Finland Archives - Page 192 of 359

Matti Putkonen takes the Perussuomalaiset to the Twilight Zone

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Here’s what happened Wednesday. Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Olli Immonen, who’s been pictured with neo-Nazis and recently declared war on “the nightmare of multiculturalism,” gave a press conference where he promised to write clearer text so that nobody could interpret them as racist or having neo-Nazi overtones.

Immonen also announced that he’d step down until October from the PS parliamentary group, writes YLE in English.

But that’s not all, PS strongman MattiPutkonen went on to point his finger at a number of politicians, professors and editors who, according to him, were “slandering and taunting the Perussuomalaiset party as well as inciting people and the media to threatening hate speech.”

According to online publication Uusi Suomi, PS member Matti Putkonen announced the following people were guilty of “hate speech” against the PS. These were four Social Democratic Party politicians (Eero Heinäluoma, Annti Rinne, Tytti Tuppurainen and Erkki Tuomioja), Li Andersson of the Left Alliance, Green League chairman Ville Niinistö, National Coalition Party’s Henna Virkkunen, former Rural Party head Pekka Vennamo, two professors and three editors are guilty of hate speech against the PS.

The PS enter the Twilight Zone.

Once again we see how the PS twists words like a magician out of a hat. One of the most incredible ones used by the party recently was “illegal refugees.”

What is an “illegal” refugee anyway? Continue reading “Matti Putkonen takes the Perussuomalaiset to the Twilight Zone”

The Perussuomalaiset is a racist and far right party because…

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Migrant Tales

No matter how much Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party member Matti Purkonen, MP Sampo Terho or Timo Soini assure us that they are against racism and fascism,[1] the more they incriminate their party. Renouncing racism and far right ideology would be tantamount to committing political hara-kiri for the PS.

Should we be surprised on Friday by PS party secretary Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo’s claim that four out of five refugees coming to Europe are only economic migrants? Should we be surprised by PS MP Olli Immonen’s declaration of war against “the nightmare of multiculturalism” and his ties with neo-Nazi groups?

Not at all. What you see is what it is.

There are two matters that the Finnish media doesn’t get with the PS and hasn’t connected the dots:

The PS grew from obscurity thanks to the fact that society saw Somalis as a negative factor and that they would get rid of this “problem;” [2]
Soini is seen for some odd reason as the “good cop” of the PS who is trying to bring in line racists, xenophobes and fascists to whom he gave a political voice in Finland. The media should stop giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Everyone knows that the PS will fail in ridding Finland of what it thinks is the Somali “problem,” which now includes as well Muslims and Middle Easterners.

Continue reading “The Perussuomalaiset is a racist and far right party because…”

Thank you Timo Soini and Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo for showing us (again) how big of a social ill racism is in Finland

Posted on August 23, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Imagine how a political party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* can destroy with their xenophobic and populist sound bites not only the credibility of a government that’s planning to slash billions of euros but the good name of this country abroad.

In one racist statement they soil our country’s image but there is a silver lining: They reveal how much racism is a problem in this country and how much work needs to be done to challenge and eliminate it.

It is a good matter that we have the resources to challenge a social ill like racism. The only matter, in my opinion, that is still lacking, is the will to challenge it on all fronts.

PS party secretary Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo, who is a firm supporter of MEP Jussi Halla-aho’s xenophobic rhetoric, led the charge again on Friday with her comment about refugees.

Read full story (in Finnish) here.

Continue reading “Thank you Timo Soini and Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo for showing us (again) how big of a social ill racism is in Finland”

Defining white Finnish privilege #24: Becoming a heartless accomplice in wars and people’s suffering

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Migrant Tales

During the so-called “war on terror” launched by former President George W. Bush and his cronies like Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Chaney, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Pearle, Condoleezza Rice and many, many others, made up new terms to justify their wars in Iraq and the death of hundreds of thousand of people.

Do you remember the term enhanced interrogation, which meant torture? What about collateral damage for civilian deaths, and regime change that meant coup in the old CIA tradition?

Remember synonyms for torture techniques like waterboarding, walling and rectal feeding?

: White privilege can lead to wars as was the case in the US-led invasion of Iraq. Source: Wikipdia.

In the same way that the Bush administration used to justify its crimes by invading foreign countries, new terms are being used today by politicians and the media to justify our inaction to what is happening to refugees fleeing war-torn countries like Syria.

How many columnists and editorialists connect the present refugee crisis in Syria with the invasion of Iraq in 2003? If your answer is too few then we must investigate deeper to understand why.

Continue reading “Defining white Finnish privilege #24: Becoming a heartless accomplice in wars and people’s suffering”

UPDATE (August 21): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link.

August 20

Sarasvuo HSTV:ssä: Suomalaista kulttuuria uskallettava suojella islamilta (HSTV)

What’s wrong with this story? A lot.For one, the guests who speak about Islam and refugees to Europe appear not to have the faintest idea about what they are talking about never mind how cultural diversity works. In their small worlds immigration translates to Islam and people coming by boat to Europe. Former businessman Jari Sarasvuo, for example, claimed that Finnish culture must dare to protect itself from Islam. The other guest, Jari Ehrnrooth, believed that people from Islamic countries could never adapt to our Western way of life because they “live a thousand years” behind us in time. What did the host do during the show? He gave them the opportunity to spread their ignorance and prejudices to the viewers. If you’re guessing why Finland and the Nordic region is being threatened by populist anti-immigration parties, this show is a good example.

