Tag: discrimination

Our lopsided debate on immigration and refugees serves to keep our society white

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The most startling fact about a US state department report on human rights for 2012 weren’t the sentences for hate speech handed to Perussuomalaiset (PS) party members such as MP Jussi Halla-aho and Freddy Van Wonterghem, but the discrimination suffered by Finland’s Romany minority, which number about 10,000.

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Read full US secretary of state human rights report here.

The report states: ”Groups of Roma have lived in the country for centuries, and Roma are classified as a ’traditional ethnic minority’ in the ombudsman’s report. The Romany minority was the most frequent target of racially motivated discrimination, followed by Russian-speakers, Somalis, and Sami. Ethnic Finns were also occasionally victims of racially motivated crimes for association with members of minority communities.”

If  the Romany community is suffering the brunt of discrimination in Finland, why doesn’t anyone raise a fuss about it?  Instead or debating a festering issue like intolerance in Finland, we prefer to engage in a fruitless debate on whether Finns are racist or not and/or how many refugees commit crime and abuse social welfare.

It’s quite clear that the whole debate over intolerance in Finland is badly lopsided and highly selective.

There are an estimated 50,000-60,000 Muslims living in Finland, which amount to about 1% of the population. Moreover, the biggest national groups made up by Muslims, like Somalis and Iraqis, number 8,767 (4.1% of all immigrants) and 7,882 (3.1%), respectively, according to The Finnish Immigration Service.

In light of the above, here’s the crux of the issue concerning immigration, immigrants and cultural diversity in Finland: Why do we ignore our historic failure with the Roma while paying so much attention to Africans and Muslims, which are a small minority?

In my opinion, it not only reveals the extent of the victimization and racism against specific groups in our society by certain political parties like the PS, the media and general public, but more importantly our intolerance to people who are different from us and what’s not supposed to be debated.

By portraying certain groups as threats to our way of life, we effectively put in cold storage the all-important debate on cultural diversity. The present debate on immigrants, immigration and cultural diversity resembles in many cases bringing up pedophilia as an issue when debating gay rights.

One of the biggest wise tales of Finnish ethnicity is that it is white. Such an affirmation couldn’t be further from the truth.

Apart from over 1.2 million Finns that emigrated from this country between 1860 and 1999 and mixed culturally and ethnically with other groups in their new homelands, we are seeing the same thing happening today in Finland as more immigrants move to our country.

 

 

 

European Network Against Racism statement: Europe is losing out by failing to recognise the talents of migrants and ethnic minorities

Posted on by Migrant Tales

March 9, 2013: Migrants and ethnic minorities contribute hugely to Europe’s economic, social, political and cultural life. But failing to recognise and value this contribution –or worse, setting barriers to migrants’ participation in society– results in a waste of these many talents. This has a damaging impact on Europe’s resilience to the economic crisis, its creativity, and on the well being of European residents. 

ENAR’s publication: Hidden Talents, Wasted Talents? The real cost of neglecting the positive contribution of migrants and ethnic minorities’, launched today, provides evidence that migrants and minorities do contribute to Europe and that many talents go unrecognised. For instance, despite misconstrued myths of migrants as ‘welfare scroungers’, migrants are in fact contributing more to welfare states overall than the rest of the population. In France, a study found that migrants contribute 12 billion Euro annually to the state. Migrants are also playing a particular role in care work –a sector which is critically important to ensure high levels of labour market participation– and in sustaining healthcare systems across the EU. In the UK, migrant workers account for 19% of care workers and 35% of nurses employed in longterm care. In Ireland, 17.4% of health professionals identify themselves as migrants.

