Deportation is one of the cruelest matters about migration. Another deportation ruling hangs over an Iraqi family of five who has lived in Finland for ten years. Tragic is the fate of the children, aged 16, 14 and 7 years, who don’t read and write in Arabic and remember their parents’ former home country through…
Tag: Finland
The ever-greying of Finland and our new citizenship
Twenty-eight years ago I wrote in a Finland Bridge column about the greying of Finland. Even if Finland has the third-oldest population in the world after Japan and Italy. Has anything changed since 1997 and what are the solutions to our demographic woes? Some far-fetched solutions I suggested back then was to raise the retirement…
Fabricated charges will not silence me
Former Perussuomalaiset* and today Center Party councilperson Tanja Hartonen’s attack on me is a good example of political revenge aimed at silencing me and Migrant Tales. I am sure that all these made-up stories about what I said at city committee meeting will not stand the light of day. The truth is that Hartonen became…
MP Heikki Vestman throws the rule of law and asylum seekers under the bus
Thanks to National Coalition Party (NCP) MP and chairperson of the constitutional committee, Heikki Vestman, Finland regressed to the days of the cold war, when human rights was seen as a negative matter because it jeopardized our relationship with the former Soviet Union. Vestman, who has been accused of throwing the rule of law and…
Helsinki Noir: A play reflecting troubled times
THE REVIEW WAS UPDATED Writer and director Ahti Tolvanen, who is a member of the Migrant Tales board, has written a play that reflects hard and uncertain times for Finland. When Ahti came to Finland in the 1970s, it was a very different country. For one, its foreign policy, which some criticized as Finlandization, attempted…
Suomen Silta* (6/2013): Finns of all backgrounds, unite!
When Finns talk about expats, they usually mean those that are Finnish citizens and, most importantly, speak the Finnish or Swedish language. Apart from speaking on of Finland’s two official languages, your ethnic background plays a role as well. When you generalize, you risk walking on thin ice. I’ll take that risk, however, to make…
An example of Finnish white fragility
White fragility is a defensive action, whereby white people react violently and defensively whenever racism is brought up. The aim of such hostility is to make the person bringing up the topic so attacked that he or she will not dare bring up the subject ever again. Finance Minister Riikka Purra and Jussi Halla-aho of…
Crossing the Finnish-Russian border during difficult times – had pushbacks started in December 2023?
From 1 August 2023 to 29 January 2024 a total of 1,271 persons sought asylum at the Finnish-Russian border. Well over 90% of the refugees are from Muslim countries like Syria (491), Somalia (360), Yemen (120), and Iraq (57). The total amount does not include some 200 Russians in legal limbo awaiting an interview by…
Ahti Tolvanen: Most of what Kimmo Kiljunen said is well substantiated
It is also obvious the non-action of the government on what their plan for the Finnish-Riussian border needs to be addressed. Just keepiing the Saimaa Canal closed costs the Finnish economy millions, now even billions if road transport is added to it. Not to mention the disrupted family lives from which the largest immigrant community…
Aleksanterinliitto ry:* Hundreds of Russian asylum seekers left in legal limbo
About 800 Russians who have requested asylum in Finland have been waiting for over two years for a decision on their residence applications from the Migration Service (Migri). The overwhelming majority are young people with higher education (some holding multiple degrees) who have a long working life ahead of them. However, due to their uncertain…