Tag: discrimination
Foreigner, jobless and excluded from the job market despite fluency in Finnish language
How well must I speak Finnish in order to land a job? That question, even if it hounds many of us, is a very topical question that leads us to other ones that expose the culprit of discrimination. Like most matters in Finland that deal with discrimination and racism, the burden of proof falls on the victim.
Few will disagree that we need a more radical proactive about-turn by the authorities requiring them to monitor and challenge discrimination and racism in all public spaces.
It’s clear that if we wait for politicians in this country, never mind the government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä to improve matters on this front, we’ll be waiting for centuries long after we have turned into dust.
www.mol.fi is one site were lots of people search for attainable or unattainable opportunities.
But we don’t have centuries to wait or the patience. We want the government and the public servants of Finland to take a more active role in combating all forms of discrimination and racism in this country.
Migrant Tales receives emails regularly from its readers. The one below tells us about a recurring problem that people with high education face in this country: getting a job and unemployment.
As everyone knows, your chances of landing a job hinges in Finland depends as well on your national and ethnic background.
The person below writes in an email: “I want to point out the fact that the language barrier and the economy have nothing to do why foreigners are not able to get a job. Foreigners should not ever blame themselves. I am fluent in Finnish. I’m a living example that doesn’t matter how highly skilled you are in Finnish language or educated, the companies don’t give a flying fuck even you have Harvard degree.” 
He continues in another email:
“I’m a 35-years old foreigner and I speak fluent Finnish and who has been living most of his life in Finland. I have BBA degree and still I haven’t got a permanent job in Finland. Last time I sent a CV to a company in Helsinki who was looking to hire a “sales assistant”. I sent the CV at 2 clock on a morning and later on that morning I got response 9 clock stating that they had “already” found a person for the position. Still even today this same company has their application in mol.fi and the expiration date was March 24.
This is just a tip of the iceberg of what I have been dealing with for decades and getting a job in Finland. And it has nothing to do with the “language barrier.” Finnish companies claim that they are not able to hire foreigners because the language barrier or lack of experience. This is not true because companies simply only hire FINNS and foreigners don’t get anything more than the crumbs on the table. I have sent an estimated over 200 CVs and I have never got a single interview in my lifetime. This xenophobia problem isn’t just in Finland but it’s all over Scandinavia and which foreigners just have to “deal” with. If Finland is suppose to be a country that promotes “equality” even for foreigners than why do European and companies from other countries treat Finns better and give them a job while foreigners don’t get anything in Finland?
If language is really the problem why companies don’t hire foreigners then how do they tell me that I don’t have a job because I don’t speak perfect Finnish?”
If YLE has exposed discrimination against dual nationals in the defense forces why don’t they call it institutional racism?
Why isn’t the national media or any other NGO in Finland calling out YLE’s scoop about how the defense forces and ministry of defense could be in violation of our constitution and an example of institutional racism?
Why doesn’t the media or anyone else for a fact state clearly that statements by President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Juha Sipilä, who want to find a way to get around Section 6 or our Constitution by discriminating against dual nationals, isn’t seen as labeling and victimizing whole groups?
Why doesn’t anyone say clearly that much of the debate on dual citizenship is embedded in denial about a social ill like racism in Finland?
It is incredible that during our centenary celebrations of 2017 as an independent country that President Niinistö doesn’t see how his remarks and apparent disdain for dual citizens labels and harms a whole group.
With respect to Sipilä, how many trust him considering that he broke his promise to house asylum seekers in his home in September 2015?
Those attacking and labeling dual nationals in Finland represent power and Finnish exceptionalism. They would care less about minorities like Finnish Russians, even if what they say reinforces discrimination and harms minorities.
Restrictions by the defense forces on dual nationals is discriminatory and should be forcefully rejected
Should it surprise us that a member of an anti-immigration party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is suspicious of dual citizens? Add to the latter that the person who is suspicious is Defense Minister Jussi Niinistö, who is known for his far-right sympathies.
