Tag: Far-right parties

How the media is the humble servant of Finland’s inhumane migrant and asylum seeker laws

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Think of it. Finland’s largest daily, Helsingin Sanomat, publishes a story if the country’s deportation. system is broken. For the story, the daily uses as sources well-known xenophobie Joakim Vigelius of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, Social Democrat MP Eveliina Heinäluoma, who has a wishy-washy stance on migrants, and National Coalition Party MP Heikki Vestman, who justified as chairperson of the constitutional committee the shelving of Finland’s human rights obligations on the passage of the pushback law.

The migration debate in Finland seems very much like the lack of pushback against President Donald Trump by republican legislators. In Finland, we consider migrants, especially Muslim asylum seekers as a threat. We do not give such people the benefit of doubt.

The article is highly revealing exposing what Helsingin Sanomat thinks of undocumented migrants which it slaps on the “illegal” label.

Vigelius, who like Vestman to trash international agreements, said that the present asylum system is based on “outdated” international human rights conventions and that these should change.

Source: Helsingin Sanomat

‘It cannot be right that even after ten years and ten rejected applications, an asylum seeker is still residing in Finland,” he pointed out.

Apart from using MPs who would care less about undocumented migrants, a big shortfall of the article is that is does not care to mention the suffering present laws cause on such people. Migrant Tales has documented many such cases.

The Ulysses Syndrome is a chronic disorder and helps understand the trauma suffered by undocumented migrants.

Continue reading “How the media is the humble servant of Finland’s inhumane migrant and asylum seeker laws”

Finland’s islamophobic network – those waging cultural war

Posted on by Migrant Tales

UPDATE

If you want to see the face of Finland’s Islamophobic network, it is not dificult to find. The Perussuomalaiset party (PS)* continues to be one of the most important platforms of Finland’s Islamophobic network. All of the elected 46 MPs (out of a total of 216) of the Perussuomalaiset party based their campaign on anti-Muslim and xenophobic themes.

Moreover, all of these people in Finland’s Islamophobic network are waging a menacing culture war to impose their political will against the foundations of Finland’s social welfare state. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are waging such a war to destroy the EU.

PS ministers like Riikka Purra (Finance), Mari Rantanen (Interior), Wille Rydman (former Economic Affairs), Leena Meri (Justice), Ville Tavio (Foreign Trade), and Jussi Halla-aho (Speaker of Parliament) have all spread the Great Replacement theory with little to no consequences.

The list is even longer since we have not mentioned Joakim Vigelius, Matias Turkkila, Miko Bergbom, Teemu Keskisarja, Pekka Aitakumpu, Sanna Antikainen, Ari Koponen, Mauri Peltokangas, Jari Ronkainen, Saara Seppänen, Jaana Strandman, Simo Grönroos and many, many others. Is it a coincidence that all of the above are members of the PS? Oops! I forgot to mention Minister of Social Security Sanni Grahn-Laasonen of the National Coalition Party who suggested that wearing the niqab and burka at school should be prohibited.

Tavio and the government have gone as far as to link development aid to accepting deportees. MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen, who has three ethnic agitation convictions, and MP Kaisa Garedew both want Islam to be banned in Finland. Halla-aho, who was convicted in 2012 of ethnic agitation and of breaching the sanctity of religion, pressed charges against a comedian and deputy Helsinki councilor for calling him “a fascist.”

National Coalition Party (NCP) MPs like Atte Kaleva and Seida Sohrabi, an NCP politician, among others, use familiar anti-Muslim talking points. A strong supporter of Israel’s war policies in Gaza, Kaleva argues that Islam doesn’t need whitewashing because it is: “militant and intolerant.” Sohrabi has strongly advocated the banning of the veil, niqab, and burka, among other Muslim practices like children fasting at school during Ramadan.

Donald Trump, your country is going to hell!

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Only one conclusion arises after listening to President Donald Trump’s rant in the United States: culture war. This war aims to not only shift political power globally, but also in Europe from the center to the hard right.

Trump said that if we do not close our borders, forget about the climate crisis, and stop buying Russian oil, “our countries are going to hell.”

Apart from European far-right Trump sympathizers like Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Italy’s Georgia Meloni, there are several other cheerleaders in Finland, mainly from the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party.

Vice President J.D. Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference, which many see as a turning point in EU-U.S. relations, was one where he downplayed the threat of Russia, claiming that Europe’s greatest security threat was unregulated migration and the exclusion of far-right political groups. In the face of widespread condemnation, PS Minister of Finance Riikka Purra praised Vance’s words as a great speech. “Freedom, freedom of speech, democracy; threats from within, inability to fight illegal immigration,” Purra posted on X.

