Finland’s political amnesia shrowded in denial and hostility comes in the form of knee-jerk reactions. Those knee-jerk reactions may appear by acting dumb to difficult questions or by destroying your credibility in public.
I met Maryan Abdulkarim many years ago and commended her bravery in the face of continuous suspicion and hostility. Many in this country see her bravery as a positive matter needed in a Finland that suffers from too many Teflon politicians and political amnesia.
After six years of being a host on the Yle television show Jälkivisaat raati, which discusses topical issues of the day, Abdulkarim decided to leave after the program decided to include former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson (1995-2017), Timo Soini, as its new host.
If truth Is the first casualty in war, then the second casualty is the loss of your civil rights.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin are due to announce Thursday that Finland should join Nato “without delay,” according to The Guardian.
While Finland’s security concerns are valid enough for its giant eastern neighbor and what’s happening in Ukraine, the rushed pace of our membership in Nato has stymied debate about Finland’s major foreign policy shift.
One of the matters that worry me is if our hardened stance against Russia will continue to fuel our xenophobic tendencies. As a Nato member, will Finland find understanding to promote social equality for minorities, including Muslims, Africans, and people of color?
Another aspect that raises question marks is the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus).
Even if Nato will improve our security, the new tougher face of Finland could have a negative impact on our Nordic values and how they are applied to different groups.
Länsiväyläis a community newspaper that lives off advertising revenues. One story on Ukrainian refugees raking a park in Kirkonnummi, a city near Helsinki, is another chapter in framing Ukrainian refugees as “good” refugees, while similar people from the Middle East are viewed as “bad” refugees.
One PS politician states:
“These Ukrainians are pretty different from many who sought asylum in Finland.
Thankfulness is shown in this way (raking a park lawn. See picture below.)
I hope that some of them remain in Finland when the war ends.
They are needed here.
I believe they will not be over-represented in crime statistics. “
Iraqi asylum seekers raking leaves in a story published in 2015. Source: YleA far-right Perussuomalaiset politician praising Ukrainian refugees in order to hit Muslim refugees below the belt. Source: Facebook
Instead of framing “good” and “bad” migrants, it would be good for the media to show that we are as a society humane and ready to help others. If we can open our hearts to Ukrainians, why couldn’t we do the same for people from the Middle East and Africa?
It is quite true that when people come to a new country like Finland, they have a ”honeymoon” period – everything looks new and interesting. The first few months can feel like an extended holiday, and you experience the seasons, the holidays and the culture.
When it came time for me to look for work, and the first year, and then 20 months went by – it was so hard to explain to family and friends far away that there was just no way to find a job. One of my UK friends told me, ”Just take anything – even cleaning, and then other things will come”. They rarely did – whether I set my hopes high or low.
Fast forward another 18 years, and finding work is just as difficult, in fact, even harder for middle-aged people. Over the past winter, I tried looking into some new ideas through the ”Startup” groups, and then the TE office sent my details to the BusinessOulu office.
On the 1st of March, a lady from BusinessOulu called, and introduced herself as a ‘business coach’ and she started to ask me about my recent work and searches. I explained some of the challenges I have had, and almost dropped the phone when I heard her say to me – ”Oh, I think you are too old to work”. A few seconds passed before I reminded her that her own President was older in his mid-70s, but she brushed it off and said ”oh that’s different.”
I guess in Finland, if you are a wealthy and famous man, you have more rights to a job than an immigrant woman without an income.
Another of my challenges has been the ‘Brexit Punishment’ British immigrants get – many officials like to make things difficult for us, regardless of our politics. Finland, via Migri (The Finnish Immigration Service), decreed all British permanent residents reapply for another Residency (plus 54 euros) and have interview, and then wait for a decision. This is currently taking – not weeks, but months! My own is now scheduled to take 14 months.
A 33-year-old driver driving at high speed in the city center ended up hitting several cars and crashing in front of a cafe on Pohjoiesplanadi on May Day Eve, according to Yle News. Three people were injured including the suspect.
The suspect, a member of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party and a public servant at the ministry of economic affairs and employment, resisted arrest and yelled at the police.
In a video, he calls the police the devil and says repeatedly “amen” on the ground as he is being apprehended.
The suspect was a PS candidate in the country election held in January and on the same list as Riikka Purra, the chairperson of the far-right party.
The suspect is being held for aggravated endangerment of traffic safety, aggravated drunk driving, grievous bodily injury, resisting an official, and insubordination, the police said in a statement, according to Yle News.
(Left) Snapshot of the suspect’s Instagram page and (right) Iltalehti reporting on what happened.
Strangely, there has been no response from the PS on what happened.
If the person had been a Muslim, we all know how the PS and the Finnish media would have reacted.
Shouldn’t we demand, in the far-right PS example, an apology from all the party members for what happened?