According to information obtained by YLE, and if the story is true, the Finnish defense forces has begun to place restrictions on conscripts who are dual citizens of Finland and Russia. YLE said that no such guidelines existed before.
Finland has considered limiting the role of dual nationals in key public posts for years but has not asked if this is unconstitutional.
YLE reported that despite some circles wanting to limit the role of people with dual citizenship in the army, there is no legislation that permits such restrictions from taking place now. The finance ministry is, however, working on such legislative reforms.
Said Niinistö in YLE:
“I personally take the view that when we talk about professional military positions, there are weighty reasons excluding dual nationality. There will now be a review to clarify this. The required proposals will be prepared for legislation on the Defence Forces on how national security can be improved in filling professional military positions, and when an individual applies for training leading to a professional officer’s commission.”
Read the full story here.
One of the biggest unanswered questions of the YLE story concerning dual nationals is if it is discriminatory.
A naturalized Finn and businessman cannot open a bank account at the only bank of Pertunmaa
Pertunmaa is a small town of 1,800 inhabitants 18km off Highway 5 that takes you to Mikkeli. The owner of Pertunmaan Pizzeria, which opened its doors this month, has had trouble opening a bank account for his business at the only bank of the town.
According to the owner, Rasoul Khorram, who has lived in Finland for six years and is a naturalized Finn, was told by the Osuuspankki savings bank manager Jouko Isokuortti turned him down when he wanted to open a bank account.
“He [Isokuortti] said that I couldn’t open a bank account at his bank because I was a customer of Nordea [bank],” he told Migrant Tales. “He said I didn’t speak Finnish well enough and should take more classes [to learn the language better].”
Khorram protested and said that it wouldn’t be practical to open a bank account at the nearest Nordea branch office which is Mikkeli located 57 kilometers away.
“When I told him that I’d like to get in touch with his manager, he ordered me to leave the premises,” he said.
Considering that Khorram is a Finnish citizen, it’s pretty clear that the Osuuspankki manager’s decision to not let him open an account is arbitrary and discriminatory.
While the interview for this story was made in Finnish with Khorram, the fact that he is a naturalized Finn should be sufficient proof that he can speak the Finnish language.
Pitäjänuutiset, the local newspaper that is read in Pertunmaa and Mäntyharju, wrote a story on the problem.
Finland’s Foreign Minister Timo Soini considers new gender and social equality guidelines as “rampant humbug”
Finland is a great country when it comes to good laws that promote social equality. The latest non-discrimination act, which came into force in 2015, is a case in point. Such laws are important in the face of ever-growing social inequality and polarization of society.
Migrant Tales has written recently how the government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä has failed in containing ever-growing racism, bigotry and hate speech in Finland.
Instead of challenging such social ills, the government comprised of the anti-immigration populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, Center Party and National Coalition Party, it has passed laws that fuel greater social inequality. One worth mentioning is the tightening of family reunification guidelines.
So what are some important points of the new non-discrimination act and how does it differ from the previous one?
The new non-discrimination act also offers improvements in the monitoring and challenging discrimination at the workplace. The definition of discrimination has been broadened in the new act and also applies as well to religious, sexual minorities, transgender groups as opposed to only ethnic minorities. Companies with over 30 staffers have to draft their own non-discrimination plan.
Read the full story here.
The new act has encouraged the National Board of Education (OPH) to pass new guidelines on how to promote greater gender equality. According to the OPH, the new guidelines do not only concern gender but migrants and minorities at school as well.
The manager of the Keuruu asylum reception center prohibits religious and cultural celebrations – is this the Finnish way of welcoming newcomers?
Migrant Tales continues to hear accounts about the Keuruu asylum reception center, where Afghan asylum seekers claim to be treated in a disrespectful manner by the staff with Iranian origin.* One of the many gripes that some asylum seekers have is against the center’s manager, Rasul Azizan, who is referred to as “a dictator” because he imposes his own rule.
One of those rules is that no religious or cultural celebrations can be held at the center.