If Purra’s comment was made in Spring, the latest one praising Trump came from Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio:

Writes Tavio on Facebook: “I don’t know how the mainstream media will report on this, but I listened to Trump’s speech at the UN today, and he made a lot of valid points about how open border policies are leading Europe to hell.
Trump said that so-called asylum seekers are rewarding generosity with crime. European prisons are full of foreigners, who already make up more than half of the prison population in many countries.
According to Trump, the migrant problem should be tackled head-on and those who do not belong in the country should be deported, but decision-makers are doing nothing because of political correctness.
He also highlighted climate action as a failed scam that is impoverishing Europe and enriching China and others. Trump believed that Europeans are chasing unrealistic carbon targets and end up paying more for electricity and gasoline than others.
Trump made these remarks to world leaders at the UN General Assembly, where it is unusual to hear such blunt talk that deviates from the narrative familiar to the mainstream media. What do you think?
Will Europe finally take itself in hand, or will it continue to hush things up and bury its head in the sand?”

One wonders what can be done in light of this onslaught. For one, we should not give in and always place our arguments on the rule of law. Racism, for example, is against the law.

The last dictatorship (1976-83) we had in Argentina seemed invincible. Their downward spiral began when their mistaken invincibility turned against them, causing them to do foolish and terrible things.

The same is happening with Trump.

Pelataan “täytä aukot -peliä:” Korvataan Keskisarjan ”maahanmuutto” sanalla “perussuomalainen”

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PS:n puheenjohtaja Riikka Purra ei näe mitään rasistista PS:n varapuheenjohtajan Teemu Keskisarjan purkauksessa A-studiossa. Miltä tilanne näyttäisi, jos korvaisimme sanan ”maahanmuuttaja” sanalla ”perussuomalainen”? Auttaisiko tämä Purraa ja hänen puoluettaan näkemään ongelman?

Alkuperänen sitaatti: “Väestönvaihto on ruma v-sana, mutta tosi. Yhden sukupolven saatossa yli kuusisataatuhatta ulkolaista Suomeen. Heitä on jo kaksi kertaa enemmän kuin suomenruotsalaisia.”

Päivitetty sitaatti: “Persunvaihto on ruma p-sana, mutta tosi. Yhden sukupolven saatossa yli kuusisataatuhatta perussuomalaisia Suomessa. Heitä on ja kaksi kertaa enemmän kun maahanmuuttajia.

Alkuperänen sitaatti: “Ja väestönvaihtajille yksi tärkeä huomautus. Pidot eivät parane väkeä vaihtamalla, pikemminkin päinvastoin. Siivot, suomalaiset pidot muuttuvat kehitysmaalaiseksi, sikalaksi ja verilöylyksi.”

Päivitetty sitaatti: “Ja persunvaihtajille yksi tärkeä huomautus. Pidot eivät parane väkeä vaihtamalla, pikemminkin päinvastoin. Siivot, pidot muuttuvat kehitysmaalaiseksi, sikalaksi ja verilöylyksi.”

Alkuperänen sitaatti: “Kutsui Suomeen tulevia maahanmuuttajia ‘heikkolaatuisiksi’.”

Päivitetty sitaatti: “Kutsui tulevia perussuomalaisia ‘heikkolaatuisiksi’.”

Alkuperänen sitaatti: “Onko joku meistä neljästä sitä mieltä, että esimerkiksi afrikkalaiset ja lähi-itäläiset ovat koulutuksellisesti, sivistyksellisesti, ammatillisesti samalla tasolla kuin suomalaiset?”

Päivitetty sitaatti: “Onko joku meistä neljästä sitä mieltä, että esimerkiksi perussuomalainen ja supisuomalainen ovat koulutuksellisesti, sivistyksellisesti, ammatillisesti samalla tasolla kuin monikultturisia suomalaisia?”

Alkuperäinen sitaatti: “Väestönvaihto on tilastollinen tosiseikka.” ja viitata “enimmäkseen heikkolaatuisiin tulokkaisiin”

Päivitetty sitaatti: “Persunvaihto on tilastollinen tosiseikka.” ja viitata “enimmäkseen heikkolaatuisiin tulokkaisiin”

Reija Härkönen: Kaatuuko hallitus?

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Kesällä 2023, kun Petteri Orvon porvarihallitus oli juuri nimitetty, tuli tuoreelle pääministerille täydellisenä yllätyksenä valtiovarainministeriksi nimitetyn perussuomalaisen ”riikan” räikeä rasismi.

