Finland Archives - Page 35 of 359

Kokoomus and Perussuomalaiset: Two different views on labor immigration

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Migrant Tales

On Monday, we saw the stances of the radical-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and National Coalition Party’s (Kokoomus) views on the role of labor immigration outside the EU. On MTV, PS’ Sakari Puisto faced off with Pia Kauma of Kokoomus, while on A-studio, Leena Meri of the PS debated with Elina Valtonen.

It is depressing to watch the debate about Finland’s need to attract labor migrants from outside the EU. The adjectives used to describe them are insulting: social welfare migrants and low-income migrants who will accept low pay and any work offered.

It is a bad standing point: Why would I want to come to a country that wishes me so much harm and intends to relegate me to second-class and marginal status?

The most surreal debate between the two shows was on MTV.

While there was a difference of opinion on labor migrants between Puisto and Kauma, both favored limiting or excluding newcomers from getting social welfare.

The debate between PS MP Sakari Puisto and Pia Kauma was surreal. Puisto spoke against migrants from outside the EU, and Kauma who is in favor. Both were, however, of the same opinion about the social equality of such migrants. Both would take away their rights, so they can’t use social welfare. Would I move to a country that sees me as a second-class member of society? Source: *MTV*

When such a suggestion was made, the host didn’t even bother to ask if excluding non-citizens from getting social welfare was unconstitutional, which it is.

Kauma strongly criticized PS leader Riikka Purra’s statements against labor immigration outside the EU.

Finland’s fictitious search for the ideal foreigner

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Contrary to the last three parliamentary elections in 2011, 2015, and 2019, the upcoming parliamentary election on April 2 is different for several reasons: war rages in the Ukeraine, Finland has sought Nato membership, economic growth, and chronic labor shortages are just a few.

Apart from labeling people from outside the EU as “harmful” migrants, the radical right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* attempts to argue with several CEOs of Finnish companies that rely on foreign workers that the party has nothing against qualified immigrants but is against what it labels “social welfare” immigrants.

“Finland is not very successful in attracting immigration that is economically beneficial, but it receives a lot of immigration that is economically detrimental,” Riikka Purra, the head of the PS, was quoted as saying in Kauppalehti, adding that she is against what she calls “social welfare” migrants.

Purra’s argument reminds me of a story I published in Savon Sanomat in 2012.

Back then, I wrote in the English version of the story that anti-immigration groups were using the same arguments. It’s like eating and having your cake at the same time while you put a picture of Sleeping Beauty and Prince Charming.

The PS has viciously labeled some migrants in Finland as “harmful” and “social welfare” recipients. They will tell you with a poker face that as long as the newcomer is a “super” migrant, things are ok.

Who are the so-called super migrants that some wish for in Finland?

The Perussuomalaiset could face a counter “jytky” in April

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Then Perussuomalaiset (PS)* head Timo Soini celebrated the party’s historic 2011 election victory as a “jytky,” or a loud bang. We may witness in April a counter “jytky.”

I live in a small city of about 53,000 people 230km north of Helsinki’s capital. It is a good example of the demographic challenges facing Finland. Occasionally, you may read in the local daily, Länsi-Savo, the threat of an ever-growing population of pensioners is threatening the region’s future.

None of the stories in the daily ask if Mikkeli has awoken too late to challenge the demographic problem.

To give you some fast figures, in 2022, 27,2% of Mikkeli’s population was over 64 years old and growing!

In many respects, Mikkeli is an extreme cosmos of Finland.

As we know, migration is a hot topic, especially during an election year. The PS, traditionally bases its popularity on the topic. Instead of making our society more welcoming to foreigners and offering them inclusive paths towards being a part of it, the medicine it prescribes is far worse than the illness.

Below are some of PS head Riikka Purra’s latest policy statements:

Eight years of residence, speaking near-perfect Finnish, and work, before granting a permanent residence permit;
Raise the residence requirement for citizenship to 10 years from five years now;
Tighten further language requirements for the naturalization test;
Only citizens of OECD countries can have dual citizenship;
Exclude foreigners from getting social welfare;
Tighten further already strict family reunification requirements;
Only people within the EU can apply for asylum;
End labor immigration from outside the EU;
Only highly educated people from outside the EU can move to Finland.

