Tag: Finland

Saido Mohamed: How much good will is there in Finland for asylum seekers?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In the early 1990s Finland was in the midst of one of its worst recessions in a century, when unemployment rocketed to about 20%. The number of migrants back then was relatively small totaling in 1992 a mere 37,642 and accounting for only 0.7% of the total population.

Today Finland has been in a recession for four consecutive years and the migrant population was 301,524 at the end of 2013, accounting for 3.8% of the total population. Unemployment in July was 8.4%.

During 1990 and 1995 the Somali community in Finland rose from 44 to 4,044. While these numbers may appear small, they were significant taking into account the country’s foreign population.

The mix of recession and asylum seekers brought out the worst in some Finns. All one had to do at the time was to read the tabloid billboards or look at Kari’s cartoons in Helsingin Sanomat, which would never be published today because of their racist nature.

The first time I got death threats by phone as a journalist was when I published in the early 1990s a two-page spread for Apu magazine about a refugee center in Mikkeli that had Somalis.

One of those Somalis that came to Finland in the early 1990s is Saido Mohamed, who chairs the Finnish Somalia Network.

SaidoMohamed-3Saido Mohammed.

Continue reading “Saido Mohamed: How much good will is there in Finland for asylum seekers?”

What did Makwan Amirkhani forget to say on his video?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Violence is wrong and it’s commendable when people speak out against such anti-social behavior. Makwan Amirkhani, who speaks perfect Finnish on a video, claims that he’s disappointed at non-white Finnish youths that were in a video kicking and hitting a person on the street.

Amirkhani states that these youths should not forget that they are “guests” in this country.

Guests? That sounds like he’s echoing the code term “person with migrant or foreign background,” which labels you indefinitely a “guest” of this country and reminds you that you can never be a “Finn” because you “have foreign or migrant background.”

Instead of calling these people “guests” or any other label that reminds them that they are outsiders or marginalized from society, we should go to the core of the problem. The answer lies in inclusion and opportunities not in exclusion and labeling others as outsiders.

I would have said what Amirkhani stated in a totally different manner.

One important matter I’d tell these youths is that since they’re not white Finns, and since they are dumb enough to commit such an act of violence, video and post it on Instragram, they should remember that white Finnish privilege is maintained by structural racism and urban tales.

Their actions strengthen such social illnesses.

The tweet below by Sally Kohn should explain to them how things work.

The Finnish version of the tweet below would be: “Shooter with foreign or migrant background” = entire group guilty, and white Finnish shooter = mentally troubled lone wolf.

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Continue reading “What did Makwan Amirkhani forget to say on his video?”

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.

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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.

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

The PS puts a price tag on refugees without putting one on themselves

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In their never-ending search to prove that immigration and refugees are bad for Finland  the Perussuomalaiset (PS) have now a price tag for the cost of each refugee. Not even Hungary, where refugees are kicked at by camerawomen or thrown food at like animals, has published such a cost estimate. 

According to calculations by the PS, and with the blessings of Minister of Social Welfare and Health Hanna Mäntylä, the message that the government is giving is that Finland should accept as few as possible refugees because they are costly.

Mäntylä is no friend of Finland’s ever-growing culturally diverse community and justifies xenophobia because “white Finns are having it bad.”

The table below is not only disgraceful but another ploy by the PS to save face with their voters after so many turncoat decisions and broken election promises.

One of the biggest question marks about the table is that it assumes a lot of things. And when you assume you end up making an “ass” our of “u” and “me.”

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These are estimates made by the PS on how much a refugee costs Finland. According to the anti-immigration party, one person costs 13,200 euros a year, 30,000 persons 396 million and so on.

For one the table assumes that refugees that get asylum in Finland are only a cost. Don’t these people consume? Don’t they go to class to learn Finnish? Aren’t they going to be employed in the future and pay taxes?

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Facebook: REFUGEES WELCOME (TO FINLAND) ????

Posted on by Migrant Tales

There are some disturbing reports that have emerged in the media about how some asylum seekers in Finland are getting a hostile reception. Trish Pääkkönen gives us a taste of what she went through when she tried to help a group of refugees at the the Helsinki and Espoo police stations.

She writes:

Fast forward: Espoo Police Station

Upon arrival, there were not any refugees waiting to be processed. Instead of immediately taking them, I was asked to follow a large group of police officers and staff to a room behind a locked barrier.

I was then grilled about how “did I know these people?”, ” why would I help strangers?” , ” did I help transport them into Finland? “……I told them I could not turn a blind eye to people in need and asked if I had broken any Finnish laws by showing them where to register as refugees and get help.

Continue reading “Facebook: REFUGEES WELCOME (TO FINLAND) ????”