Considering that discrimination in the labor market is well-documented in numerous studies, it is surprising how little is still being done to challenge this problemandhow migrant and minority voices are excluded from the debate. True, some stories quote migrants, but they are usually the victims and not the experts with solutions.
The lack of minority voices in the debate allows for denial and fuels bias. With so few minorities in newsrooms, it should come as any surprise why so little is written about Islamophobia and why it is still not seen as a form of racism.
There are other factors like the majority’s fear of losing power, spreading hate speech in order to acquire power, ignorance, and our lack of will to challenge institutional racism and our prejudices.
Women’s rights are topics that migrant newcomers encounter when attending integration courses. Misogyny and feminism are important topics that everyone should understand. But other ones are equally important, like anti-racism, religious freedom, living in a culturally diverse society, and how to claim and defend one’s inalienable rights.
Terminology on the topic is also confusing. The term tasa-arvo (gender equality) is commonly used by the media, politicians, and even policy-makers to mean yhdenvertaisuus (non-discrimination). When politicians talk about gender equality, do they mean non-discrimination? Do they mean women’s rights are more important than social exclusion and racism against people of color?
Näyttää siltä, että Perussuomalainen Nuoriso tykkää kopioida vanhaa retoriikkaa. Teuvo Hakkarainen sanoi samaa yli 10 vuotta sitten. Ilta-Sanomien mukaan Hakkarainen ehdotti, että homot, lesbot ja somalit pitäisi laittaa asumaan yhdessä Ahvenanmaalle.
Tähän ryhmään nyt kuuluu kielteisen turvapaikkapäätöksen saaneiden.
Väite herättää monessa suhteessa paljon kysymyksiä. Miten vauras pohjoismainen hyvinvointivaltio, joka perustaa arvonsa sosiaaliseen yhdenvertaisuudeen ja oikeudenmukaisuuteen ja jolla on yksi maailman parhaista koulutusjärjestelmistä, voi langeta rasismin ansaan?
Pitäisikö Perussuomalainen Nuoriso muuttaa Ahvenanmaalle etsimään tähän kysymyksen vastausta?
The Right to Live (Lupa elää) citizen’s initiative passed through the 50,000 signatures barrier Friday. If passed by parliament, the initiative will grant four-year residence permits to undocumented migrants who came to Finland before January 1, 2017.
The ministry of interior published its recommendations on what to do with some 3,000 undocumented migrants who came to Finland in 2015-2016. Of this group, about 300 are children.
States the Right to Live: “An unprecedented number of asylum seekers arrived in Finland during the years 2015 and 2016. Many went through asylum processes that were hurried and of poor quality. More than 5 years later, some of them are in a legal limbo and are still waiting for a residence permit, while some are waiting for the first non-appealable decision to their asylum applications.”
The proposal, made by the Green League, to grant a residence permit to undocumented migrants has received opposition from government parties like the Social Democrats (SDP) and Center Party.
Migrant Tales has published several stories about the lives of undocumented migrants in Finland. Here is Amir’s story.
Some of the most vocal government objectors to the proposal are SDP MP Eveliina Heinäluoma and Mikko Kärnä of the Center Party, both parliament’s administrative committee members.
Be ready to hear a lot of empty whining by some politicians on why we should continue to let thousands of undocumented migrants and their children live on the fringes of society without any rights.
Ever wonder why the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party gets so excited about so-called failed immigration and riots in Sweden? Is it because there isn’t enough news in Finland to spike and spread their Islamophobic message and perpetuate their deceptive claims?
The PS is a case in point to study how fake news about migrants is planted and watered in Finland. You only need two things: fake claims and silent media.
A lot of fake news about migrants is perpetuated by the PS. One of these is that Finland is “on the path of Sweden” when it comes to brown migrants.
Some of the toxic assumptions that such a claim makes are that certain groups of migrants, namely Muslims and people of color, are prone to violence and anti-social behavior because of their cultural background.
Such claims or news stories dig deeper into why there is social unrest in Sweden and its causes. Ever heard of institutional racism? Discrimination? Lack of social mobility?
Placing the blame on migrants and minorities won’t solve matters but perpetuate the problem.
A PS tweet: “Finland should not take the same path as Sweden. We don’t want burning police cars. A policy shift is needed.” Ville Tavio is the chairperson of the PS parliamentary group. Source: Twitter
Apart from the lack of news in Finland and crystal ball predictions about our cultural diversity in Finland, why do the PS rarely state that they are targeting Muslims, people of color or brown and black people?
Is it because their racist rhetoric is so immersed in code words like “asylum seeker” and “people of foreign background” mean groups like Muslims? Are they fearful of being charged for ethnic agitation?
Considering that 17% of Helsinki’s population speaks another mother tongue other than Finnish, Swedish, and Saami, it is surprising how slowly the newsroom of Finland’s biggest daily, Helsingin Sanomat, is still so white.
Why does the media not challenge fake news about migrants?
Is it because the media is part of Finland’s racism problem?
