The Finnish government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin plans to overturn the country tightened immigration law and family reunification requirements, which came into force a year later after a record 32,477 asylum seekers came to Finland in 2015. The then government of Center Party Prime Minister Juha Sipilä, the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party was a…
Tag: asylum seekers
Exposing white Finnish privilege #81: Racializing crime, perpetuating stereotypes and racism
Treat with tweezers whenever percentage figures are used to depict sexual assault cases by migrants. A government-commissioned study published Thursday concluded that migrants are over-represented in suspected sexual assault crimes, perpetuating a toxic narrative. Such generalizations give ammunition to Islamophobes like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party to maintain and reinforce racist stereotypes. To look at how the Finnish…
The Finnish media’s reporting about migrants and minorities is a disappointment
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…
Insulting migrants is called “discussion” and a privilege of white Finns
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED Remember when Center Party parliamentary group leader Juha Pylväs slammed asylum seekers as “parasites” that wanted to live off social welfare? Pretty sickening and lowly on his part. I hope that Pylväs get charged with ethnic agitation. But what is worse? The silence and support for what he said and the…
The PS and its obsession with migrants
If you had the opportunity to listen inside the brain of a Perussuomalaiset (PS)* politician, you’d probably hear the following word: migrants, maahanmuuttajat, migrants, maahanmuuttajat… The head of the PS parliamentary group, Ville Tavio, regurgetates that obsessive word in countless tweets and statements. Tavio tweets: “Finnish human rights are threatened as a result of massive…
Ilayta’s and her family’s new life in Finland is a message full of resilience, hope, and courage
Migrants search for hope. Their searching offer us hope. Fourteen-year-old Ilayta’s family history and her drawings offer a glimpse of what hope is. They were searching for five years for a new home in Greece, and four years in Finland finally paid off in July 2019, when they were given a residence permit in Finland….
Number of coronavirus infections at the Espoo asylum reception center soar to 97
Coronavirus infections at the Luona-managed Nihtisilta reception center in Espoo now stand at 97, according to Luona’s Business Director Suvi Salonen. That compares with two cases at the beginning of April and up to 25 during the middle of the month. “We tested 207 people [of the Nihtisilta reception center] on Monday and Tuesday and…
Greek-Turkish border crisis: Shame on the EU, shame on Turkey, shame on us
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED Shame on Greece. Shame on Turkey. Shame on Europe. Shame on President Sauli Niinistö as thousands of migrants are massing at the Greek-Turkish border. The pictures that Europeans are witnessing the humanitarian crisis through their local media are scary. Yesterday, Monday, it was reported that a child aged 6 or 7…
The PS playbook of how to spread racism, disinformation and fake news
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* first vice president and MP, Riikka Purra, is at it again. During the postal strike, she misled people by stating that 98% of early morning mail carriers were migrants. Early morning mail carriers are a small part of the postal company’s services. According to Posti, 80% of postal workers in Finland and 70%…
Iltalehti does it again: Spreading hatred and degrading asylum seekers
Finland’s tabloids, Iltalehti and Ilta-Sanomat, are part of the country’s racism and Islamophobia problem. Back in 2015, Ilta-Sanomat stated on a billboard that 10,000 “illegal refugees” will come to Finland. This biased and racist journalism exposes how biased and unbalanced some Finnish media is. In their ever-alarming way to boost sales, Iltalehti led a story…