Perussuomalaiset label fleeing refugees to Europe as economic migrants and welfare shoppers

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Migrant Tales

PS party secretary Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo said today on Suomen Uutiset, a PS publication, that four out of five people that flee to Europe from Northern Africa and the Middle East aren’t refugees but economic migrants and welfare shoppers.

Considering that Slunga-Poutsalo, who is a member of extremist MEP Jussi Halla-aho’s anti-immigration wing of the PS, uses such words to describe people fleeing from war-torn countries like Syria begs a serious question:

Why should the government allow such language to be used by one of its coalition partners?

What else did Slunga-Poutsalo say?

Continue reading “Perussuomalaiset label fleeing refugees to Europe as economic migrants and welfare shoppers”

Migrant Tales’ D4R: Estonians can be just as racist as some Finns

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Just because you are a migrant doesn’t mean that you can’t be a racist jerk.

Our faithful reader and friend D4R called me up Thursday and told me about a racist incident with two Estonian men on the train. One of them asks D4R in a hostile tone where he purchased such good clothes and if he was living off social welfare.

“Social welfare pays you guys for everything,” one of the Estonian men continued. “Why don’t you move back to Africa?”

D4R couldn’t hold back his feelings and responded.

“This isn’t Estonia,” he said. “I have lived longer in this country than you, I work and pay taxes.”

One of men started to act aggressively and placed his face close to D4R’s.

“Fortunately his friend had more sense than him and they both left,” he said. “I called 112 to inform them that I felt threatened.”

D4R said he did not want to pick a fight with the person because, as has happened in the past, he felt he’d be arrested by the police for starting the fight.

Why do some dark-skinned children in Finland fear the sun?

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Migrant Tales

There are many ways to measure how racism works on a day-by-day level and structurally in our society. Umayya Abu-Hanna wrote a while back how Finland’s middle class ensures that migrants and minorities can never compete economically, politically and culturally on an equal level with white Finns.

Instead of prime ministers and government officials stating how much they are against racism, why don’t they actually challenge this social ill in earnest?

The reason why they don’t may surprise some: They don’t consider racism a serious enough problem.

Source: www.beeanddaddoo.com

Racism in Finland starts from early childhood. Children are bullied at school because of their ethnic background, even some like Rebecka Holm are harassed in public by total strangers.

Continue reading “Why do some dark-skinned children in Finland fear the sun?”

Finland Bridge: What threatens us?

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Everything that puts Europe in harm’s way today is in some cases more challenging to Finland: geopolitical uncertainty in Russia ranks high on the list as does populism, anti-immigration sentiment, near-flat economic growth, high unemployment, rising poverty and nationalism.

It’s clear that when you have enough of the latter, people are going to get pretty edgy and angry. But since I’m an optimist that believes in Finland and the Finns, I’m hopeful that things won’t get too much out of hand politically and force us to commit the same mistakes of the past.

Time is still on our side.

Continue reading “Finland Bridge: What threatens us?”

When does a trickle become a flood when speaking of refugees?

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Migrant Tales

When we speak of refugees, when does a trickle become a flood? Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Olli Immonen, the far right politician who warned us recently about the “nightmare of multiculturalism,” who uses and warns us of “an avalanche” of refugees since 1,000 more refugees came to the country in July versus the same period last year.

Some Finnish media, like MTV3, even ask President Sauli Niinstö about this “flood.” The Finnish head of state, who has usually been quite on the rise of xenophobia in Finland, claimed without giving any figures that we should get “ready that the number of refugees to Finland will rise significantly.

Here is a new story by MTV3 that speaks of the “flood” of immigrants. There are no clear numbers, only colorful terms that instill fear like “flood” nd “avalanche” are used to describe the situation. Read full story (in Finnish) here.

“We have already seen a record number of asylum seekers have soared this summer and we must must get ready ready that their numbers will grow significantly,” he was quoted as saying on MTV3.

While the human tragedy going on in war-torn countries like Syria are a cause for grave concern, is the situation made any better if we start to fear-monger in the same way as far right groups by using terms such as “flood” and “avalanche?”

Certainly not.

Continue reading “When does a trickle become a flood when speaking of refugees?”

The PS enter the Twilight Zone.

The PS grew from obscurity thanks to the fact that society saw Somalis as a negative factor and that they would get rid of this “problem;” [2]

Soini is seen for some odd reason as the “good cop” of the PS who is trying to bring in line racists, xenophobes and fascists to whom he gave a political voice in Finland. The media should stop giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Read full story (in Finnish) here.

August 20

Why should the government allow such language to be used by one of its coalition partners?

Source: www.beeanddaddoo.com

Here is a new story by MTV3 that speaks of the “flood” of immigrants. There are no clear numbers, only colorful terms that instill fear like “flood” nd “avalanche” are used to describe the situation. Read full story (in Finnish) here.

While the human tragedy going on in war-torn countries like Syria are a cause for grave concern, is the situation made any better if we start to fear-monger in the same way as far right groups by using terms such as “flood” and “avalanche?”