Tag: European Union

Financial Times: MEP Jussi Halla-aho racist track record leaves PS out in the cold

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Success comes with a high political price especially if you base that success on spreading racism and prejudice. That is exactly the case of the Perussuomalaiset (PS),* who are hoping to join the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) in Brussels but have been rejected by them because they see PS MEP Jussi Halla-aho as too racist, according to the Financial Times.

The Financial Times writes in another story that the freshly elected MEP, who was convicted in 2012 for “stirring ethnic tensions,” said “…something about the prophet Muhammad that we dare not repeat on a family blog. The True Finns [PS] also briefly suspended him from the party after he suggested that Greece’s debt problems could only be solved by a military junta [he retracted the comments].”

What is interesting to note is that the same anti-immigration and anti-Islam message spearheaded by Halla-aho and his cronies that was decisive for the PS’ historic victory in the 2011 parliamentary elections, is turning into its political epitaph to ever becoming a credible and mainstream political party.

The 12.9% showing of the PS on Sunday is still a long way off from the 19.1% it won in 2011. The PS’ showing in the presidential (9.4%) and municipal elections (12.3%) were equally disappointing.

If the same trend continues, it means that the PS will face a big upset in next year’s parliamentary elections.

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Read full story here.

Knocking at the ECR’s door is another close ally of the PS, the far-right Danish People’s Party (DPP), which won the euro elections in its country by doubling the number of MEPs to 4 from 2009.

According to the Financial Times, both the PS and DPP both have MEPs that were convicted for ethnic agitation and therefore carry a lot of political baggage.

I find it very difficult to believe that [David] Cameron’s Conservatives, with whom we work closely to promote innovative, open and competitive societies, would team up with the True Finns whose rise is to large extent based on xenophobia and backward-looking 1980s nostalgia, writes the Financial Times, quoting one senior Finnish official.

While it’s clear that the PS is eyeing next year’s parliamentary elections and therefore is keen on joining the ECR group in order to get greater respectability, the big question is where they’ll end up in Brussels.

Moreover, even if the PS wishes to make its anti-EU, anti-immigration, homophobic and especially anti-Islam stand mainstream, it’s another question if Europe’s mainstream parties will permit them to join their club.

PS leader Timo Soini says that joining Marine Le Pen’s is out of the question even if the National Front leader has courted the PS to join the European Alliance for Freedom, a new hard-right group spearheaded by the French politician.

That leaves the PS with Nigel Farage’s UKIP and the Europe Freedom and Democracy group (EFD), where members like the Lega Nord of Italy, which praised Anders Breivik for murdering 77 innocent victims on 22/7, are defecting.

Will Farage and Le Penn join forces? Will the PS be part of that new political group?

Time will tell.

Even if anti-EU and anti-immigration groups made gains in countries like France and the United Kingdom, 70% of the European parliament’s 751 MEPs belong to pro-EU groups in the center-left and center-right.

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

Disingenuous Finnish PS MEP-elect Jussi Halla-aho fears image would suffer with parties like far-right National Front

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In an interview on YLE, Perussuomalaiset (PS) newly elected MEP Jussi Halla-aho said that it was doubtful that the anti-immigration party would form part of a parliamentary group with far-right parties like the National Front of France “because the party’s image would suffer.”

What a disingenuous statement by a politician who has based his career together with the PS on spreading racism and hatred of Muslims and migrants. Moreover, hasn’t he considered that the only group where the PS will be accepted is the present one, or the Europe for Freedom and Democracy?

If put in the right context, Halla-aho is saying that the PS’ image would suffer ever-greater damage if it grouped with parties like the National Front.

The French xenophobic party’s leader, Marine Le Pen, has said that she would like the PS to form part of her new group in the European parliament.

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Read full story here.

 

Without naming the National Front or Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom, Halla-aho said that far-right anti-immigration parties in Europe were in the same ideological ballpark as the PS.

In the face of Halla-aho’s comments, what then is the difference between the Lega Nord of Italy, which praised Anders Breivik after he murdered 77 victims on 22/7, and parties like the National Front?

The PS can blame itself and its actions for its right-wing populist, far-right and nationalistic anti-immigration, homophobic and especially anti-Islam image.

