Thank you Social Democrat MP Eero Heinäluoma

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Thank you Social Democrat MP Eero Heinäluoma for improving immigrants’ lives in Finland. Some students told me that people stopped them on the street and asked them that they should leave Finland because there is no work for them.

I wonder how many immigrants have been harassed as a result of Heinäluoma’s statement?

UPDATE (May 8):  An interesting development in the immigration debate in Finland is that more people like Akava union chairman Matti Viljanen have spoken against Heinäluoma’s comment on immigrants. He said that Akava supports the government’s initiative to make it easier for labor immigrants to move to Finland. Viljanen expressed concern over how racism is overtaken the ongoing immigration debate.

In an interview in the Swedish daily HBL, the SDP MP said that labor immigrants that come to Finland will fuel racism because they will take jobs away from Finns. In the statement, Heinäluoma indirectly condoned racism since it stopped immigrants from taking jobs from Finns.

The MP conveniently forgot that 2.7% of Finland’s population are foreigners and that unemployment among the immigrant community stood at a lofty 26% at the end of 2009.

Does anyone need any further explanation why racism continues to be an issue in Finland?

The multicultural society of the future

Posted on by Migrant Tales

It seems odd that in today’s technologically advanced societies in Europe and elsewhere our views of other groups continue to pose major challenges. If I had to picture the situation in a cartoon, I would draw a picture of one of our first primates, Australopithecus africanus, which existed 2-3 million years before present sitting in front of a computer and speaking to the future with a Skype time machine.

Even though an image of an Australopithecus africanus may shock some of us, we could, if we learned how to communicate with this ancestor, find common opinions on how diversity can jeopardize the social integrity of the group.

Even though the picture suggests that Australopithecus africanus was monogamous, what values would we share in common with this primate ancestor? Source: Mendelianblogs.files.wordpress.com

If there is a new watershed that the Internet and globalization has brought it could be the chance to be more independent from some of the more adverse values (like those that fuel racism and discrimination) of society. Thus we could, so to speak, eat our cultural cake and have it at the same time.

The problem, I believe, is that traditional modern societies and some of its different members, especially the seats of power, are reticent to such change because it would undermine their economic, political and social power.  Race or ethnicity is only a pretext to identify and exclude others from society’s pot of gold.

The modern society of the future (unless we end up destroying ourselves) will be built on diversity inside a hybrid cultural existence. We accept this form of society because we profit from it economically, environmentally and socially. If, however, we resist this change in a bellicose fashion, we will continue to be regulated by wars and petty and not-so-petty conflicts.

The new society that sees diversity as normal will be a huge step from classifying our world from the suspicious and hostile “us” and “them.”

MTV3 poll shows Social Democrats most satisfied with immigration policy

Posted on by Migrant Tales

A poll published by MTV3 on Sunday shows that the Social Democrats are the most satisfied with Finland’s immigration policy, with Kokoomus and the Center Party wanting stricter controls.

The results of the poll are the opposite of what SDP chairperson Jutta Urpilainen and MP Eero Heinäluoma have been signalling about tighter controls on labor immigration and that foreigners should respect Finnish values (maassa maan tavalla).

According to the poll, 36% of Social Democrats believe that Finland’s present immigration policy was not strict enough compared with 66% and 60% of Kokoomus and Center Party respondents, respectively. What is surprising is that 47% of the Social Democrats responded that the present immigration policy was adequate compared with Kokoomus (26%)  and the Center Party (36%).

As one Social Democrat told Migrant Tales, the results of the MTV3 poll are the opposite of what the party leadership has been signalling about tighter controls on immigration. “It is a short-sighted policy because the economic situation can turn for the better and then what are you going to say?” the source said.

Finnish Anti-Immigrant Personalities of the Month (April): Jutta Urpilainen & Eero Heinäluoma

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales will begin to bestow on a monthly basis the Anti-Immigrant Personality of the Month award.  Since we did not have one for the previous month, Migrant Tales has selected Social Democratic Party chairperson, Jutta Urpilainen and MP Eero Heinäluoma, as the Ant-Immigrant Personalities for the month of April.

Merits: With the stroke of a sentence in the end of March, “Love it (or leave it)” or “In Rome do as the Romans do” (maassa maan tavalla), Urplilainen converted the SDP into an anti-immigration party that flirts with the ultra-nationalist True Finns. Her right-hand man, Heinäluoma, seconded her rhetoric by stating in an HBL interview that immigrants will cause racism because they will take jobs away from Finns.