**Source: ETLA, an independent, private, non-profit economic research institute. Read the original posting here.**

As any sensible person can understand, following the PS’ advice on immigration policy would be a disaster that would impoverish Finland economically, socially, and politically.

Voting down the Perussuomalaiset in April is the best indication that matters have changed for the better

Posted on February 4, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Despite the fake claims by parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, Finland has historically done everything possible to halt foreigners from moving to Finland. It was not until 1983, or 65 years that Finland passed its first aliens act.

Restrictions on foreigners and foreign companies were the rule. Did you know that even if women had the right to vote in 1906, they didn’t have the right to pass citizenship to their children until 1984? Only children of Finnish men had such a right.

This intransigence against foreigners can be best seen today through the rise of the radical right PS and the tacit approval of all Finnish parties, especially the National Coalition Party, Center Party, Liike Nyt, and Christian Democratic Party.

Media Monitoring Group of Finland [1]: The media should fact-check if “Kela money” is a PS fabrication

Posted on February 3, 2023June 23, 2023 by Migrant Tales

THE STORY WAS UPDATED

On Thursday’s question-and-answer session of parliament, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Mari Rantanen, who is a former police officer and usually denigrates migrants, claimed that “practically all people from developing countries” that come to Finland pay a threshold fee.

According to a story in Iltalehti, “about 400 people” are “marked or suspected” of involvement in the scheme, according to the Helsinki Police Department.

About 400 people are far from “practically all people from developing countries.”

In 2022, 46,641 Ukrainian were granted temporary protection, and 4,022 sought asylum (excluding Ukrainians), according to the Finnish Immigration Service.

Certainly, Rantanen did no cite the police source, and neither did she elaborate on how she arrived at such an absolute number of people from developing countries.

“According to the police,” she said, “practically all people from developing countries have to pay a threshold fee [to come to Finland], usually to a compatriot already in the country, for a work contract or to come here in general. The average cost of such a residence permit in Finland is €15,000, and there are indications that the threshold money is linked to access to Finnish social security.”

She added by stating that “in one case,” a person paid with the social benefits from Kela, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. The police told Rantanen that the arrangement is called “Kela money.”

**PS MP Mari Rantanen. Source: Eduskunta.**

Who knows, it may well be that “practically all people from developing countries” are guilty of involvement in the “Kela money” scheme.

Then again, this may be an over-exaggeration by a politician and party that profits from spreading misinformation and lies about migrants. The best way to find out is to get in touch with the police and ask them directly if they have an official statement about such a scheme.

The PS’ extremism is poison for its election prospects

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Living inside an Islamophobic bubble is like pissing in your pants during a freezing day. At first, it may offer relief, but then reality sets in. The PS’ tar-and-feather campaign against migrants and minorities is hitting new lows.

Since the rise of the PS in the major leagues of Finnish politics after 2011, the present parliamentary election in April has a taste of déjà vu.

The last municipal election of 2021 disappointed the party after it had generously invested resources in its copy of Brexit’s “Take Finland back” campaign slogan. Opinion polls predicted that the PS would get about 18% of the votes but could only muster 14.5%.

**The Perussuomalaiset and the end of the Wicked Witch of the East in the Wizard of Oz. Sources: Facebook and Youtube**

The PS’ xenophobia has gained strength as the April parliamentary election nears.

Do Finnish voters want a toxic cocktail of masochism and xenophobia in April’s election?

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Migrant Tales

The latest opinion poll published Thursday by Yle shows three important matters: Support for the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) and Perussuomalaiset (PS)* slip while the Social Democrats regain second place. Another takeaway is the Greens, which took over the Center Party to capture fourth place.

In my opinion, two reasons for the big drop in support for Kokoomus and the PS are Finnish voters’ taste for masochism and radical-right ideology.

Why would I support draconian spending cuts at my expense as a voter? Do I believe that xenophobia will help make such cuts in spending sweeter and more bearable?

Since the rise of the PS in the major leagues of Finnish politics after 2011, the present parliamentary election in April has a taste of déjà vu.

The last municipal election of 2021, was a disappointment for the party after it had invested resources generously in its copy of Brexit’s “Take Finland back” campaign slogan. Opinion polls predicted that the PS would get about 18% of the votes but could only muster 14.5%.

The municipal election of 2021 showed that the PS was too radical for voters. But the PS bubble permits the party to commit the same mistake: Pour on the racism and attack foreigners and minorities with greater gusto. It will help the party win first place in the upcoming election.

Finland’s radical-right party’s xenophobic copy and paste of Denmark’s hardline immigration policy

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Migrant Tales

There is nothing new in the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* immigration program announced Monday. A surprise for me was that the PS hardline stance means ALL migrants. Previously, I thought the term “migrant” used by the PS was code for Muslims or persons from outside the EU.

If the PS had its way, it would completely overhaul Finland’s immigration policy.

“EUROPEAN DAY AGAINST ISLAMOPHOBIA 2021 (EDAI): European Network Against Racism (ENAR) condemns “woke Islamism” theory as a political weapon to further legitimize the discrimination of Muslims and those perceived as Muslims in Europe.” Source: ENAR

Some takeaways:

Eight years of residence, speaking near-perfect Finnish, and work, before granting a permanent residence permit;
Raise the residence requirement for citizenship to 10 years from five years now;
Tighten further language requirements for the naturalization test;
Only citizens of OECD countries can have dual citizenship;
Exclude foreigners from getting social welfare;
Tighten further already strict family reunification requirements;
Only people within the EU can apply for asylum;
End labor immigration from outside the EU;
Only highly educated people from outside the EU can move to Finland.

As one can see, instigating such an immigration policy proposed by the radical right PS would effectively mean isolating Finland from the world.

The PS’ latest immigration program is nothing more than a copy-and-paste job of Denmark. The party’s ideological love affair with the Danish People’s Party and now its harsh immigration policy is nothing new.

Media Monitoring Group of Finland [1]: Finland’s “youth gang problem” is Finland’s denied “racism problem”

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Migrant Tales

The youth gang “problem” in Finland is a knee-jerk racist reaction.

On and off, we have read about our youth gang “problem” with sensationalist headlines from newspapers that should know better. Remember back in 2014, when radical-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Tom Packalén created quite a stir when he claimed that a youth gang in East Helsinki was terrorizing people?

Another ludicrous claim by the PS MP is that these youth gang members are the “ripening fruits” of our failed immigration and integration policy.

Then, in 2020, Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest circulating daily, warned its readers: “Over one hundred possibly dangerous youths with migrant backgrounds roam about downtown Helsinki – according to experts, this is a new migrant phenomenon.”

What do Packalén’s claim and Helsingin Sanomat’s story have in common? They are both incomplete and based on personal opinion.

They are a storm in a teacup that aim to instill fear in people who aren’t white.

Helsingin Sanomat story corrected its claims about “rising youth street violence,” claiming that these are brown and black Finns, which they marginalize and otherize by labeling them “youths of migrant backgrounds.”

The impact of both claims should not surprise us. What else can you expect if Finns have been taught to believe that minorities are a danger and threat to society?

Having worked as a journalist for over twenty years and poured over scores of stories about “youth gangs” and how the Finnish media frames migrants and minorities, there is one matter that always stands out: Important facts that give context to the story and the lack of minority voices and experts.

You commit or fall into de facto bias when you leave out facts that give important context to understanding a news story. This can be intentional or unintentional.

Why hasn’t the media tried to analyze where Sweden’s gang problem arose? There are many good lessons we could learn in Finland from such investigative journalism.

One good source could be reading Anne-Françoise Hivert‘s article, “The Swedish model is breaking down.”

Thank you, Ambriosius Wollstén, for the heads-up.

Different sensationalist captions by “respected” media in Finland. Source: *Viimeinen sana*

In light of the column and stories mentioned, the number of stories about our youth gang “problem” started to proliferate, especially in the fall.

Riikka Purra and the anti-EU PS may be too radical for Finland’s taste

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson, Riikka Purra, stuck her mouth in her foot at a debate with National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) head Petteri Orpo, when she said that it is still the radical-right party’s long-range aim to leave the EU.

“Finnish citizens are not in favor of leaving the EU,” she was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat. “On the other hand, as we saw with NATO membership, the opinions of the Finnish people sometimes change very quickly. Of course, despite its obvious virtues, we will continue to tell people how much the European Union is costing us.”

In other words, Purra reiterated that the PS’ long-range goal is to leave the EU.

Another “long-range” aim of the PS is to exclude non-Finnish citizens from getting social welfare.

**PS MP Riikka Purra. Photo *Helsingin Sanomat*.**