The PS forms part to the same European parliament group as the Lega Nord, Danish People’s Party, UKIP and others in the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group.

 

Pew Research Center survey: Anti-immigration and anti-minority sentiment runs high before Euro elections

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Pew Research Center, a Washington-based “fact tank,” reveals in a survey just before the European parliamentary elections on May 22-25 that anti-immigration and anti-minority sentiment runs  in countries like Poland, Germany, France, UK, Spain, Italy and Greece.

Euro MEP candidates like Jussi Halla-aho and Juho Eerola of the PS have used anti-immigration sentiment to attract voters. Halla-aho’s visit in February to Lieksa in eastern Finland is a good example of how he promotes anti-immigration sentiment by demonizing Muslims.

Some parties with strong anti-immigration campaigns include Britain’s UKIP, a close ideological ally of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) of Finland, France’s National Front, Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn.

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The Pew Research Center survey revealed that an average of 55% of respondents in the seven EU countries said they want fewer migrants. The strongest anti-immigration sentiment was found in Greece (86%) followed by Italy (80%).

If views of migrants was negative, so were attitudes of minorities like the Roma, Muslims and to a lesser extent Jews.

The survey revealed that the Roma are viewed as the most unfavorable (50%) minority with the Muslims (46%) trailing closely behind. While attitude towards Jews weren’t as negative as those towards the Roma and Muslims, they were especially high in Greece (47%), Poland (26%) and Italy (24%).

Still confused about how racist parties like the UKIP are? Check out this video clip below where the head of the UKIP, Nigel Farage, answers some hard questions in the same way that PS chairman Timo Soini did when he was interviewed on BBC’s Hard Talk in 2013.

UKIP’s Farage political views are very similar to Soini’s. Listening to the interview by LBC’s James O’Brien of Farage shows close similarities of how Soini speaks to the Finnish media. 

 

The Ukraine-Russia crisis can spark ethnic hatred across Europe

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The crisis and standoff between the Ukraine and Russia is worrying for many reasons. One of these, which isn’t being covered enough by the European media, is how the crisis is fueling xenophobia and age-old diehard ethnic hatred. 

There has been, however, a lot of coverage of the ethnic crisis between the Ukrainians and Russians.

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The 2009 EU-MIDIS’r survey on European Union minorities and discrimination shows that intolerance is a big issue in the region.  Why do these problems still exist in Europe? Read full report here.

In Finland, where anti-Russian sentiment has always been strong, two MPs warned this week that the crisis in the Ukraine could fuel anti-Russian sentiment and target individual Russians in the country. While Finland is one case, what could happen in countries like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where there live large Russian-speaking minorites?

If the crisis in the Ukraine escalates, it’s pretty certain it will not only have a negative knock-on effect on ethnic Russians in other countries, but on migrants and visible minorities as well.

Apart from the rise of neo-Nazi groups and anti-Semitism, there is concern that 150,000 ethnic Hungarians living in the Ukraine could be targeted by far-right nationalistic groups, according to AFP.

Extremist and right-wing populist parties, which can take the far-right path in the snap of a finger, could use the present crisis to boost their anti-immigration and anti-minority message as European MEP elections near on May 25.

In Finland, however, the crisis in the Ukraine has hit the anti-EU and anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS) party. In a recent poll, support for the populist party fell below 17%, according to YLE in English. The last time support for the party dipped below 17% was in 2012.

Some analysts believe that the crisis in the Ukraine may have scared some of PS’ supporters due to its anti-EU stance. Possibly being a part of the EU is not such a bad idea after all when it comes to Finland’s national security.

Meanwhile, it’s clear that a country that passes anti-gay laws like Russia isn’t very credible when it criticizes human rights violations in the European Union.

In an official annual human rights report on Europe, Russia highlighted the problems that were taking place in Finland. It cited, among other violations, that Finland hadn’t ratified Convention No. 169, which deals specifically with the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples, and discrimination against the Romany minority, Somalis and Russians.

While all the above should concern us, the question is why is Europe such a tinderbox when it comes to ethnicity? Wasn’t anti-Semitism, ethnic hatred and hocuspocus ethnic myths laid to rest after the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945?

Apparently not.

