Finland Archives - Page 27 of 359

Media Monitoring Group of Finland:* In the face of rising far-right nationalism, Yle publishes (again) a story about youths who hate foreigners

Posted on August 28, 2023August 28, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle) published Saturday a story about two far-right youths belonging to the openly fascist and racist Blue-and-Black Movement (Sinimusta liike), and one to Suomen Sisu, which the authorities named in 2011 as “a Nazi-spirited association.” Thanks to the Yle article, the reader can read how much these so-called “radical nationalists” hate migrants.

Pyry-Lii Soinio is a twenty-two-year member of the Blue-and-Black Movement. He does not hide his loathing for outsiders. “I don’t think immigration should be restricted,” he said, “but [foreign] people should be deported altogether. I don’t care whether immigrants are good citizens or taxpayers. What matters to me is whether they are Finns.”

This is the third article that Yle has published on far-right members in the last three years. The first one was in 2019 by TV host Sean Ricks on far-right youths, followed by Suomineito in 2022.

Both stories received their fair share of criticism.

Yle defended its decision to air Suomineito.

Unequal social welfare for forigners: The wettest dream of the Perussuomalaiset and National Coalition Party

Posted on August 22, 2023August 22, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Plans to pay migrants less social welfare planned by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government are a wet dream that spans back to 2016, when then Social and Health Minister Hanna Mantylä aimed to pass legislation that would grant migrants less social welfare than native Finns. Fortunately, such a law did not see the light of day since it was unconstitutional.

The unconstitutionality of such a law rests on Section 6 of the Constitution: “Everyone is equal before the law. No one shall, without an acceptable reason, be treated differently from other persons on the ground of sex, age, origin, language, religion, conviction, opinion, health, disability or other reason that concerns his or her person.”

Read the full story (in Finnish) here.

Thus, if you are going to pay less social welfare to a group, the measure must apply to everyone in order for it to be constitutional.

Efforts to get foreigners to get less social welfare than native Finns, was brought up again in 2018 by Finland’s Nobel Prize in economics, Bengt Holmström. He said that white Finns must not share power and privileges with migrants and their children. In other words, they should get lower salaries and social security benefits so that it does not irritate Finns.

According to Statistics Finland’s Working Paper series published in 2014, Finland is no land of opportunity for migrants, according to Pekka Myrskylä. He claims that the employment level of Estonians and Thai citizens matches that of white Finns. The majority of migrants, however, live in poverty in Finland because they make less money, according to him.

I have tweeted to Riikka Purra about her suggestion not to pay social welfare to foreigners. My question to her was: If social welfare is left to a minunum, does it mean that foreigners have to pay taxes?

Surprisngly, she did not respond to my tweet.

National Coalition Party MP Pia Kauma is another politician who has been hellbent that migrants should be paid less social welfare.
Continue reading “Unequal social welfare for forigners: The wettest dream of the Perussuomalaiset and National Coalition Party”

Shame on you if you are a Finnish politician and don’t know what racism is!

Posted on August 21, 2023August 21, 2023 by Migrant Tales

One clear aspect of Finland’s heated debate about racism is how politicians, especially from the Perussuoomalaiset (PS) party, claim ignorance about what racism is. PS MP Joakim Vigelius went as far as to claim that the term “racism” has suffered from inflation.

I wonder if victims of racism and microaggression feel the same way.

As can be seen with Vigelius’ view of racism, it is always a white person setting the narrative and definitions about such a social ill.

Another politician, MP Jani Mäkelä, the head of the PS parliamentary group, said in Helsingin Sanomat that other groups define the term to fit their political needs.

“They take this term, arbitrarily define its content according to their own definition,” he said.

One of the most unusual comments that Mäkelä made to Helsingin Sanomat was his definition of racism. According to him, the law protects the individual from discrimination but this cannot apply to immigration policy, cultural and national groups.

He said that cultures, where women and sexual minorities are treated badly, cannot be considered equal to Finnish culture.

“Such a culture should be seen as inferior if it treats people like that,” added Mäkelä.

In other words, Finnish law protects individual rights against discrimination but it isn’t racist to speak demeaningly of groups like Muslims.

As one navigates through the denials and smoke screens from politicians about racism, it’s easy to understand that such tactics aim to deceive.

Some friendly advice: If you have difficulty figuring out what is racism, ask and do some research. That is how we did it in California: one can achieve a lot with the help of cultural sensitivity and the willingness to learn.

Unless you have lived isolated from people, there is no reason why you should blame ignorance on your racism.

Another piece of advice: if you want people to treat you with respect, then you should treat them with respect, too.