This dynamic duo has done more to fuel and maintain a climate of suspicion against immigrants in Finland than many hate speeches over the years.

ANTI-IMMIGRANT PERSONALITIES OF THE MONTH OF APRIL: SDP MPs JUTTA URPILAINEN AND EERO HEINÄLUOMA

Eero Heinäluoma (left) and Jutta Urpilainen (Source: Savon Sanomat/Lehtikuva).

More anti-immigration “goodies” from the Social Democrats

Posted on by Migrant Tales

If you want to look for some of the mentors of the Social Democratic Party’s anti-immigration wing providing sound-bite goodies to the media, MP Kari Rajamäki is one of them. Contrary to MP Eero Heinäluoma and SDP chairperson, Jutta Urpilainen, Rajamäki has a long track record of seeing immigration as a threat.

Rajamäki was interior minister in 2003-07.

Even though one would think that a left-wing party like the SDP should have a more favorable view of downtrodden classes like immigrants, in Finland it does not work that way. Setting aside a few nuances, the anti-immigrant wing of the SDP is very similar to the ultra-nationalist True Finns’ immigration policy.

In a letter to the editor in Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest daily, Rajamäki upholds and continues to spread the myth that we are being “invaded” by hordes of illegal workers/refugees and therefore we must suspect every foreigner that enters the country.  In the letter to Helsingin Sanomat, he incites fear and anti-immigrant rhetoric by stating foreign workers are a problem because they work illegally and do not pay taxes.

It would be great that the SDP, instead of vilifying foreign workers, would actually give us some concrete cases of the “worrying” trend of illegal immigrants in the country. One of the saddest aspects of the SDP’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is that it helps maintain the present abuse and discrimination in the Finnish labor market.

Local government minister, Mari Kiviniemi of the Center Party, was spot on in her May Day speech when she said that Heinäluoma and company want to capitalize politically on people’s stereotypes of foreigners.

Certainly we should find and expose companies that break the law instead of labelling every foreigner in this country as a potential tax evader. (See Are You a Target of Racism question number 5).

Have we seen any concrete visible cases of wrongdoing of illegal workers and tax evaders? No. Why? Because it is a probably nothing more than a ploy by the SDP to bash immigrants  and keep public opinion hostile to foreigners as the 2011 parliamentary elections near.

Fallacies of Finland’s immigration-refugee debate

Posted on by Migrant Tales

If we look at the ongoing immigration-refugee debate in Finland, there are six seven fallacies that one should look at critically in order to understand the debate. I have compiled a list of the top six seven claims that I consider the most absurd and politically questionable but are used constantly in the ongoing debate:

1. The SDP “love it (or leave it)” or “In Rome do as the Romans do” (maassa maan tavalla) stand on immigration. This rhetoric is nothing more than a good-cop-bad-cop tactic to bash immigrants while saying that the SDP party “welcomes newcomers.” Have you noticed that nowhere in the statements of SDP chairperson Jutta Urpilainen and MP Eero Heinäluoma do they tell you how many immigrants they are speaking of and from where? Last year some 4,000 immigrants got residence permits from outside the EU. Both Heinäluoma and Juttilainen speak as if Finland were not an EU member where people can work freely in different member-state countries.

2. SDP MP Eero Heinäluoma: “immigrants will fuel racism.”  This statement was made in the Swedish-language daily HBL. The MP does not consider racism a problem in Finland since it is the immigrants’ fault. They “will take jobs away from Finns,”according to him.  Heinäluoma’s argument is as ludicrous as those given by some sexual offenders,  who claim that “the devil made them do it” because the woman looked so sexy and therefore it was her fault she got raped.

3. Finns fear being labelled racists and therefore don’t speak freely enough about immigration issues. All one has to do is check the media in Finland to see that there is a very lively and passionate debate on immigration and refugees. Those who disagree are anti-immigration groups like the True Finns, Hommaforum, and Jussi Halla-aho, who would inflame discussion by fuelling it with more nationalism and racism.

4. True Finns: We are defending Western values. Since when was spreading hatred and populism defending modern Western values? I am certain that the National Socialist Party of Germany in the early 1930s used the same arguments to seize power. If parties like the PS and others would get in power, their aim would be to undermine civil liberties and create a many-tier society where anything different from their point of view would be seen as a threat. The first civil liberties that would fly out of the window are acceptance of diversity, freedom of speech and equality. Like the Nazis and other ultra-nationalist groups, they would argue that diversity is bad and therefore we have the right to kick out everyone who we do not like from the country (see Lebensraum). If you ever meet a representative from an anti-immigration group, ask him/her what should be done to people they consider “threats” to our values. You will get back as an answer a modern version of Lebensraum.