Statement: EU elections 2014: the way towards more equality in Europe, 7 demands from ENAR

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The next European Parliament to be elected in May 2014 has a crucial role to play when it comes to reducing the entrenched inequalities faced by its citizens and residents. Among these are ethnic minorities and migrants who often face discrimination on multiple grounds: ethnic origin, nationality, social status, income, gender or age. The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) therefore puts forward 7 key demands for more equality in Europe to upcoming Members of the European Parliament. Leading Members of the European Parliament have already endorsed our demands because they are convinced that they will lead to a better and more equal Europe and are also sound, concrete and achievable.

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Read full statement here.

Starting with the basics, we ask parties to open up their lists and decision making structures to ethnic minorities and migrants. Fighting toxic and xenophobic political discourses and policies as well as structural discrimination starts at home. Political decision makers need to be exemplary to generate constructive emulation within broader society. We need a more diverse European Parliament. As a minimum, the next European Parliament and its political groups should hire professionals from minority communities..

“If you are not counted, you don’t count”: combating discrimination begins with knowing the extent of it. Today, we only have comparable and reliable Europe-wide equality data on the grounds of sex and age. We need more. There are 6 grounds of discrimination covered by the EU treaties and 17 by the Charter of Fundamental Rights – there is thus much room for improvement in collecting and analysing data about discrimination in Europe. Ethnic and religious groups want to count and to use data to ask governments to be accountable for their actions. These 60 million Europeans deserve justice.

Racist violence has multiple effects on individual victims, but also on their families and communities. They are not targeted randomly by perpetrators, but because of who they are. The European Parliament has a crucial role to play in bringing the European Commission and Member States to support victims in seeking redress and avoiding re-victimisation. Equality at work is not just a matter of preventing discrimination from happening. It is also about ensuring the workplace caters for the needs of an increasingly diverse workforce. Accommodating diversity at work will result in developing workers’ potential, employee retention, a safe working environment and a better work-life balance. The adoption of the European framework for national Roma integration strategies demonstrated the EU’s political will to fight discrimination against its largest ethnic minority. Black Europeans, People of African Descent, Muslims and Jews need to benefit from similar strategies which will ensure their social inclusion and protection from discrimination, and therefore contribute to the overall reduction of poverty and exclusion in Europe.

Finally, we call for the continuation of the current Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup in the European Parliament. This will ensure MEPs committed to equality have a platform to voice and tackle challenges relating to inequality and discrimination.

Our 7 demands can contribute to a leap forward towards equality in Europe. Time for commitment has come. The future of a diverse and resilient Europe is at stake: we encourage parties and individual candidates to endorse them and mainstream them in their own programmes ahead – and after – the elections.

Workshop highlights perceptions, problems and challenges of immigration in Greece

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Workshops that debate and challenge immigration issues in economically hard-hit countries like Greece are never too many. One of these took place on Friday at the University of Peloponnese and was organized by the Scientific Association of Young Political Scientists.

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According to a statement:

The issue of immigration has become a major national issue and is treated as such by Greek immigration policy. Due to its geographical position, Greece has become the most accessible initial stopover – otherwise known as the “gateway to the European Union” – for international immigration and refugees flows, whose final destination is West or North European countries; and due to the magnitude of the problem, it is regarded as not a Greek, but a European one which demands a European solution.

One of the biggest challenges of immigration management is that it is now one of the top priorities for both Greece and the EU, according to Dr. Theodoros Fouskas, who was responsible for the workshop’s scientific organization. He is a sociologist and lecturer of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, New York College (NYC).

Greece. “Since Greece deals with 90% of illegal immigration flows to the EU, European aid, assistance and solidarity are imperative,” he said. “But after twenty-five years of huge illegal migration flows, what should be taken into account are the international ramifications that the migratory phenomenon has caused in the 21st century.”

Dr. Fouskas focused his talk on the impact of international labor migration, especially low-status work by Nigerian migrants,* who are the object of his latest research. Low-wage Nigerian migrants in Greece are mainly employed in the service industry, which include manual labor jobs, farming, construction, crafts, housework, cleaning services, prostitution and others.

