rivals Mauri Pekkarinen, Mari Kiviniemi and Timo Kaunisto, who denounced  Heinäluoma’s statements as being populist.

“In a situation where we have high unemployment, we have to restrain foreign labor (from coming to Finland). I don’t think his statement were disagreeable or populist,” Väyrynen was quoted as saying in Ilta-Sanomat.

Despite Väyrynen’s long political career, here is a politician who was responsible for the country’s foreign policy during 1977-94, when Finland had little respect for human rights never mind immigrants and returned Soviet refugees back to the USSR. Väyrynen was one of the architects of our cold war policy with Moscow. During that period foreign investment to Finland was miniscule and our immigrant population numbered a few thousand in the 1970s.

So it is nothing unusual that he “understands” Heinäluoma’s “concern.”

SDP Heinäluoma’s populist anti-immigrant “roll”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Social Democrats are on the populist anti-immigrant roll: SDP strongman Eero Heinäluoma stirred passions on Saturday in an HBL interview (in Swedish) by stating that Finland should not be too enthusiastic about bringing labor immigrants due to high unemployment among Finns. UPDATED (25.4.) Some dailies such as Ilta-Sanomat asked if Heinäluoma believes that immigrants will take “our women” as well.

Heinäluoma’s comments have been condemned not only by Center Party Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, but by the chairman of the Young Social Democrats, Teemu Hirvonen, who is concerned by the party’s ever-growing populist stand.

Echoing fears that part of the Social Democratic leaders have stiffened their stances on immigration to get votes in the 2011 elections, Hirvonen said that the party should stick to its values and not allow anti-immigrant groups like the True Finns to control the ongoing debate.

UPDATE (25.4) Another incredible snow job hurled at the public by Heinäluoma is that since labor immigrants “will take away jobs from Finns,” this will lead to racism. So, in essence, Heinäluoma is telling us that it is ok to be racist because “foreigners are taking away our jobs.”

This low ebb in SDP politics in Finland is a slap in the face to those immigrants who have lived in this country for years, paid taxes and work hard to make a living. Heinäluoma doesn’t appear to care about them because it is not the example he wants to give about immigrants. It won’t win his party a lot of votes.

If we did not know that Heinäluoma is a Social Democrat, some of us would think he belongs to an anti-immigrant party like the True Finns. And, please, who says that more immigrants will fuel racism? Aren’t they offering a service to this society? Doesn’t their work and tax-euros count? Is Heinäluoma afraid that his party is having the same problems adapting to the real world as the Center Party did before EU membership in 1995 with respect to the agricultural sector?

Some believe that one of the mentors behind the anti-immigration wing of the SDP party is former interior minister, Kari Rajamäki. I once attended a panel in October with him and guess what: The True Finn representative and Rajamäki were in full agreement about “the threat of refugees” to Finland.

Taking into account that EU citizens have the right to work in any member country, what did Heinäluoma mean by his statement? (Updated 27.4)  Who ARE those foreign workers that Heinäluoma warns us of? It seems pretty incredible that he does not even give us a clue of where the “threat” is coming from.

Was it another xenophobic trick by the SDP to lure voters from the True Finns?

True Finns’ chairman, Timo Soini, thinks so. He was quoted in Helsingin Sanomat as stating that the SDP adopted the True Finns’ policy labor immigration.

Folks, the show will turn more tragic-comic when the SDP and True Finns start to fight each other in public to prove which party has the toughest stand against immigrants.

Racism in Finland and elsewhere

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Every society has its racists but the question is where we draw the line. For a country like Finland, the problem of drawing a clear line hinges on the fact that there are still too few immigrant and ethnic groups living in this country, amounting for 2.7% of the population (143,256).

Even though foreigners in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century had a big impact on Finland (Stockmann, Fazer, Rettig, Paulig, Finnlayson and others), our view of cultural diversity as a normal characteristic of  society is mixed. Some Finns don’t have any qualms with this while for others it is a life-and-death issue.

If we look at the laws, educational system and the ideals we want to pass on to our children, however, it is easy to conclude that immigrant-and-refugee hate groups in Finland are a minority whose presence and arguments are storms in a tea-cup.