Ensin yritettiin homma laittaa Purran nuoruuden piikkiin, mutta kun Orpo sai toimittajilta kuulla tuoreemmistakin rasistisia kirjoituksia, Orpo joutui toteamaan, että eihän tuollaista tekstiä voi ymmärtää tai sallia.

Omalla tahollaan ”riikka” sanoi tuolloin heinäkuisena maanantaina, että hän ei omia kirjoituksiaan anteeksi pyydä. Tiistaina hän pyysi kirjoituksiaan anteeksi. Keskiviikkona Orpo ja Purra pitivät Kesärannan pihamaalla tiedotustilaisuuden. Purra sanoi anteeksipyyntönsä olleen aito. Rasismi oli kylläkin vain sisäpiirin huumoria. Petteri sanoi, että Riikan anteeksipyyntö oli vilpitön ja nyt on kaikki kunnossa. Kaikki hallituspuolueet olivat myös allekirjoittaneet rasisminvastaisen julkilausuman.

Tässä välissä olemme v. 2024 nähneet hallituksen isolla rahalla teettämän ”rasisminvastainen kampanjan”, johon juuri kukaan ei lähtenyt mukaan. Eikä tietysti kannattanutkaan lähteä – kuinka kummassa kansalaisia saataisiin pois rasismin tieltä, kun heitä koko ajan hallituksen ministerit siellä taluttavat.

Continue reading “Reija Härkönen: Kaatuuko hallitus?”

A-studio exposes the media’s and Finland’s racism problem

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The great replacement [Islamization] spells the end of the welfare society, the end of Finnish society.

Riikka Purra, finance minister and chairperson of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party

Wednesday’s A-studio with PS Vice President Teemu Keskisarja, Pia Kauma of the National Coalition Party, and Sofia Virta of the Green League was an eye-opener, a stark reminder of the racist undercurrents flowing beneath Finnish society and how the media perpetuates the social ill.

Even if Keskisarja has received a dubious reputation for his vocal fear-mongering of Muslims, his hateful ideology is rooted deeply in PS and Finnish ideology.

“The feast will not improve by changing [replacing the ethnicity of] people,” he was quoted as saying in A-studio. “Rather, the opposite is true. Those who enable this replacement will turn [Finland] into a developing country of pig stys and bloodbaths. These are the reasons why the great replacement angers me and the Finns Party.”

And the icing on the cake, he said that migrants have already destoyerd the Finnish welfare state but have partly created a catastrophe.

PS Vice President Teemu Keskisarja.

While some blame the PS’s poor showing in recent elections and opinion polls, the truth is that what Keskisarja said is not only harmful to migrants trying to find work and a place in society, but the toothless pushback from Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government, which is set to take the country down a runious path to weaken labor laws and social security benefits.

Continue reading “A-studio exposes the media’s and Finland’s racism problem”

Anti-Muslim racism is the PS’ call to action

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Over and over again, the media overlooks the obvious about the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*: it’s anti-Muslim racism. Everything that the party does, its raison d’être, or reason for being, is anti-Muslim hatred. Certainly, not only are Muslims included in their attacks, but other minorities like blacks and people of color in general are.

Time and again, the media overlooks or sanitizes the party’s racism by overlooking the source of their hatred, which is xenophobia and Islamophobia.

The latest example was Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s suggestion to bring some Palestinian children in Gaza to be treated at Finnish hospitals. The suggestion received a swift no from the PS.

“I wasn’t asked about it. And if I had been, I would have said I was against it [bringing Palestinian children],” Foreign Trade Minister Ville Tavio was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat.

Read the full story (in Finnish) here.

All of the elected 46 MPs (out of a total of 216) of the PS based their campaign on anti-Muslim and xenophobic themes. PS ministers like Finance Minister Riikka Purra, Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, former Economic Affairs Minister Wille Rydman, Justice Minister Leena Meri, Tavio, Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho, have all spread the great replacement theory with little to no consequences.  

If their Islamophobia is a factor, and it is, why do most of the media and politicians turn a blind eye to such an offensive ideology?

If few will say it out loud, we at Migrant Tales will: The PS hates Muslims, and it shows.

Nice try Matias Turkkila and Riikka Purra but no cigar

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THE STORY WAS UPDATED

Perussuommslaiset (PS)* Finance Minister Riikka Purra’s announcement of 900-billion-euro cuts in next year’s budget is seen by some a political stunt with a strong anti-immigration PS stamp. On the same day as Purrra’s announcment, Matias Turkkila, the editor of the party’s newspaper and the main strategist of the PS’ xenophobic message, became Purra’s special advisor.

