As Migrant Tales correctly predicted, interest in the so-called “youth gang” problem has tanked in the media and social media after the parliamentary election. Twenty-threedays after and before the April 2 election, news on the topic by five media outlets (Helsingin Sanomat, Yle, MTV, Iltalehti, and Ilta-Sanomat) plummeted by 54.5% to five stories from 11, according to a Meltwater search. The most significant drop was seen on social media, diving by 87.4% to 314 posts from 2.56k.
The fall was even more pronounced for all media, sinking by 70.5% to 13 stories from 44 stories.
What do these figures tell us about the fake and exaggerated “youth gang” topic spread by the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset and its National Coalition Party ally? That was a political stunt to attract voters with the help of fear-mongering. The media (more traffic), the police (more funds to fight crime), and politicians (get voters) all profited from the topic.
The problem with xenophobic parties in the Nordic region is that all promote social exclusion and more social exclusion.
If the elections in Sweden weren’t a preview of the political path of the Nordic region, the April elections in Finland confirmed it. In both countries, parties that base their support on suspicion of minorities and migrants fared well.
Apart from such a recipe for election success in Sweden and Finland, the Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi roots, and the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* were helped and given political legitimacy by a mainstream conservative party: the Moderates and National Coalition Party (Kokoomus).
For me, the rise of parties whose message is maintaining white-Nordic privilege should not surprise anyone. The exceptionalist view that the Nordics are home of social equality and other noble values is a wise tale. The question a serious student should ask is who enjoys social equality.
If we were to look at how anti-immigration and anti-diversity views take root in the Nordic region, Denmark offers us a case in point.
National Coalition Party head Petteri Orpo and PS’ Riikka Purra in the background. Nordic mainstream parties like Kokoomus have enabled and normalized anti-immigration parties like the PS.
At the beginning of this century, we saw the rise of the staunchly Islamophobic Danish People’s Party (DPP), which influenced politics so that the country turned into one of the most hostile countries for Muslims in the EU.
The DDP, like the Sweden Democrats, could eat and have their racist cakes simultaneously through minority governments.
But in 2019, the Social Democrats, under the leadership of Mette Frederiksen scored a huge victory, with the DPP losing 21 seats. What was the lesson learned? If traditional parties use the same anti-immigration rhetoric as populist parties, they can win elections.
The Danish example suggests that if Sweden and Finland want to deflate the popularity of their Islamophobic parties, they should follow what the Social Democrats did in Denmark.
The other opinion, hoped by some, is to allow the PS to form a government and see how well they come through with their promises. It may mean a nosedive in support.
Polish human rights lawyer Eliza Ruynowski warned Finns in an interview with the Finnish League of Human Rights. “I would urge every Finn to question simple answers to difficult questions. Be wary of those who claim to solve the problem by blaming a group of people – whether it is a minority or those with different political ideas.”
Recently at an Islamophobia conference in Ankara, Turkey, I asked the crowd how a country that won for a sixth consecutive time the title of the happiest country on Earth may have such a big racist party.
Silence responded to my question.
The rise of hostile political parties and public discourse against minorities and migrants reveals how Nordic countries have failed to create social equality.
Some may have noticed that Migrant Tales has been for almost two weeks due to a barrage of long and sustained hacking that corrupted the database. Fortunately, and thanks to Jarkko Hakanen’s expertise, Migrant Tales is now well-guarded against future attacks.
Hackers are like killers, who try to silence you.
They can’t and never will.
Those who have followed Migrant Tales know that we have had hacker problems for several years. However, none of them were as bad as the last one.
We will not go away and continue to publish and be that voice for those whose views and situation are understood poorly and heard faintly by the media, politicians, and the public.
Migrant Tales is a target of hostile hackers who disagree with our views. The last attack was the worst, forcing the site to shut down for a week. We expect to have everything working normally this week.
While these attacks aim to shut us up, they only make us more determined and prove that our fight is right.
Forming a coalition government will be a challenge for Petteri Orpo’s National Coalition Party (Kokoomus). Two options are in the race: Kokoomus (48 seats) + Perussuoalaiset (PS)* (46) + Christian Democrats (5) + Swedish People’s Party (10), with a total of 109 seats. The other option is Kokoomus + Social Democrats (43) + Christian Democrats + Swedish People’s Party, totaling 106 seats.
Considering how much the PS has insulted and burned bridges, it is a sweet irony that the fate of the radical-right party, whether it is in government or not, rests with the Swedish People’s Party.