Yet Europe is not taking full advantage of its rich variety of cultures, traditions and languages. Rather, the fight for equality meets strong opposition, with widespread racism, xenophobia and discrimination. High unemployment across much of the continent has also led to an exacerbation of fears, with many blaming migrants. The notion that migrants are ‘stealing’ jobs from natives is unfounded, however. The reality is that migrants are needed to secure the future well being of Europe, particularly as populations grow older and birth rates decline. Moreover, in the midst of the economic crisis, one in four employers in Europe have difficulty filling positions due to lack of qualified individuals. Creating more opportunities for migrants would thus be to the advantage of everyone and would contribute to putting European economies back on track. European leaders must take mbitious measures to break down structural barriers and policies that do not make economic sense or ensure human rights protections, and that further limit migrants’ opportunities to participate fully in society.

ENAR Chair Chibo Onyeji said: “Imagine , how many more migrant ‘success stories’ would come to light if we ceased wasting talents because of discriminatory and exclusionary practices? How much better off would we all be? Diversity is part of the very foundation of Europe, and we can only build a strong and successful Europe by recognising on the value of our differences and revealing the hidden talents among us.”

Some Finnish banks require Somalis to be Finnish citizens to have access to online banking

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales understands that employees of banks like Nordea, Osuuspankki and Handelsbanken in Kouvola and Mikkeli tell Somalis that they must be Finnish citizens in order to have access to online banking. A blog entry published in March 2012 highlighted the difficulties that stateless persons face in opening a bank account never mind gaining access to online banking. 

Migrant Tales reported a year ago that a Nordea bank employee in Mikkeli told a stateless passport holder that he would need a valid passport to open an account.

Banks refuse to serve stateless passport holders because the person’s former identity cannot be confirmed on the document.

If one asks ten African immigrants if they have online banking or not, some will tell you that they have while others don’t, even if they are all stateless passport holders. This suggests that banks treat stateless persons and/or some Africans arbitrarily.

According to a stateless passport holder, some branch offices will give you online banking servies, while other’s won’t. Some banks require a passport and others a driver’s license to open a bank account.

“We went to the Osuuspankki branch office in Kouvola and inquired about online banking,” said a Somali-born immigrant. “The bank employee told me that I need to be a Finnish citizen before I can have online banking services. I should inquire to the police about this, the employee said.”

JusticeDemon said a year ago that there is a clear administrative problem over what counts as proof of identity and over the  implementation of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (Accession by Finland on 10 October 1968).

One point of that Convention is Article 27 (Identity papers), which states, “The Contracting States shall issue identity papers to any stateless person in their territory who does not possess a valid travel document.”

According to the Ombudsman for Minorities contacted last year by Migrant Tales, an identity card issued by the police should count as valid identification just like a passport.

The National Discrimination Tribunal of Finland (Syrjintälautakunta) gave Nordea Bank Finland a conditional fine of 5,000 euros for not accepting a French identity card as proof of identity, the Tribunal said in a statement.  Moreover, the Tribunal considered the bank’s refusal to serve the client and his removal from the premises as an infringement on his dignity and integrity.

The National Discrimination Tribunal of Finland fines Nordea for discrimination

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The National Discrimination Tribunal of Finland (Syrjintälautakunta) has given Nordea Bank Finland a conditional fine of 5,000 euros for not accepting a French identity card as proof of identity, the Tribunal said in a statement.  Moreover, the Tribunal considered the bank’s refusal to serve the client and his removal from the premises as an infringement on his dignity and integrity. 

Writes JusticeDemon: “A conditional fine is similar to a suspended prison sentence. Just as the felon must report to the parole office and stay out of trouble, a party that has been fined in this way must report back to the authority on its further conduct.”

“The Tribunal considered that no official instructions or the Bank’s own instructions prevented the Bank from accepting the petitioner’s French identity card as proof of identity. Because the petitioner’s French identity card is accepted as a travel document across the European Union, its reliability is comparable to an identity card issued by Finnish authorities when establishing a person’s identity,” according to the statement.

Foreigners who are stateless have had an especially hard time in opening bank accounts in Finland because it says on their passport that the person’s identity cannot be verified, Migrant Tales reported in March 2011.

Even so, some banks have given stateless persons a bank account but without the right to online banking. Other banks require a valid driver’s license, while other ones don’t accepted it as valid identification.

