Tag: Finland

UPDATE (Apr. 22): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism

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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.

Apr. 22

Tapanilan joukkoraiskauksesta syytteet viidelle (YLE)

What’s wrong with this story? The news story by YLE on sentencing five youths with so-called “foreign backgrounds” is an example of how the media and society continue to perceive non-white Finns, especially those that are suspected of a crime, as eternal outsiders. The police may use an ethnic description of a suspect that is at large but to continue to label such a person while in custody is odd. Certainly there’s nothing odd about this if your aim is to stress “us” at the cost of “them.”  Migrant Tales got in touch with the policeman in charge of the Tapanila gang rape investigation. He admitted that some of the suspects were born and raised in this country and were Finnish citizens but didn’t consider these facts to be important in the investigation. Not an important fact? With one word, person with foreign background, the police labelled all migrants and gave a rude message to Finns that aren’t white: You are an outsider.

Tabloid Ilatlehti used the same term to describe a group of 8 youths aged 15-17 years who were sentenced for street robbing and attacking victims in Eastern Helsinki. The tabloid mentioned that “most of those sentenced” had “foreign backgrounds.”

Continue reading “UPDATE (Apr. 22): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism”

White Finn vows to send Somali Finn “back to where he came from”

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Abdulah is no stranger to Migrant Tales. He tells us about an incident a day after Sunday’s elections, which saw the populist anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset* become the country’s second-biggest party in parliament. 

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* 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.

Finnish whiteness, Russophobia, anti-immigration and our ever-growing cultural diversity

Posted on by Migrant Tales

One matter that became clear in Sunday’s parliamentary elections is how polarized Finland is. On the one hand anti-immigration and Finnish whiteness was heard loud and clear, while two new non-white Finns were elected to parliament: Social Democrat Nasima Razmyar and Ozan Yanar of the Greens.

If there is good news to emerge from these elections, it’s Razmyar , Yanar and let’s not forget Jani Toivola of the Greens, a black Finnish MP, who got reelected.

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The three new faces of Finland’s ever-growing cultural diversity in parliament (from left to right): Nasima Razmyar, Ozan Yanar and Jani Toivola.

Even if the three MPs are small examples of how Finnish society is changing they are huge steps towards greater recognition that Finland is, never was, and never will be an only white society.

Over 1.2 million Finns emigrated from this country between 1860 and 1999.

No matter how many Perussuomalaisiet (PS)* and other anti-cultural diversity politicians are elected in the future, no matter how loud and hostile their voices become, there is one matter they cannot stop: Finland’s ever-growing cultural and ethnic diversity.

A good example of the xenophobic voices in Finland are, among a long list of other politicians, Suna Kymäläinen of the Social Democratic Party, who got reelected to parliament with 7,428 votes, and Laura Huhtasaari of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party with 9,254 votes.

An MP from Ruokolahti, located next door to Russia, Kymäläinen campaigned on an anti-Russian campaign to prohibit real-estate purchases by Russians in Finland. Even after her proposal to prohibit real-estate purchases by non-EU citizens was defeated in a parliamentary committee, Kymäläinen continued campaigning tirelessly for such a restrictions by proposing a citizen’s initiative.

 

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Here is a good example of how to succeed as a politician in Finland. Idealize Finnish whiteness by dying your hair bleach blonde, have blue eyes and add some xenophobic sound bites. Presto! Instant election success. Suna Kymäläinen had a strong Russophobic message while Huhtasaari campaigned against immigrants so that jobs wouldn’t go to them. Both got elected with a handsome number of votes.

Continue reading “Finnish whiteness, Russophobia, anti-immigration and our ever-growing cultural diversity”

Finland elections send a worrisome message of petty provincialism, anti-immigration, anti-Islam and anti-Other

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Of the top 12 anti-immigration candidates below, only one didn’t get reelected: National Coalition Party’s Pia Kauma (UPDATED) and James Hirvisaari of Muutos 2011. While this is a small consolation in the face of the success of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party on Sunday, the big question is if this populist anti-immigration party will form part of the next government. 

We know that most of the PS are arch conservatives that want to keep Finland white but the big question is what now. How do they plan to put their petty provincialism, anti-immigration, anti-Islam and anti-Other sound bites into practice? Does the PS victory on Sunday mean ever-toughening immigration policy and ratcheting up white Finnish hostility towards migrants and minorities?

Finland’s  Other, which have the same rights to live here as everyone else, will have to figure out and organize more effectively against a party that is openly hostile to us and may form part of government. Expecting others will do this for us is wishful thinking. The election results reinforces as well Migrant Tales’ role as a voice of migrants and minorities.

