It is surprising, even worrying, that outsiders are the ones that help burst the media’s many bubbles. One such OP-ED published Wednesday in Helsingin Sanomat by Antti Kivijärvi, and Martta Myllyä sheds light on the blind spot created by exceptionalism and ethnocentrism. Should it be a surprise that this state of affairs happens whenever migrants…
Tag: Afghanistan
PS’ Riikka Purra feeds Afghans to the dogs
The new chairperson of the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, Riikka Purra, will soon be calling out the knives. In her latest tweet, she reveals her radical cruelty against the vulnerable. In the Tweet below, she feeds the Afghans to the dogs and shows the worst of Finland. No experts, human rights activists, defenders of the…
The overdose of hypocrisy and crocodile tears from the West on Afghanistan
I don’t know if you feel the same way about helping Afghans after the Taliban took over the country. Listening to politicians and the media, two words reveal the present state of things: hypocrisy and crocodile tears. Such deception is not only coming from Western leaders but from the Taliban as well. Below are some…
PS’ Mika Niikko: Muslims should be prohibited from having a family
Perussuomalaiset MP and chair of the foreign affairs committee, Mika Niikko, said in Helsingin Sanomat that he’d only want to give asylum to Afghan women and girls. Niikko’s and the PS’ xenophobic views of asylum seekers are exposed. “I am not heartless to not help women and children who seek to come and seek shelter from a…
A chat with an Afghan asylum seeker who was recently deported back to his country
The text below was edited for clarity. QUESTION (Q): What were the first feelings and impressions you had when you returned to Kabul? AFGHAN ASYLUM SEEKER (AAS): It was a really bad feeling when they return me to Kabul. I felt that my life will be really difficult in the future and I must try…
Asylum seeker in Joutseno immigration removal center cell 222: Returning to year zero in Afghanistan
Mohammed*, 21, who was detained at Mikkeli’s Suonsaari asylum reception a week ago on Monday (10.12), will probably face deportation on Wednesday and flown with a one-way ticket back to Afghanistan. Mohammed, who lived a part of his life in Iran, admits that he is penniless. The young man came to Finland like so many…
Asylum seeker in Joutseno immigration removal center cell 222: “I am sad and I have cried”
When you are with asylum seekers in Finland, you see them one day they end up detained and soon deported, an episode in one’s life that he or she will remember the rest of his or her life. This is the case of twenty-one-year-old Mohammed, an Afghan asylum seeker who came like so many to Finland in 2015.
A message from Ali, who was deported to Kabul, Afghanistan, from Finland
A thirty-year-old Afghan asylum seeker who was deported from Finland three months ago got in touch with me Thursday morning. His messages on Messenger were simple but behind them were evident uncertainty and anxiety. We spoke in Finnish by phone later in the afternoon. Ali had learned a lot of Finnish in the two and a half years he waited unsuccessfully for a residence permit.
Fayaz’s statements from his cell in Metsälä Reception Center for migrants
A week after Fayaz has stopped his 10-day hunger strike by the insistence of nurse and caseworkers, he has published a video from his cell in the Metsälä reception center for migrants. In the video (Published by Fayaz and Ahmad Hosseini a local activist) he is giving an update about his situation, his case, the unbelievable stress, uncertainty about his…
Day 9 of Fayaz’s hunger strike: Coping with intense physical and psychological stress
Migrant Tales will begin to publish stories about Fayaz’s hunger strike. Fayaz is an Afghan asylum seeker who faced deportation from Finland and is currently detained at Helsinki’s Metsälä immigration removal center.