The National Discrimination Tribunal is an impartial and independent judicial body established under the Non-Discrimination Act and appointed by the Government.

Lip service and inaction water poisonous plants like racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Instead of debating whether racism and prejudice are serious problems or not in Finland, why not look at the factors that permit their existence in our society? A good starting point could be asking oneself the following question: Is our reaction to such social ills a reaction? 

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Inaction, be it in the form of lip service or silence, is one of the main causes why racism exists in any society. If racism were a poisonous plant, complacency would be the water and fertilizer we’d use to feed it.

Here is an example of the latter. Your friend and/or peers agree that what happened to you is racist but the only thing they will do is agree with you. Life continues the same way as before. Nothing has changed because nothing has been challenged or questioned.

Just like when doing a good interview, it’s what the interviewee doesn’t say that is the most revealing.

If over 1.2 million Finns emigrated from this country between 1860 and 1999, why is so little mentioned about them at school? What values, myths and social constructs does it help to maintain in Finland?

The debate on immigration, immigrants and cultural diversity is lined as well by a generous amount of complacent statements followed by the word but…

Here’s a classic example: I’m not a racist but…

Another classic strategy by those who don’t want to question racism in this country is that they neutralize such a social ill with the following affirmation: If there is racism in Holland it’s ok to have racism in Finland.

Another example of the latter is the reverse-racism argument or claiming that immigrants are more racist than white Finns.

Both above-mentioned affirmations aim to make racism justifiable in our society.

Here is a universal red herring used by anti-immigration groups. No matter where they are from, what their ideology is, it’s always the following point behind their intolerance: “They are so different from us that they can never adapt to our society. Our intolerance is therefore as a result justified.”

Many more examples could be citied. For me, however, one of the most worrying is the close relationship our inaction has with institutional racism. Our oppressive and discriminatory behavior against other groups is sealed and approved thanks to our silence and inaction.

Since racism is learned we can unlearn it.

Writes Julian Abagond in a recent blog entry: “Racism is something you have to unlearn on purpose. Not by trying to not see color but, as a first step, by understanding how racism works and how it has affected you.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Migrant Tales (July 8, 2012): The absurdity of the reverse-racism argument in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Every now and then you’ll hear a visitor on Migrant Tales claim: What about [reverse] racism against [white] Finns!? Racism is a complex problem but one matter singles it out: It is an effective tool to socially exclude, control and exploit other groups in society from vital resources such as jobs and economic wealth. 

The fact that white Finns are the standard of everything in Finland is enough proof that they wield real power. White Finns don’t have to understand racism because they simply don’t have to. It’s not an issue because they are the standard of this society, the norm. Everyone else has a prefix attached to them like immigrant, immigrant descendant, black, Roma etc.

Valkoinen valta-4
This graffiti that reads “White Power” in Finnish was on a special elementary school’s wall in Mikkeli, Finland, for months before it was removed.

In May 2011, the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS) party renounced all forms of racism, even positive discrimination, or affirmative action.

It is surprising that when the PS made their preposterous statement, few if any media in this country understood how racist and grotesque it was and how it revealed a serious case of  colorblind racism (let’s pretend we’re equal because ethnic background does not matter, when in fact it does).

Colorblind racism works in Finland in an implicit and explicit manner. Its aim is the same:  ethnic background is not the issue. If it is an issue, it’s your  ethnic background.

  • ·         We have such a wonderful society that we are way past racism so get over it (explicit colorblind racism);
  • ·         It’s your culture, your parents or you that is hindering adaption to our society. In this case I recognize your ethnic background but only to shift blame and wash my hands of the problem (implicit colorblind racism).

 Accusing a visible minority, or immigrant of being racist against white Finns, is a good example of implicit colorblind racism.  Since racism isn’t a problem in our society, it can’t be my problem. It’s your problem.

Some successful immigrants or visible minorities who have succeeded in Finland may reinforce the same colorblind racist argument as white Finns. They may claim:  ”I’m not white but I adapted to the white Finns’ world. That is why I am successful. You too can be.”