Migrant Tales got in touch with the Keuruu asylum reception center Thursday on two occasions but the manager, Azizan, never returned my calls.
Refusing people, especially those fleeing war and oppression, from not being able to practice their religion and culture is not only an example of the lack of cultural sensitivity and poor management but against our own sound judgment and sense of fairness. The Finnish Constitution guarantees religious freedom.
The reception center is located 7 kilometers from a small town of 10,000 inhabitants.
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Read full story here.
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While the reception center manager hasn’t given a reason why he forbids religious and cultural celebrations to take place at the camp, one source claimed it was one way that Azizan discriminates and “teases” Afghans.
Abuse of asylum seekers at Luona’s reception centers continues despite assurances that they don’t permit “racist behavior”
Migrant Tales understands that asylum seekers at Luona, a private company that manages eight reception centers, continue to suffer abuse. Luona employees with foreign backgrounds treat asylum seekers in “a racist and inhumane manner,” according to a source.
“Asylum seekers are forced and threatened to work and clean at Luona’s reception center [in Espoo],” the source continued. “If they don’t comply they are threatened by employees [with foreign background] that they will be sent to another reception center in Hyvinkää where they claim there is a pig sty.”
Migrant Tales has documented a number of cases of how asylum seekers are treated in a racist manner at Luona’s reception centers and the police, which can detain them for many hours for minor offenses.
After Migrant Tales and other media exposed how the company was treating asylum seekers to the public, Luona claimed last month that it would take steps to correct such abuses.
“We don’t permit racist or inappropriate behavior [from our staff] towards asylum seekers,” said Luona General Manager Milja Saksi. “We have made personnel changes if people aren’t suitable to work at our reception centers.”
We will publish more on this type of abuse later on in the day.
Close to 80% of the police service of Finland sees asylum seekers as the greatest threat to security
A poll showed that close to 80% of the police surveyed consider the asylum seeker crisis as the most serious threat to Finnish security, according to YLE News. Another important matter that the poll revealed was that 25.1% of those polled voted for the National Coalition Party (NCP) and 24.4% for the Perussuomalaiset (PS).*
The interesting and worrying question that the poll brings forth is what attitudes does the police service have towards cultural diversity? How do they see migrants and minorities in Finland?
The poll offers us as well an answer why the police, whose authority is rarely questioned in Finland, has fumbled the ball and given mixed statements concerning vigilante patrols, exaggerated alleged sexual harassment crimes by asylum seekers that didn’t pan out as they thought, and even singled out migrant entrepreneurs who sell pizzas for under six euros to name a few.
What does the police really think about migrants and minorities? Does it ethnically profile such minorities?
Doesn’t the police consider hate speech, arson attacks against asylum reception centers, and the rise of the far right in Finland greater threats?
Like Finland, the police too suffer from dear little cultural diversity among its ranks. There is only one black policeman in all of Finland. How many policemen and policewomen speak Arabic?
Read the full story here.
How “safe and reliable” is the Finnish police towards asylum seekers?
How are asylum seekers treated in Finland by the police? One would hope that it would be in a humane and respectful manner. Migrant Tales has published two stories about asylum seekers being handcuffed and locked up in a police cell for many hours for what we’d consider minor offenses.
The first case is of an Iraqi asylum seeker who was locked up for 15 hours for complaining about the very late payment of the small 92-euro allowance to those refugees in the reception center.
The second case is of another asylum seeker who protested against being moved to another room.
The third one below, which Migrant Tales had the opportunity to publish the complaint, reinforces the poor treatment some asylum seekers appear to get from the police.
If these cases are true, why isn’t any Finnish newspaper investigating never mind asking the police service if this is true?
A video published by the Finnish Immigration Service (FIS) assures asylum seekers that public officials like the police are “safe and reliable.”
Is this true?
All three asylum seekers above are staying at one of Luona’s asylum reception centers.
Continue reading “How “safe and reliable” is the Finnish police towards asylum seekers?”