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…
Tag: asylum seekers
MP Heikki Vestman is one of the main anti-immigration ideologues of the National Coalition Party of Finland
National Coalition Party (NCP) MP and chairperson of the constitutional committee, Heikki Vestman, is making a name for himself by promoting xenophobia. In a previous post, Migrant Tales published how Vestman was using Islamophobia and bullying tactics to gain attention and power. His rhetoric has turned him into one of the main anti-immigration ideologues of…
The Finnish police can remove a hijab by force if you are an asylum seeker
A Turku Court of Apeal dropped all charges on 23.3 against seven police and security guards who removed a hijab by force from two asylum seekers in 2017. Apart from the long path of due justice, the case is unsettling because it raises the following question: why is it that a Muslim woman can use…
Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen: Spreading wholesale disinformation about Putin
Thursday’s A-talk not only exposed Perussuoomalaiset (PS)* Interior Minister Mari Rantanen’s total disregard and desire to trash international refugee agreements, but her propensity to spread disinformation to her voter base. The logic is the same that we’ve seen throughout history: I hate this group and this entitles me to spread lies about them at will….
Chest-beating and bravado, Finland’s Interior Minister Mari Rantanen has no credibility
Thursday’s A-talk exposed once again Interior Minister Mari Rantanen for what she is: A minister with a far-right worldview who loathes Muslims and other people of color. During the talk, she was ready to shelve international agreements that give foreign nationals the right to seek asylum. “Yes, I would urge us to reconsider and start…
Movies like Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border” are needed more than ever today
Thanks to Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border” we can now get a terrific glimpse of the suffering of asylum seekers who were used as political pawns by Belarus and Poland. Since it would have been impossible to film the movie in Belarus or Poland, Holland created a movie with actors to debict these people’s suffering. Writes…
Planning to move to Finland? Come at your own peril!
Finland is suffering from a chronic labor shortage in the face of an ever-shrinking labor force and graying of the population. If you want some friendly advice, Finland would be one of the last countries in Europe I’d move to. There are several reasons you should think twice before moving here. One of the main…
Nordic far-right populism is a threat to the welfare state and the region
In Finland’s parliamentary election in April, the country shifted abruptly from a left-wing government led by the charismatic Social Democratic Prime Minister Sanna Marin to a possible right-wing government. Some see the good result of the conservative National Coalition Party, and especially the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS),* as a threat to those values, social welfare, and…
Finland goes to the polls Sunday – another beachhead?
Far-right populism is an illness inflicting Europe at present and it now has a beachhead in Finland. Migrant Tales (18.4.2011) d. Yle published an opinion poll today showing the radical-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, Social Democrats, and National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) neck and neck. Another poll published Wednesday by Helsingin Sanomat showed Kokoomus leading (19.8%), followed by the Social Democrats and…
Finland’s fictitious search for the ideal foreigner
Contrary to the last three parliamentary elections in 2011, 2015, and 2019, the upcoming parliamentary election on April 2 is different for several reasons: war rages in the Ukeraine, Finland has sought Nato membership, economic growth, and chronic labor shortages are just a few. Apart from labeling people from outside the EU as “harmful” migrants,…