A good example is the present one-sided immigration-refugee debate. While the anti-diversity-and-populist True Finns, and to many sad respects the Social Democratic party under chairman Jutta Urpilainen, have not seen their popularity soar in the polls despite their stiffening rhetoric  on immigrantion and refugees.

If we look at the definition of racism and agree that it means “discrimination or prejudice based on ethnic background,” we still have to look at the specific society where this type of social ill is taking place. How do people discriminate in Finland, how do we define racism and what does the law say? The Equality Act, for example, gives clear definitions of discrimination and harassment.

In my opinion, an excellent example of discrimination in this country is high immigrant unemployment. Since racism attempts to exclude and keep other groups from realizing their potential in society, high immigrant unemployment serves this purpose and shows where we have a lot more work to do. Immigrant unemployment in Finland at the end of 2009 stood officially at 26%(!) compared with 9.2% nationally.

Even though anti-immigrant-and-refugee groups in Finland attempt to change the ongoing debate and their hate agendas with funny catchwords like “immigrant-critic,” and “freedom of speech/democracy,” we must draw the line as a society and call a spade a spade.

What would we say if there were anti-women’s-rights groups that used the same arguments to justify oppression of women in public as they do when stereotyping immigrants and refugees?

I am certain that many of us would be outraged.

MTV3: Being critical of immigration isn’t synonymous with being racist

Posted on by Migrant Tales

There is an interesting article published in MTV3 on anti-immigrant pressure group Homma ry chairman, Matias Turkkila, who tells us that being critical of immigration isn’t synonymous with being a racist. “(Death) threats  are a sad path that one should not take,” he said. “I am against such actions, but I understand in some cases the frustration of those people that make such threats.”

Even though open debate is a healthy trademark of western, democratic societies, the statement “being critical of immigration isn’t synonymous with being racist” is a good example of deliberately evasive and ambiguous language, or double-talk in plain English. How can one even “understand” people that aim to take the law in their hands because they disagree with an issue?

Are groups such as Homma ry really interested in debate when their popularity rides on bashing immigrants with the help of stereotypes and miconceptions? When groups such as Homma ry spread questionable “facts” about immigrants they help fuel and maintain a climate of racism in the country.

In my opinion many of these so-called “immigrant-critics” have serious problems understanding the outside world and that change forms part of our normal lives. Groups such as Homma ry don’t like to be labeled “racist” because it undermines their message, which is filled with hatred, stereotypes and suspicion of immigrants in Finland.

Racism manifests itself in different ways in different societies. In Finland, it appears as elsewhere as a stereotype that justifies our view of a WHOLE group. A good example are foreign construction workers, who are ALL working for slave-wages, not paying taxes and stealing jobs from “honest” Finns. Is this true?

I remember in the 1960s the same arguments used in Finland today to be against immigrants and refugees as those in the United States during the civil rights movement. Bigots claimed that “blacks are lazy and therefore they are poor” to justify their racism. In my opinion, a Finnish verion of the latter is taking place in this country and maintained by groups such as Homma ry.

I am confident as Finland grows more accustomed to immigrants and these groups learn to defend and fight for their rights in our society, interviews such as these by MTV3 will be carried out but in a more critical fashion since such groups will be put under closer scrutiny by society.

PÄÄKIRJOITUS: Maahanmuuttajat, suomalaiset ja muutos

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Niin sanottujen ”maahanmuuttokriittisten” ryhmien strategiat voivat epäonnistua pahasti jos he uskovat, että vain keskustelemalla avoimesti aiheesta “kansa yhydistysi” heidän taakse maahanmuutto ja pakolaispolitiikassa.  Eräs suuri virhe, jonka maahanmuuttajavastaiset ryhmät tekevät on, että he uskovat etteivät kulttuurit koskaan muuttuu, ja siksi jotkut maahanmuuttajaryhmät eivät sopeudu Suomeen.

Vaikka jotkut koulutetut ihmiset, virkamiehet, poliitikot ja toimittajat käyttävät näitä argumentteja heidän kielteisiin asenteisiin maahanmuutosta,  maanmuuttajista ja pakolaisista, ei yksikään heistä ole tuonut esille luotettavaa tutkimustietoa, joka vahvistaisi heidän väitteensä tosiksi.

