True Finns MP Pentti Oinonen has announced that he will not attend the President’s annual Independence Day reception on December 6th this year. Oinonen said that he would not be comfortable at a party attended only by people who are well off.
Tag: discrimination
YLE: Yritykset mainostavat työntekijöidensä suomalaisuudella
Useat pienet palvelualan yritykset mainostavat itseään sillä, että heidän kaikki työntekijänsä ovat suomalaisia. Vähemmistövaltuutetun toimistossa suomalaisia työntekijöitä korostavaa mainontaa pidetään arveluttavana. Jos markkinointi vaikuttaa työntekijöiden valitsemiseen, se voi olla myös laitonta.
What Finland’s immigration policy lacks
If we look at the dismal amount of immigrants and refugees as well as high unemployment one can reach only one conclusion: a policy that has failed miserably. Certainly progress has been made: the number of immigrants has risen albeit slowly to 143,256 today from 12,670 in 1981 while unemployment has come down officially from 53% in 1994 to over 20%.
The role of the Finnish social welfare state and newcomers
It is surprising that one can hear these days in private conversation from some teachers and people working with immigrants and refugees that some national groups should never be brought to this country because they will never adapt to our way of life. “Why do they continue to bring them here?” some say.
Ghostbusting national identities
Linda has posed an interesting question: What is Finnish culture? Even though the answer to the question is more complex than one would think, it brings forth some very important points about our identity and who we believe we are. One of the biggest problems with “national identities” and “cultures” is that they are built…
Does Finland and Europe need a civil rights movement?
One of the things that has surprised me about this blog are the overtly racist comments. These types of opinions resemble how some whites saw blacks in the United States before the civil rights movement. I do not think it has anything to do with expressing one’s opinions freely nor that some Finns and Europeans…
Being an immigrant in Finland: A letter from Ida
I do not usually do this. But I thought it was such a candid comment that I had to bring it to all of your attention. It reveals, in my opinion, what some foreigners feel about Finnish society but do not dare to say too loudly in public. Thank you Ida, I hope others follow…
Myths surrounding immigration to Finland
Reading posts and getting information on immigration in general in dynamic multicultural societies, one can pick out the myths that some Finns still use to claim that immigration is a bad thing. Myths 1) Immigration takes away jobs from Finns. 2) Immigrants come to Finland to take advantage of the welfare system. 3) Immigrants have…
Foreigners will help Finns see who they are
My father, who moved to Europe from Argentina at the age of 21in the early 1950s, told me that he never learned so much about himself except when he became a foreigner. In the same manner, and as more foreigners move to Finland, can they help us see the positive and negative aspects of our…
Some questions about immigration to Finland
Many thanks to all of you that have taken so actively part in the debate on immigration to Finland. There have been a wide spectrum of opinions over the issue. The most positive matter that these comments have shown is that we can debate them in a civil fashion. But there are some questions that…