“What is currently observed is a mobile, temporary workforce, which is occupied in casual, non-permanent, low-prestige jobs,” he said. “[Nigerian] immigrants of both genders are exposed to all forms of exploitation, to flexible working ours and unsettled, low-level and unstable lifestyle.”

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Dr Theodoros Fouskas speaking at the workshop on perceptions, problems and challenges of immigration in Greece.

According to Dr Fouskas, the life of low-wage immigrants in Greece is more than challenging under the present circumstances.

“They are disconnected, detached from the past, with no memory of collectivization or personal efforts and claims,” he said. “Nigerian immigrants’ work is characterized by exhausting working hours, exceptionally low wages, appalling working conditions, non-permanent employment with frequent employer changes, no National Health benefits, unstable residence status, fear of arrest and deportation…”

Other speakers that took part in the workshop were Pantelis Sklias, Symeon Sidiropoulos, George Hilal, Panagiota Theodosi, Konstantinos Kazanas and Jamil M. Sayed.

* Fouskas, Theodoros (201-) Nigerian Immigrants in Greece: Low-Status Work, Community, and Decollectivization, Research Monograph under contract, and Fouskas, Theodoros (2014) “‘Community’ found or lost in the city? The consequences of low-status work on association participation of Nigerian immigrant workers in Athens”, in: Fouskas, Theodoros and Vassileios, Tsevrenis (2014) (Eds.), Contemporary Immigration in Greece: A Sourcebook. Athens: European Public Law Organization (EPLO) (forthcoming 2014). Foudkas, Theodoros (2013) “Los-Status Work Consequences on Immigrant Workers’ Organization”, International Review of Sociology, Volume 23, Issue 3, 2013 pp. 671-698.

Yes Swiss vote against “mass migration” will impact MEP elections in May

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Switzerland voted on Sunday to narrowly approve a referendum proposal to stop “mass migration,” reports The Independent. The immediate impact of the referendum, which the “yes” camp won with a slim 50.3% majority, will mean an end to the free movement of people and goods between Switzerland and the EU.

Apart from having an immediate economic impact on Switzerland, the really bad news is that the referendum may boost anti-immigration sentiment, which is one of the campaign issues of right-wing populist and far-right political parties throughout Europe, in the May 25 MEP elections.  Kuvankaappaus 2014-2-11 kello 0.45.51

Read full story here.

In Finland, the anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam Perussuomalaiset (PS) must be jumping for joy about the Swiss referendum outcome since they see the vote as a boost to their negative stand on cultural diversity.

One of the most incredible claims of the Swiss right-wing populist Democratic Union of Center (UDC) during the campaign to stop “mass migration” was that housing, health, education and transport services would collapse under the pressure from the “foreign invasion.”

There are a lot of loaded words that are common in the anti-immigration vocabulary like “invasion” and “mass immigration” that were effectively used by the UDC. The “yes” campaign posters even showed black legs walking purposefully over a Swiss flag.

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A poster of the “yes” camp against so-called “mass migration.” Source: www.thelocal.ch

The most recent referendum in Switzerland is part of a worrying trend that is gripping Europe. While some may claim it has to do with the recession, the real reason behind the undercurrent of intolerance throughout the region is our own doing since because a part of our education teaches us national and ethnic superiority over other groups.

If we aren’t careful, we will fall victim to the horrors we saw in Nazi Germany from 1933 and in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s to name a few conflicts that have gripped Europe.

Higher unemployment and economic woes spell big trouble for migrants and visible minorities

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Finland got shocking news Thursday when postal company Itella announced that it may shed up to 1,200 jobs, according to Yle in English. Taking into account that unemployment shot up in 2013 to 7.9% from 6.9% in the previous year, what do these two news stories mean for the migrant and visible minority community?

Those who lived through the early 1990s in Finland, when this country suffered its worst economic downturn in a century and when unemployment soared to around 18%, it’s nothing unusual that migrants were hit especially hard back then.

Since migrant unemployment is normally two to three times higher than the national average in Finland, that means the jobless rate for migrants at that time was 53% in 1994!

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Read full story here.

While unemployment in Finland is still lower today than that 10.5% average for the European Union, migrants and visible minorities have a lot to worry about since the recession will be especially harsh with them during two consecutive election years.