The only way for the government to save face is for Riikka Purra to resign

Posted on August 19, 2023August 19, 2023 by Migrant Tales

The big question is what impact will the racism scandals that have rocked Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government. For one, they reveal an era when politicians can say anything they want and face little to no accountability.

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Finance Minister Riikka Purra’s racist and violent comments of 2008 have put her in a difficult bind. She has tried to mitigate the damage by stating that the posts are old and she wrote them before entering politics.

Sure, Purra, you were a 31-year-old adult doing Ph.D. research at the time.

Writes Politico: “Purra — from the right-wing populist Finns Party [PS] — has been accused of writing: “Is anyone up for spitting on beggars … ?” as well as using racist slurs historically used to demean Black people. The racist comments were published under the acronym “riikka” in the guestbook of former Finns Party leader Jussi Halla-aho’s online blog Scripta.”

A good example of how an Islamophobic party like the PS covers its hatred for Muslims. In the top picture, the PS claims that Muslim women are oppressed because they wear certain Muslim attire. In the second cartoon below, the PS gives its real opinion: “Why don’t you go back to where you came from? That dress has no place in Finland.” Purra made a comment in 2019 of a woman with a “black sack” which she hasn’t apologized.

Purra also threatened in her posts to kill migrant youths on a commuter train and called Turks “monkeys.”

How many of us would think of joining a racist site like Purra did and writing racist comments to our heart’s content?

I wouldn’t.

In a normal world, any politician, never mind a minster, would be forced to resign after writing such racist things. The fact that the Purra and other ministers like Wille Rydman don’t want to resign, shows how politics in Finland want to defy the law of political gravity.

PM Petteri Opro: “There is nothing racist or discriminatory in the government program”

Posted on August 18, 2023August 18, 2023 by Migrant Tales

And that is not all that Orpo said in Helsingin Sanomat: “We are doing everything in our power to eradicate racism and discrimination,” he continued, “We are doing more [on this front] than any government before us.”

In light of the scandals that have rocked Orpo’s government from the start, there appear to be an endless amount of denial in the face of a chronic loss of credibility of the government.

Source: Twitter

Fomer Prime Minister Sanna Marin warned that Orpo’s government is ready to “erode the fundamental values of a democratic society.”

Finland’s challenge at seeing its dark side

Posted on August 17, 2023August 17, 2023 by Migrant Tales

It is a bit disingenuous that after ten years of the historic Perussuomaiset (PS)* victory in the 2011 election, when the party saw the number of MPs soared to 39 from five previously, some of us still appear startled about the racism of the radical right party and how they aim to destroy the credibility of the Finnish media and our democratic institution. There is an answer as to why: The challenge of seeing the dark side of ourselves.

After the hostile attacks against the Finnish media at the PS congress over the weekend and editorials and analysis by Finland’s biggest daily, Helsingin Sanomat, it appears that everyone is still surprised.

Just for the record, I never underestimated the profound impact and threat of the PS to our democratic institutions. The quote by Time Magazine in 2011 expressed my concern in the face of how too many played down the election result. Source Time Magazine.

But it would be unfair to place all the blame on the PS. Today, traditional parties like the conservative National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) have become ideologically closer to the PS. Even a traditional liberal party like the Swedish People’s Party, agreed to form part of a coalition government with the PS.

Press freedom, the rule of law, and Finland’s radical-right xenophobic party

Posted on August 14, 2023August 14, 2023 by Migrant Tales

The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* congress over the weekend raised some questions and new perspectives about the PS’ alternate reality. The hostile attacks by PS chairperson Riikka Purra and speaker of parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, Matti Putkonen, and others as “spineless liars” are a warning of the perilous direction that the party wants to steer Finland.

Apart from the numerous scandals this summer due to the PS’ history with racism, attacks by the party on our media are equally concerning.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s leadership is another problem. Very few members of his party, the conservative National Coalition Party, have voiced concern about the siatuion and its hardright political direction.

Pertti Salolainen is a veteran former NCP MP and minister who is one of the few dissenting voices of the party. Another one is former NCP member and MP Kirsi Piha.

Tweets Salolainen: “The full-frontal attack on #journalism, journalists and #YLE is worrying. It must be rejected out of hand. We don’t need to be on the path of Hungary in Finland!”

Riikka Purra of the PS is a charlatan, a master at playing the victim

Posted on August 13, 2023August 13, 2023 by Migrant Tales

If I am honest with you, I tried to stay as far away as possible from the toxic speeches at the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Congress. In those speeches, like the one by the party’s leader Riikka Purra, you wondered in what alternate reality the radical-right party lives.