The Finnish government shrinks in the face of the humanitarian crisis in Europe

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Finnish government is sending mixed messages about its role in the humanitarian crisis that Europe faces today. A good example of the latter is Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s announcement last week when he offered his home to refugees but last Friday the government unveiled plans to demote refugees that get a residence permit to second-class status. 

Even if such moves are considered unconstitutional since in Finland everyone is equal before the law, we shouldn’t be surprised at what is happening because we have a populist party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* in government that is trying to save face on the backs of refugees and our culturally diverse community.

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Read full story here.

Foreign Minister and PS chairman, Timo Soini, announced Friday that the government is studying the possibility of lowering grants given to asylum seekers by 37% to about 200 euros from 318 euros now.

This move is similar to what Denmark did in August, when approved by a slim vote to cut monthly benefits to refugees and other migrants by 45% from 10,849 krona (1,454 euros) to 5,945 krona (797 eur).

For those who don’t know, the Islamophobic Danish People’s Party (DPP) is calling the government shots in that country. The DPP is a close political and ideological ally of the PS.

Continue reading “The Finnish government shrinks in the face of the humanitarian crisis in Europe”

Finland says yes to Commission refugee scheme but is still wishy-washy about its role in the crisis

Posted on by Migrant Tales

While the announcement by Interior Minister Petteri Orpo that Finland will accept 2,400 asylum seekers under a European Commission scheme is a positive step in the right direction, according to YLE in English, what message does it send?

For one, Orpo said that Finland doesn’t support commission plans to have a permanent mechanism to manage the flow of refugees and migrants entering Europe in ever-larger numbers.

While Orpo’s choice of words is a question of semantics, we still don’t have a clear idea what Finland’s role will be in the humanitarian crisis. Is it seeking a European solution or does it want to follow Hungary’s example by treating refugees inhumanely and leaving them out in the cold?

As long as the populist anti-immigration PS is in government we will never know for sure.

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Read full story here.

As this government bungles from one crisis to the next, watch closely who makes the announcements.

Timo Soini, PS chairman and foreign minister, naturally spoke to the media about his party’s pet issue: immigrants. He said that the government is studying the possibility of lowering grants given to asylum seekers by 37% to about 200 euros from 318 euros now.

This was exactly what was done in Denmark, where the Islamophobic Danish People’s Party (DPP) is tightening subsidies and immigration policy. The PS and the DPP are close ideological allies.

But that’s not all. The PS is spearheading plans with the government’s blessings to demote asylum seekers that have got residence permits to be treated as second-class members of society.

Soini, who’s been accused of being a turncoat and faces a growing revolt in his party, announced that he wants to de-link funding for asylum-seeker integration programs from the housing benefits system. This means that some migrants will not get the same social welfare benefits as Finns irrespective if they live in Helsinki or Lieksa.

Some analysts believe that such steps are unconstitutional.

* 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.

 

 

Hate email to Migrant Tales

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Every now and then we get hate email like the one below. We also get kudos from readers. 

I got the email below on September 4 and thought whether I should publish it or not. The person who sent it is most likely a white European and is a good example that some foreigners can be just as racist as the worst Finn.

They have the same ability to make a horse’s ass out of themselves.

_________________

Näyttökuva 2015-9-11 kello 16.03.47

The PS of Finland: Can you teach a bigot new tricks?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

When the national media gave the racist narrative of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* the benefit of the doubt, Migrant Tales never did and never will. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? If you are naive you probably think you can. 

Time magazine quoted Migrant Tales a day after at the 2011 parliamentary elections because we were one of the few who wrote critically about the PS. Time writes in its global briefing page for April 18, 2011:

“We are not extremists so you can sleep safely,” says the head the country’s ascendant ‘True Finns’ party (yes, that’s their real name). Of course, not everybody agrees: Far-right populism is an illness inflicting Europe at present and it now has a beachhead in Finland, writes Enrique Tessieri.”

Nothing has changed since April 17, 2011 except that the PS has today more power than ever before since it forms part of the government with the Center Party and National Coalition Party.

I stand firmly by what I wrote in 2011: The PS is and will continue to be an illness inflicting Finland that has already impoverished the country economically, socially and politically.

Some naively believe that the PS can be transformed into a “normal” party by getting rid of its worst racists like PS MP Olli Immonen, MEP Jussi Halla-aho and many others.

Not a chance. The PS grew from near-obscurity to become the second-biggest party in parliament thanks to its xenophobic rhetoric and promises.

Becoming a “normal” party would be synonymous to committing political hara-kiri for the PS.

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Read quotes of the day here.

Continue reading “The PS of Finland: Can you teach a bigot new tricks?”