5. “We aren’t racists.” Too many speak about racism in Finland without being a minority nor having an adequate background to understand the social ill. Just because one has an academic degree is no guarantee that they understand racism. Some of the big deficiencies in Finland concerning the integration program is that it takes too little into account what immigrants want and need. Racist groups use the argument “we aren’t racists” to maintain a hate discourse in public. When you threaten to sue them for slander, they argue that their freedom-of-speech right has been violated. In English we call that type of defense a generous dose of phony baloney.

6. Being “critical on immigration.” This is a funny term made up by the anti-immigration groups that do not want to be labelled racists. Thus we are critical NOT racists when we bash immigrants and refugees with colorful adjectives. If one studied what they are actually saying, it would be easy to conclude that their “critique” of immigrants and refugees is a gross understatement. It is only a flowery diplomatic term that hides their real agenda, which is not acceptance of other cultures in our society.

7. Foreign workers are being abused and working illegally. This is favorite of the Social Democratic Party. If we were to believe them, the majority of the foreign workers in Finland are working in the black for slave wages. If this is the case, why aren’t we hearing of any huge busts in the media or of officials clamping down on the serous problem? The answer is simple: It is a scare tactic by the SDP to spread and maintain a climate of racism in Finland.  The last thing that the likes of Heinäluoma and others are worried about are working conditions and discrimination that immigrants face on a daily basis.

SDP-Heinäluoma anti-immigration drama: How many are threatening Finland?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

After one wing of the Social Democratic Party notched closer to the anti-immigration True Finns, one should quietly ask what’s all the fuss about? SDP MP Eero Heinäluoma stated in an interview with Swedish daily HBL that Finland should not encourage labor immigrants because there are 300,000 unemployed. Fair enough, then he goes on and blames immigrants for spreading racism because “they will take jobs from Finns.”

But let’s ask how many workers came from outside the EU to Finland last year. Are you ready for this: 4,000, according SDP MP Susanna Huovinen. Yes, that’s right: 4,000 people are threatening Finland!

The second intentionally unanswered question by Heinäluoma is from where are these non-EU workers going to come from? The Ukraine? Belarus?

Apart from inciting nationalist sentiment at the expense of the immigrant community, Heinäluoma and SDP chairperson Jutta Urpilainen are examples of people that give politics  a bad name. Some will sell their souls and ideals wholesale to further their careers.

SDP veteran politician Erkki Tuomioja is another party member who has given the thumbs down to Heinäluoma’s populist anti-immigration rhetoric. In his blog he accuses the SDP MP of making unfounded statements like “immigrants take jobs from Finns.” Tuomioja continues: “This argument (used by Heinäluoma) only happens in a stagnant and lifeless economy where workers are regulated.”

It is evident that Heinäluoma and Urpilainen are opporunistically using immigrants to further their party’s chances in the 2011 elections. The collateral damage their stances have caused on the immigrant community has come in the form of bolstered racism and suspicion in this country.

¿Eres una víctima del racismo en Finlandia?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

El exámen original lo publiqué en inglés y ha recibido ya más de 10 200 visitas y 1 080 comentarios (abril de 2010). El racismo es un mal social que no se puede condonar en ninguna sociedad.

Este es un pequeño examen para extranjeros para saber si eres una víctima de la discriminación en Finlandia:

1) Soy autónomo (para algunos es la única manera de conseguir empleo)
2) Estoy desempleado (25% de los inmigrantes en Finlandia están sin trabajo)
3) Los finlandeses me miran como un bicho raro
4) Empleados públicos, como la policía, toman su tiempo conmigo
5) La policía me considera culpable antes de que yo compruebe que soy inocente
6) Algunos finlandeses me tratan demasiado bien
7) Los finlandeses desconfían de mí
8)Tengo que ser dos veces mejor que un finlandés en el trabajo
9) Si me equivoco, es un “escandalo” más grande que normal
Diez)En un debate, siempre sé menos que un finlandés.
11) Me atacan con comentarios hostiles en mi blog porque denuncio el racismo.

Si respondiste “sí” a dos de los casos, es posible que eres una víctima del racismo en Finlandia pero si fue afrimativo en tres o más casos tu respuesta, eres definitivamente una víctima de la discriminación.

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.