Those speeches by Purra, Matti Purkonen, who slammed the media as “spineless liars,” and others are tragic because for those of us who have lived many years in Finland, have seen a complete about-turn in politics and society. What was considered unthinkable before, like racism, is now normalized. It’s all about hate of difference with a huge “H.”

Contrary to what people wanted to believe, the threat does not come from abroad but is homegrown and sits and grows right under our noses.

Take for instance Purra’s speech Saturday, when she concentrated on attacking the media for doing their job and publishing her racist posts from 2008 and 2019.

Iltalehti published (in Finish) all of “riikka’s” 185 posts. In them, she threatens to shoot migrant youths on a commuter train, her posts are homophobic, Islamophobic, sexist, and outright racist.

Upper left: “The problem isn’t that WE speak like racists or that we are racists.“

Upper right: “The problem is that you call us racists.“

Lower left: “The problem ends when you stop [calling us racists].“

Lower right: “YOU are the culprits.” Source: X (formerly Twitter)

Imagine, she was a 31-year-old adult PhD student who, I imagine, should have known better.

Even if one of here defense arguments is that the posts were written before her political career began, how many of us would write such racist and violent posts?
Continue reading “Riikka Purra of the PS is a charlatan, a master at playing the victim”

Finnish racism, the PS, and the duck test: Nobody knew, but suddenly everyone now knows

Posted on August 12, 2023August 12, 2023 by Migrant Tales

One of the most startling comments heard from politicians like Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Anna-Maja Henriksson of the Swedish People’s Party (SPP) is that they were ignorant of the Perussuomalaiset’s (PS)* racist posts and comments on social media.

The claim by the head of the SPP left a lot of political analysts with open mouths.

“If the racist writings [by Ministers Riikka Purra and Wille Rydman] had been known, we would hardly have entered the government negotiations,” Henriksson was quoted by STT.

SPP Education Minister Anna-Maja Henriksson claims that her party would have never entered government negotiations if the racist writings of Riikka Purra and Wille Rydman would have been known. Source: STT.

Probably what Henriksson is saying is that if she’d known that the racist writings would have caused such a scandal, the SPP would not have entered into government negotiations.

But why didn’t the SPP, Orpo, the media and others take the duck test: If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.

Denial of the PS’ racism problem and how it has spread in our society still runs deep. We know that it exists, but we do little to challenge it. Let’s just ignore it.

Even the daily of my hometown of Mikkel, had local PS politicians claimed that “racism has no place in the Perussuomalaiset party” and that the scandals are a media fabrication.

For too many years, the media has turned a semi-blind eye to many of the racist writings and comments by PS politicians. Like a cancer that spreads, they now acknowledge that something must be done. It’s as if Finland, not wanting to look at a dark side of itself, has now found the courage to face the mirror.

Everything isn’t lost and there are some encouraging signs. The fact that the media has exposed the racist writings of high-ranking politicians is not only welcome but vital if we are to live in a society where our Nordic values, enshrined in human rights, and the rule of law are respected.

Finland is a country that has lost its way and where democracy is now under threat

Posted on August 10, 2023August 10, 2023 by Migrant Tales

There are a number of worrying signs that Finland’s democracy and social welfare state are under threat. The threat does not come from abroad but from inside Finland thanks to the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and National Coalition Party (Kokoomus).

Apart from disenfranchising migrants with strict laws that will make life harder for the country’s most vulnerable groups, Petteri Orpo’s government plans to weaken labor laws like the right to strike, and even the PS has been accused recently of trying to censor the media.

Lauri Nurmi wrote “The Unofficial Biography of Jussi Halla-aho in 2020. He claims in an Iltalehti editorial that the PS has made a dangerous move by trying to censor the media. Source: Iltalehti

Nurmi writes: “The [PS congress] invitation to the media ends with a special request: ‘We appeal to all the editors to please leave the archaeological political hacking in your offices coat racks and focus on the decisions made at our congress and political policies.’
The Perussuomalaiset [party] is trying to censor the media and limit what questions they can ask [at the congress]. The invitation from the PS could be seen as obstructive. The demand by it is unprecedented and dangerous in Finnish political journalism, but the reason for making [such a request] is obvious.”

It’s clear that the party is not happy with the scandals originating from racist and far-right posts by ministers like Riikka Purra, Wille Rydman and Vilhelm Junnila, who was forced to resign. Instead of blaming themselves, they place the blame on the media.

Moreover, the government plans to weaken worker rights and unions and take away basic health care from undocumented pregnant women and their children.

Inhumane would be a too weak word to describe the new government’s policies.