Claim: The deportation law has nothing to do with migration policy. Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, among other Perussuomalaiset* politicians Migrant Tales: It has all to do with migration policy! The pushback law has not only brought several pressing questions about how Finland respects Human Rights, its Constitution, and international agreements, but it continues to reveal…
Tag: asylum policy
Mari Rantanen has no credibility and should resign – her racist posts reveal who she is
In the face of the far right in government, the only thing that Prime Minister Petteri Orpo can parrot is that we have a good government program. The recent MEP election revealed how little credibility Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government has. The Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, suffered a stinging blow. The National Coalition Party (NCP) was spared…
The Perussuomalaiset’s political Stalingrad
I still remember clearly the 2011 general election when the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party saw the number of MPs surge to 39 from 5 previously. Some thought that the PS would implode as the Rural Party did in 1972. It took over 13 years for the PS to suffer its worst election loss in the European…
The government’s anti-racism program stops racism on paper
The Finnish government has called for comment on its proposed six-million-euro action program against racism by June 10th. The program’s development began last year when then President Sauli Niinistö was questioned at an international press conference about racist remarks made by ministers in the Petteri Orpo government. Announced in May, the program calls for anti-racist…
Finland’s pushback law will cause death, suffering, and loss of face
National Coalition Party Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government is drafting a new pushback law that permits Finland to subvert human rights, international law, and the rights enshrined in its constitution. Even if the law gets approval from parliament, it will not solve but worsen the problem at the Finnish-Russian border. Considering that Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Interior…
Let the asylum seekers in and help us solve our demographic woes
THE STORY WAS UPDATED There is a strange logic that is counterproductive, like shooting oneself in the leg. Finland has a labor shortage that is going to get worse. According to some sources, Finland will need up to 50,000 migrants a year to plug the deficit. I wonder why these types of estimates haven’t been…
Finland: Between xenophobia and a hard place
Apart from being the most right-wing government in a hundred years, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government is doing everything possible to disenfranchise migrants and minorities. We can mention raising the citizenship requirements from five to eight years and excluding Russians from having dual citizenship as indicators of how xenophobia is driving Finnish politics. One Russian…
Iraqi family awaiting possible deportation
. At the end of December, an Iraqi family received news from the police that they’d be deported to Iraq in about two weeks. After many rejections for asylum by the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) after living in Finland for eight years, it was the first time they had been hit with a deportation order….
Finland’s government dilemma: To pushback or not at the Finnish-Russian border?
As the xenophobic government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo aims to open some border crossings on the Finnish-Russian border on 14 January, the big question will the government revert to illegal pushbacks? Why is there concern? Orpo has gone as far as to suggest earlier that asylum seekers should be sent directly back to Russia…
Yle Poll: A poor showing for the government
Even if some news outlets like Yle claim that parties belonging to the government “have increased” their support, according to the latest opinion poll published by Yle, another fact is left out of the story. Is this the case? The full story? The total support given to the parties in the government stood at 48.5%,…