Just like about twenty years ago, the dire economic situation will offer self-declared and closet racists the opportunity to layoff migrants or to make their life miserable at work. How? By letting them know that the shadow of unemployment hangs constantly over them.

Contrary to the early 1990s, when Finland didn’t have a large anti-immigration party like the Perussuomalaiset today, migrants and visible minorities will be scapegoated and victimized relentlessly by greedy and opportunistic politicians.

With the Euro MP elections in May and the parliamentary elections in April 2015, the going for migrants and visible minorities in Finland and Europe is going to get tougher.

The situation resembles a sinking ship where most of the passengers will be sacrificed to the chilling waters because there are too few lifeboats for everyone.

What will make matters worse is the dog-eat-dog climate that will discourage solidarity.

 

Migrants’ Rights Network: Another tragedy in Lampedusa, one too many

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Clara Dublanc*

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The migrant boat disaster off Lampedusa has highlighted the struggle of Southern EU members to deal with migrant flows. It is time that Europe steps up and accepts shared responsibilities for the external borders of the Union.

Last Thursday 3rd October, the small Italian island of Lampedusa witnessed one of its most tragic days. A vessel, carrying an approximate number of 500 Eritrean, Somalian and Ghanian migrants sank after catching fire, leaving hundreds of deaths.

At the moment of writing the number rises to 110 dead and 159 survivors, leaving approximately 200 dispersed. Divers have started searching underwater trying to recover the rest of the corpses. Lampedusa, which is 70 kilometers away from the the Libyan shores, is one of the main ports of entry for thousands of migrants traveling from the  African continent.

As the tragedy unfolds, we hear Italian politicians from all parties giving their opinions, condolences and speeches. Italy has declared a day of mourning and Italian’s president Giorgio Napolitano has called for the EU to accept that this is an European tragedy and not only an Italian one. Voices have raised about putting a stop to the continued tragedies that see much too often hundreds of victims dying in their traverse from North African to European shores.

Some of the proposals have been to provide more founding for Frontex to cooperate with Lybia in the implementation of more efficient immigration checks in Libya, stopping the migration flow before they embark on the sea travel. Under the Dublin Regulation, the responsibility of migrants falls under the single member state where the migrant arrives. Italy argues that given the extent of its shores, this needs to be considered as a European responsibility and not only national one.

Some of Italian left wing politicians have raised their voices to condemn the last immigration reform, that passed under the last Berlusconi government. The Bossi-Fini law, which takes the the names of the two ministers from the last Berlusconi alliance government that drafted it, provides greater powers to the Italian Navy to block the entry to Italian waters to migrants boats crossing the Mediterranean when they are still in international waters.

Furthermore, the law was successively modified to include a a criminality clause to anyone who aids clandestine migrants to enter the country. This applies also to fishermen and commercial boats that lend a hand to migrants vessels in need of help. This clause has been challenged several times on human rights basis. In 2007,  four Tunisian fishermen that aided a sinking ship with 44 survivors and brought them to Italian shores, were accused of aiding illegal migration.

Although they were absolved, the process lasted 4 years. Since then, fishermen have been afraid of helping sinking boats under the threat of being criminally accused. Actually, it seems that on Thursday there were some fishermen that saw the vessel on fire but were too afraid to help.

According to Fortress Europe, since 2011 there are approximately 6 migrants that die everyday in the crossing of the Mediterranean.

It is time that the Italian immigration law undergoes an urgent review to abolish clauses that push single individuals to violate human rights. Furthermore, it is time that Europe accepts shared responsibilities on the external borders of the Union.

Read original story here.

This piece was reprinted by Migrant Tales with permission.

* Clara Dublanc is a postgraduate in International Relations from the University of Bologna, with an academic background in migration policies, integration and belonging. She currently works as business developer, launching start-ups and enterprises to support local development.

 

Migrant Tales Literary with Le monde n’est pas: Around Europe by Miguel Velayos

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: I came across this neat website on Twitter called Le monde n’est pas rond  (The world is not round). The website describes itself as “an international artistic newspaper, based in Luxembourg, that explores the contemporary realities of migration, borders, and human rights through the publication of articles, art and illustration, photography, prose and poetry.”

Why not pay it a visit.

See original link here.