Stay tuned folks, what you saw on Sunday is nothing that we’ll see in the next four years.

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The top 12 anti-immigration and anti-cultural diversity MPs seeking reelection on Sunday are (top to bottom left to right): Timo Soini (PS), James Hirvisaari (Muutos 2011), Juho Eerola (PS), Teuvo Hakkarainen (PS), Pia Kauma (NCP), Päivi Räsänen (KD), Olli Immonen (PS), Maria Lohela (PS), Tom Packalén (PS), Maria Tolppanen (PS), Mika Niikko (PS) and Vesa-Matti Saarakkala (PS).

Continue reading “Finland elections send a worrisome message of petty provincialism, anti-immigration, anti-Islam and anti-Other”

The ballot box in Finland has shown a very different picture of PS support than opinion polls

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The interesting matter to watch on election day is how well the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* will do and will it succeed in capturing undecided votes, which amount to about 40%, according to some predictions.

There is another matter that baffles some observers as well about the today’s election: Why does the PS continue to be the closet darling of the Finnish media even if the ballot box has shown different?

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The top 10 anti-immigration and anti-cultural diversity MPs seeking reelection on Sunday are (top to bottom left to right): Timo Soini (PS), James Hirvisaari (Muutos 2011), Juho Eerola (PS), Teuvo Hakkarainen (PS), Pia Kauma (NCP), Päivi Räsänen (KD), Olli Immonen (PS), Maria Lohela (PS), Tom Packalén (PS) and Maria Tolppanen (PS). Don’t vote for these candidates because they are hazardous to migrants, minorities, Finns and Finland.

Continue reading “The ballot box in Finland has shown a very different picture of PS support than opinion polls”

On Sunday we vote in Finland – future generations will be watching closely the result

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Finland will hold parliamentary elections on Sunday. According to the latest polls, the Center Party is well ahead with the National Coalition Party (NCP) and Perussuomalaiset (PS)* trailing in second and third place, respectively. The Social Democrats are in fourth place. 

Migrant Tales has tirelessly reported on the ongoing anti-immigration debate in Finland daily since 2011.  Since Finland is our home and will be that of our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, do not vote for xenophobic candidates and parties that exclude migrants and minorities. We need them like a hole in the head.

In light of the parliamentary elections, the Red Cross asked Finland’s parties in parliament if they supported offering health care to undocumented migrants. All political parties except for two, the PS and Muutos 2011, believed that undocumented migrants should receive health care. 

While you think that the latter question only applies to undocumented migrants it says a lot about what kind of a society we are and want to be. Do we want to build a society where people are classified and treated according to their ethnic and cultural background or one that fosters mutual respect?

That I believe is the big question we should be asking when we vote on Sunday.

Continue reading “On Sunday we vote in Finland – future generations will be watching closely the result”

Finland goes to the polls Sunday – don’t vote for these anti-immigration candidates

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Finland will hold  parliamentary elections on Sunday. One of the interesting question marks is who will come in second or third place. One poll predicts the Center Party winning (no surprise) with the National Coalition Party (NCP) and Perussuomalaiset (PS)* coming in second and third, respectively. The Social Democrats are in fourth place. 

During the last four years since the 2011 parliamentary elections, Migrant Tales has written a lot about Finland’s anti-immigration politicians. Toping the list with flying colors are MPs and politicians of the PS.

One important matter to keep in mind, however, is that intolerance to Others isn’t only a PS thing but takes place in all Finnish parties. If you were a migrant or minority searching for a political party that could represent you in Finland, the way you’d go about this is by asking which party is the least racists.

One good example of a party constantly vacillating on immigration is the Social Democratic Party. It chairman Antti Rinne said in a recent debate that he would be in favor of having in force stricter language requirements on migrants. This would mean in effect that employers would be encouraged to hire white Finns in place of migrants.

The argument that Finns should receive preferential treatment over migrants in the job market is a common anti-immigration argument used by the PS as well.

In light of the parliamentary elections, the Red Cross asked Finland’s parties in parliament if they supported offering health care to undocumented migrants. All political parties except for two agreed that undocumented migrants should receive health care: the PS and Muutos 2011.

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The Red Cross asked all the parties if there were in favor of granting health care to undocumented migrants. The PS and Muutos 2011 felt that undocumented migrants weren’t entitled to receive health care.

Continue reading “Finland goes to the polls Sunday – don’t vote for these anti-immigration candidates”

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