The PS has attacked the Swedish People’s Party on any occasion. In 2015, the PS pushed them into the opposition, which they did not want as a partner. Throughout the last decade, the PS has tried to weaken the role of Swedish at schools and civil service jobs.
If we are fair, the PS is the antithesis of the Swedish People’s Party in almost everything: Finland’s role in the EU, labor migration, and climate change, to name a few.
Swedish People’s Party MP Eva Biaudet was especially critical of her party forming a government with the PS.
“They do not support the Paris Climate Agreement, development aid, international human rights treaties, the EU, or the strict rule of law that body. it would be pretty reckless if the Swedish People’s Party made it possible for Finland to go in that direction,” she was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat.
What Biaudet said is true. If we don’t watch out, we will end up sacrificing. our democracy like the one in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary.
Better late than never.
The coming weeks will reveal what type of government will rule Finland during the next four years.
According to Helsingin Sanomat, the Helsinki city council voted to build a Ghusi facility for Muslims at the Malmi cemetery. In the same way, the Finns washed their dead in saunas before burial, and Muslims in Finland will have the same opportunity to show their respect for their deceased. Even if sensible people would have no qualms about such a matter, there was one person and party that did.
Yes, you guessed correctly. The party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, and the politician, city councilor Laura Korpinen, an MEP candidate on the shameful “let them drown” list.
In 2019, an Alma Median EU election compassasked if it is “the obligation of the EU to save all those migrants who attempt to come to Europe and who are at risk of drowning in the Mediterranean?”
MEP candidates of the PS and National Coalition Party as the most eager to allow migrants to drown in the Mediterranean.
In an earlier tweet, Korpinen claimed that the PS and Christian Democrats voted against the additional facility at the Malmi cemetery. She corrected her Tweet by stating that only the PS voted against such a facility for Muslims. Source: Twitter
Korpinen Tweets: “The Helsinki city council approved a project at the Malmi cemetery to build an [additional] facility for the deceased, which will be pinned on tax-payers for ritual cleansing of Muslims.”
Even if the vote passed in the city council, it showed that the PS lives on a different planet when it comes to cultural diversity and respect for other cultures and religions.
City councilor Björn Månsson of the Swedish People’s Party hit it on the dot: “This is a record new low for the Perussuomalaiset. Now even the deceased are discriminated.”
Finland’s anti-immigration and far-right atmosphere tightened another notch.
Just like in the last four parliamentary elections, narratives such as migrant crime spread by the far-right anti-immigration Finns Party (PS) paid off handsomely. It is not, however, the only reason why the PS was able to win a record 46 seats but was helped by the National Coalition Party, which won the election with 48 seats.
Despite the good result of the Eurosceptic party, the Social Democratic Party, which came in third place with 43 seats, Green League, Left Alliance and Swedish People’s Party announced they would not form a new government with the PS.
The election was a disappointment to underrepresented cultural, racial, ethnic, and religious groups. Especially parties like the PS, threatened to weaken the civil rights of minorities with a heavy hand.
PS head Riikka Purra made clear her worrying immigration stance on numerous occasions:
The PS will not form part of a government that does not tighten immigration policy further.
Stop people from outside the EU from moving and working in Finland.
Islam and white Finland are incompatible.
Seeking asylum is not a human right but a privilege.
Cultural programs are a luxury.
Nearly everything that does not work in society is due to poor immigration policy.
Long-term plan to exclude foreigners from getting social welfare.
Leave the European Union in the long term.
Harden criminal sentences, especially when migrants or minorities are involved.
It is important to note that many of these radical proposals breach human rights and Finnish law and can lead to further discrimination and inequality against minorities. Defending diversity and social equality in society are important to every member of society and political parties should work to uphold such rights.
In the face of these radical proposals by the Finns Party, it should not come to a surprise that some newspapers abroad like The Guardian, Le Monde, El País and other call, among other names, the PS a far-right party.
We believe in the media’s watchdog role to protect the rights of all people in Finland irrespective of their background. Unfortunately, watching the news and what is discussed on it after the election, reveals that civil and human rights are not high up on the priority list.
*Media Monitoring Group of Finland aims to promote fair and accurate reporting by the Finnish media of underrepresented cultural, racial, ethnic, and religious groups. As Finland’s cultural diversity continues to grow, the role of the media in forming public opinion and attitudes about minorities becomes even more relevant.
It is surprising how the foreign and local media treat the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*differently, even if The Guardian and El País of Madrid refer to the party as far right. Other adjectives are used, like Eurosceptic, nationalistic, and right-wing populist.