Mielestäni yksi suuri ongelma Suomessa on, että emme ole lukeneet tai painottaneet riittävästi historiaamme. Historiassa on paljon tietoa siitä, kuinka olemme olleet ja tulemme olemaan monikulttuurinen yhteiskunta. Mielenkiintoinen kysymys onkin, miksi tieto monikulttuurisuudesta ei ole tiedostettu.

Uskon, että yhteiskuntamme arvot, jotka näkyvät Perustus- ja Yhdenvertaisuuslaissa, ovat kohdallaan. Jos hyväksyisimme toiset kulttuurit ja ihmiset osana suomalaista nykypäivän yhteiskuntaa, monet ongelmat liittyen rasismiin ja syrjintään voisivat poistua kertaheitolla.

Yhteiskuntamme arvot, jotka sallivat moniarvoisuuden ja monikulttuurisuuden  ovat voimavaroja, jotka antavat meille kaikille suomalaisille, riippumatta taustastamme voimia kohdata tulevaisuutemme yhteiskunta.

Rasismille ei siksi ole paikkaa Suomessa ja sitä pitääkin käsitellä samalla tavalla kuin mitä tahansa yhteiskunnallista sairautta. Nämä negatiiviset ilmiöt heikentävät ja hajottavat maatamme.

Olen asunut yli kolmekymmentä vuottaa Suomessa ja tunnen niin hyvät kuin haasteelliset kohdat yhteiskunnassamme. Siksi uskon, että pystymme voittamaan tämän ajan, jossa rasismi ja tietämättömyys ovat nostaneet päätään.

EDITORIAL: Immigrants, Finns and change

Posted on by Migrant Tales

So-called “immigrant-critical” groups may see their plans backfire badly if they believe that by debating openly immigration is all it takes to strengthen their negative stand against immigration and refugees. One of the biggest flaws these groups use is that they believe that since cultures are so different, they can therefore never adapt to Finland.

Even if educated people, public officials, politicians and journalists use these arguments to justify their negative stances on immigration and immigrants in Finland, not one of them has produced one credible study nor fact that confirms their views of other cultures.

In my opinion, one of the problems in Finland is that we have not studied our history thoroughly enough. We could find a lot of facts about what kind of society we were and that we will continue being a multicultural society. The interesting question to ask is why this information about Finland’s multiculturalism is not that well-known by the population.

I believe that our values as a society, which are enshrined in our Constitution and Non-Discrimination Act, are correct. If we would accept other cultures in the same way as we treat each other, many of the problems due to racism and discrimination would disappear in one shot.

Our values as a society, which also permit diversity and multiculturalism without somebody ramming “Finland-love-it-or-leave-it” (maassa maan tavalla) down our throats, are our strengths that give all of us as Finns, irrespective of one’s ethnic background, the ability to meet our future challenges as a society.

Racism for this reason has no place in Finland and it should be treated like any social illness. Such negative forces only serve to weaken our potential as a nation.

I have lived in Finland for over thirty years and believe I have learned to know the positive matters and challenges our society faces. For this reason I believe that we will be able to overcome this dark period where racism and ignorance have raised their head for all of us to see.

(Another) disturbing Keskisuomalainen editorial

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Jyväskylä-based Keskisuomalainen, which appears hellbent on enlightening us on how Finland should relate to other cultures, now dedicates an entire editorial based on two cases of circumcision practiced on children by their parents.While such operations should be only carried out by trained medical staff, it is surprising how forcibly Keskisuomalainen condemns such an act.

Taking into account a previous editorial that incredulously suggests that refugees should be helped in their home countries, it isn’t surprising how such writings help fuel hysteria and xenophobia among the population.

I would kindly suggest to Keskisuomalainen’s editors to take a course in multiculturalism at some Finnish university to bring themselves up to date on how modern, western and democratic societies live with diversity.Instead of looking at other cultures in a narrow-minded fashion, they would do their readers a service by bringing their knowledge on multiculturalism (they are against this path for Finland) up to date and what role it plays in our society.

If they don’t have time to attend any seminars, they should read Arto Leitzinger’s dissertation, Ulkomaalaiset Suomessa 1812-1972. At least they would understand that Finland was, is and will be a multicultural society demographically.

Moreover, their editorials should address more pressing social issues like racism in Finland, high unemployment/equal opportunity and pathways to integration of immigrants into Finnish society.