Those immigrants who have racism issues usually come from countries where such a social ill is the standard. It’s easy for them to accept the white Finn as a standard because they too were the norm in their former home country.  As a result, some embrace the idea of becoming a Tuomo-setä, or Uncle Tom, because they are encouraged to and rewarded by white Finnish society for such behavior.

If you are ever confronted by a person who uses the reverse-racism argument, ask him or her how is the prejudice of a minority as devastating as that of the majority?

White Finns should stop whining about reverse racism because it isn’t an issue. It’s only one of many loaded arguments used by them to justify their racism.

This post was originally published on Migrant Tales on July 8, 2012.

* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names of the party adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.

Migrant Tales (July 8, 2012): The absurdity of the reverse-racism argument in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Every now and then you’ll hear a visitor on Migrant Tales claim: What about [reverse] racism against [white] Finns!? Racism is a complex problem but one matter singles it out: It is an effective tool to socially exclude, control and exploit other groups in society from vital resources such as jobs and economic wealth. 

The fact that white Finns are the standard of everything in Finland is enough proof that they wield real power. White Finns don’t have to understand racism because they simply don’t have to. It’s not an issue because they are the standard of this society, the norm. Everyone else has a prefix attached to them like immigrant, immigrant descendant, black, Roma etc.

In May 2011, the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS) party renounced all forms of racism, even positive discrimination, or affirmative action.

It is surprising that when the PS made their preposterous statement, few if any media in this country understood how racist and grotesque it was and how it revealed a serious case of  colorblind racism (let’s pretend we’re equal because ethnic background does not matter, when in fact it does).

Colorblind racism works in Finland in an implicit and explicit manner. Its aim is the same:  ethnic background is not the issue. If it is an issue, it’s your  ethnic background.

  • ·         We have such a wonderful society that we are way past racism so get over it (explicit colorblind racism);
  • ·         It’s your culture, your parents or you that is hindering adaption to our society. In this case I recognize your ethnic background but only to shift blame and wash my hands of the problem (implicit colorblind racism).

Valkoinen valta-2_edited-1

 This graffiti that reads “White Power” in Finnish was on a special elementary school’s wall in Mikkeli, Finland, for months before it was removed. 

Accusing a visible minority, or immigrant of being racist against white Finns, is a good example of implicit colorblind racism.  Since racism isn’t a problem in our society, it can’t be my problem. It’s your problem.

Some successful immigrants or visible minorities who have succeeded in Finland may reinforce the same colorblind racist argument as white Finns. They may claim:  ”I’m not white but I adapted to the white Finns’ world. That is why I am successful. You too can be.”

Those immigrants who have racism issues usually come from countries where such a social ill is the standard. It’s easy for them to accept the white Finn as a standard because they too were the norm in their former home country.  As a result, some embrace the idea of becoming a Tuomo-setä, or Uncle Tom, because they are encouraged to and rewarded by white Finnish society for such behavior.

If you are ever confronted by a person who uses the reverse-racism argument, ask him or her how is the prejudice of a minority as devastating as that of the majority?

White Finns should stop whining about reverse racism because it isn’t an issue. It’s only one of many loaded arguments used by them to justify their racism.

 

 

When the state and regulations scheme to make life difficult for immigrants

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The lives of stateless persons in Finland isn’t easy by a long shot. On the one hand we want newcomers to adapt to our society but deny them a basic right like opening a bank account. Think for a moment how complicated life would be without a bank account. 

If you are a stateless person and lucky enough to open a bank account, you may not have access to online banking. This means that every bill you get must be paid at the bank for a fee.

Thirty years ago Finns paid their bills this way.

Not everyone can open a bank account in Finland. Only people who have a valid document. Banks consider a passport a valid document.

Just like society punishes you for belonging to a minority, the lives of stateless persons are penalized because they came from war-torn countries.

Some employees at banks like Sampo appear to make their own rules. One stateless person with a passport told me that a teller said  she could not open a bank account because she didn’t have a driver’s license!

I know of one case where a stateless person has travelled over 100 kilomters to his hometown to get money from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela). The journey by train implies spending a chunk of his small monthly earnings, never mind the time lost, in doing something that would take a few seconds at an ATM machine.

There’s some hope on the way. The ministry of interior wants to change matters so it would be easier for newly arrived immigrants to get an id card with which to get a debit card from the bank, according to YLE.

How long will it take before this very important issue is addressed effectively by the bank and state authorities?

Because it appears that the aim of these two institutions is to make life as difficult as possible for these people, don’t expect anything soon to happen.

Per-Looks: A taste of one’s own medicine for the PS of Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

I’ve been reading with some interest the ongoing debate on social media about the Per-Looks blog that has outraged some Perussuomalaiset (PS) party members. The blog shows a number of PS candidates running for office in the October 28 municipal elections.

Just for the record, I don’t like to make fun of people due to their ethnic background, religion, culture or looks and dress as is the case with Pers-Looks.

While the pictures published on Per-Looks aim to give an image that the PS are a bunch of Finnish hillbillies, the blog does offers the anti-immigration and anti-Islam party a taste of its own medicine.

Possibly those who feel offended by Per-Looks now understand how it feels to be a visible immigrant attacked in the Finnish media by politicians of parties like the PS.

Blaming the social democrats for the prank, Matti Puukkonen of the PS said that Per-Looks  was “a cowardly act made by losers who are in politics.”

Just like former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who commonly blamed negative media coverage on communists, the PS like to criticize eco-socialists for the critical coverage they receive in the Finnish media.

The person who made Per-Looks was quoted as saying on Nelonen TV that the aim of the blog was not to ridicule the PS candidates.

“The [purpose of the] Per-Looks blog is not to make fun or to make a political statement with the pictures,” the person said in a statement sent by email. “The pictures on displayed are just as they are found on different web sites [of the PS].”

Since the publishing of Per-Looks, other ones have appeared such as one for the National Coalition Party (Kok-Looks), Pirate Party (Pir-Looks) and Greens (Vih-Looks).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EU Commissioner for Human Rights: Protection against discrimination should be strengthened in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

 

This is a statement by the EU Commissioner for Human Rights:

Strasbourg, 25/9/2012 – “The Finnish Government has started a timely reform of the national equal treatment legislation. It is now crucial to ensure accessibility of the protection framework to all victims of discrimination and avoid unnecessary fragmentation of equality bodies” said today Nils Muižnieks, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, releasing a report based on the findings of his visit to Finland carried out on 11-13 June.

The Commissioner welcomed the new National Action Plan on Fundamental and Human Rights, but pointed out that it lacked measures for human rights education. “The recently created independent Human Rights Centre and Human Rights Delegation should aim to fill in some of the gaps of the National Action Plan. It is important that these two bodies, which are going to constitute a National Human Rights Institution together with the Parliamentary Ombudsman, are provided with adequate resources and means to fulfil their extensive mandates.”

The Commissioner is concerned that a gender pay gap of 17.9% still remains, and that violence against women continues to be a serious problem. “The authorities should improve coordination in their responses to violence against women and extend the network of emergency shelters.”

Commissioner Muižnieks is particularly concerned about racist hate speech, also coming from certain politicians, and the extreme marginalisation of young Somali persons. “Further efforts are needed to address discrimination experienced by Roma, Russian-speakers and Somalis who face considerable obstacles in many fields of life, including employment.”

While welcoming the Finnish plan to deinstitutionalise persons with intellectual disabilities, the Commissioner recommends the prompt ratification of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and the involvement of disabled people in its monitoring.

The Commissioner also urges Finland to recognise Sámi rights to land and to reindeer herding in the traditional manner, and to ratify the International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 concerning indigenous peoples. ”The close participation of Sámi representatives in the ratification process is essential.”

Press contact in the Commissioner’s Office:
Stefano Montanari, +33 (0)6 61 14 70 37 ; [email protected]

Keep up to date with the Commissioner on Twitter