A coincidence? Not.

One Yle story described Turkkila as “a master of political provocation.”

And that is what he is. Turkkila is the perfect advisor to Purra because what he does well is to provoke and polarize.

It remains to be seen if Turkkila and breathing sronger life into the PS’ anti-immmigraion message will save it from itself.

Even so, I don’t believe Turkkila is very talented in his racist provocations. He knows, however, to exploit the racist undercurrent that flows in Finland.

Turkkila’s, Purra’s, and the PS’ victimization of minorities like Muslims is not only racist but affects, for example, innocent children at school. The most shameful matter is that the media and many politicians cannot muster up enough courage to denounce such racism, which explains why Turkkila is still kept in some regard by the mainstream media.

Continue reading “Nice try Matias Turkkila and Riikka Purra but no cigar”

Helsingin Sanomat does it again. Muslims are suspect, let’s debate their culture on our terms.

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An opinion piece by Milla Palkoaho of Helsingin Sanomat on debating what is culturally acceptable at comprehensive schools. Perussuaomalaiset (PS)* chairperson and finance minister, Riikka Purra, wants to prohibit the veil, niqab, and burka at schools. The writer agrees and states that Purra, who has a long history of making racist comments, has a point.

Does she? If you want to portray yourself as the pro-PS good Samaritan, then she does.

To give more agency to her shoddy opinion piece, Palkoaho asks teachers if they should prohibit, like Purra wants, Muslim attire like the veil, niqab, and burka, which is extremely rare in Finland. So much so that the reporter did not find one example of a pupil wearing the burka.

The opinion piece reveals again the media’s racism problem. With total disregard for cultural diversity and the rights of minorities, it bullies its way with a disingenuous argument: We must debate the matter (even if we, white privilege, will set the tone of the debate).

Read the full opinion piece (in Finnish) here.

The writer forgets to mention some important factors in the story. She hides these facts intentionally in order to give more umph to her point.

  1. Comprehensive school teachers in Finland are as, after the police, the most conservative group.
  2. In a Gallup in 2026, 50% of the police interviewed said they would vote for the PS or National Coalition Party.
  3. The nose-dive in support for the PS has forced it to reach out for its political lifebelt: racism.

The truth is that these types of opinion pieces do more harm to the so-called debate the reporter is seeking than good. I would bet my money that she, like the PS, would care less for the wellbeing of Muslims in Finland.

Palkoaho is, however, adamant in her opinion piece: “It is equally relevant to discuss how well a veil that makes it impossible to recognize a person (sic!) or distinguish their facial expressions fits into Finnish culture.”

“Fits” into Finnish culture?!

Here, Palkoaho wants Muslims to whitewash their culture and throw away their constitutional right to religious freedom. I have said it many times: I am Finnish on my terms, and if you can’t take it, that is your problem.

A shameful opinion piece that reminds us that Helsingin Sanomat should know better.  

Seeking revenge for doing her job, non-discrimination ombudswoman Kristina Stenman is denied a second term thanks to the PS

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The non-discrimination ombudswoman, Kristina Stenman, who began her term in August 2020, was not chosen to continue in her post due to pressure from Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, according to reports by Helsingin Sanomat. Upon investigating the changes in the quota refugee system in 2025, which would be manipulated by PS Interior Minister Mari Rantanen’s office to exclude Muslims, Stenman started an investigation that alleged Rantanen wanted changes in the quota-refugee system for this year. 

In April, Tuomas Pöysti, chancellor of justice, ruled that Interior Minister Rantanan and her temporary replacement, Minister of Transport and Communication Lulu Ranne, did not act unlawfully. Even so, Pöysti stated that the quota allocation had been poorly handled and that “ministers and aides must ensure that their political guidance does not contain any discriminatory elements.”

Kristina Stenman and Rainer Hiltunen, the former and new non-discrimination ombudsperson. Source: Helsingin Sanomat

Writes Helsingin Sanomat: “According to sources by Helsingin Sanomat, the worsening of relations between the PS and Stenman contributed to Stenman not being granted a further term.”

Matters turned for the worse when, in March, Stenman and unit head Robin Harms said that the PS was “an openly Islamophobic” party. The PS, which is a master player in victimhood, cried foul and slammed the statement as “a shocking attack” on the party.

Having been active in foreigner and minority rights for decades, Stenman grew up in a bilingual family. She studied law as well as Engish and cultural anthropology at the University of Helsinki. She will be missed by many.

Continue reading “Seeking revenge for doing her job, non-discrimination ombudswoman Kristina Stenman is denied a second term thanks to the PS”