In Finland, we rarely, if ever, see such descriptions of the PS. Yle News, for example, refers to the radical right party as “nationalist.”
The fact that the media treats the PS as a “normal” party explains how its radical policies are becoming normalized.
Here are some things PS head Riikka Purra has spread recently:
The PS will not form part of a government that does not tighten immigration policy further.
Stop people from outside the EU from moving and working in Finland.
Islam and white Finland are incompatible.
Seeking asylum is not a right.
Cultural programs are a luxury.
Everything that does not work is due to poor immigration policy.
Only Finnish citizens can get social welfare.
Leave the European Union in the long term.
Harden criminal sentences, especially when migrants or minorities are involved.
If these are “normal” political opinions, they are nothing more than a betrayal of our most important values based on human rights and human dignity. The fact that the media appears not to take such opinions seriously, coming from the second-biggest party in Finland, reveals our country’s denial of the social ill.
One headline onYle caught my eye: Finns voted to oust Sanna Marin’s government. Or was it something like this that the New York Timesheadlined: “Finland’s prime minister toppled in tight election.“
Headlines Madrid’s El País: “The conservatives win the election in Finland, a short distance from the far right [PS].”
Here’s my headline suggestion: “Finland continues to deny and whitewash its radical right problem [PS].”
National Coalition Party (NCP), Perussuomalaiset (Finns), Social Democratic Party (SDP, Center Party (Cen), Green, Left Alliance (Left), Swedish People’s Party (SPP), Christian Democrats (CD), Movement Now (MN). Source: Yle
Second, what do the numbers tell us about Finland?
The Guardianwrites: “Her [Prime Miniter Sanna Marin] personal popularity remained high, but with a recession forecast and inflation surging, the opposition leaders’ accusations of excessive government borrowing and inflated public spending – along with their pledges to impose tough cuts, particularly on welfare budgets – hit home.”
It is disappointing to note how carelessly the Finnish media turns a blind eye to a party like the PS that aims to turn the country into a country modeled after Viktor Orbán of Hungary.
The Media Monitoring Group of Finland published in March a report that showed how the PS has used in all parliamentary elections since 2011 the migrant crime topic to attract voters.
One wonders why the media is not interested in defending minority rights in Finland.
Here are some things PS head Riikka Purra has spewed:
The PS will not form part of a government that does not tighten immigration policy further.
Stop people from outside the EU from moving and working in Finland.
Islam and white Finland are incompatible.
Seeking asylum is not a right.
Cultural programs are a luxury.
Everything that does not work is due to poor immigration policy.
Only Finnish citizens can get social welfare.
Leave the European Union in the long term.
Harden criminal sentences, especially when migrants or minorities are involved.
Why have we yet to see enough editorials and columns in Finland’s leading dailies questioning these exclusionary politics?
After 2011, when the PS won 39 seats from five seats previously, many still want to make believe that there is no “r” problem after all. It’s only something that the left has concocted.My view is that after 2011, when the PS won 39 seats from five seats previously, many want to make believe that there is no problem after all. It’s only something that the left has concocted. We’re good.
Kokoomus’ Petteri Orpo said that the Finnish voters gave it the mandate to instigate right-wing social and economic policy. In plain English, this means hitting the most vulnerable sectors of Finnish society by slashing their social benefits.
The last time we had a right-wing government was in 2015-2019 under Prime Minister Juha Sipilä of the Center Party, where the PS formed part of the government with Kokoomus.
People still remember how Sipilä’s government harmed the unemployed, the education system, and other sectors by slashing public spending. The entry of the PS in government meant a nosedive in opinion polls and implosion, splitting the party into two factions.
One positive outcome of the elections is that parties like the Social Democrats, Left Alliance, Greens, and Swedish People’s Party refuse to form part of a government with the PS.
An election victory by the Perussuomalaiset (PS),* like in the 2011 election, exposes the same ogre populism and xenophobia. The PS could have never dreamed of joining the major leagues of Finnish politics without the help of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), the Social Democratic party, and the Center Party.
While the latter is true, the most critical support came from the Finnish voter. How do you explain the PS winning 39 seats in 2011 from five in the previous election?
The PS should offer gratitude to its victims: immigrants, refugees, and minorities.
What will Sunday’s election reveal behind the mask that covers the many real faces of Finland?
The leading ideologues of the PS are its former head, Timo Soini, and Jussi Halla-aho, who raised to political fame through his hateful blog posts.
TV personality Maryan Abdulkarim has described Soini in the following words:
