Over and over again, the media overlooks the obvious about the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*: it’s anti-Muslim racism. Everything that the party does, its raison d’être, or reason for being, is anti-Muslim hatred. Certainly, not only are Muslims included in their attacks, but other minorities like blacks and people of color in general are.
Time and again, the media overlooks or sanitizes the party’s racism by overlooking the source of their hatred, which is xenophobia and Islamophobia.
The latest example was Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s suggestion to bring some Palestinian children in Gaza to be treated at Finnish hospitals. The suggestion received a swift no from the PS.
“I wasn’t asked about it. And if I had been, I would have said I was against it [bringing Palestinian children],” Foreign Trade Minister Ville Tavio was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat.
All of the elected 46 MPs (out of a total of 216) of the PS based their campaign on anti-Muslim and xenophobic themes. PS ministers like Finance Minister Riikka Purra, Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, former Economic Affairs Minister Wille Rydman, Justice Minister Leena Meri, Tavio, Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho, have all spread the great replacement theory with little to no consequences.
If their Islamophobia is a factor, and it is, why do most of the media and politicians turn a blind eye to such an offensive ideology?
If few will say it out loud, we at Migrant Tales will: The PS hates Muslims, and it shows.
I’m always amused and saddened at the same time when political bullies like Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Interior Minister Mari Rantanen talk tough against migrants and other vulnerable minorities. The only way to challenge bullies is by giving them a taste of their own medicine
A tough (but in reality a weak) Rantanen slaps us with an ultimatum:
Studying the possibility of prohibiting Muslim women from wearing veils. Live like the locals or leave.
In my opinion, this is chickenshit populism that we should not underestimate. In the United States, we are seeing how the Trump Administration is targeting brown and black people.
Who is to say that something similar would not happen in Finland if the PS had the chance?
It’s no secret that the PS is a party that quietly supports Trump and his authoritarian tactics.
Even the party’s chairperson and finance minister, Riikka Purra, had warm words of support for US Vice J.D. Vance speech last year at the Munich Security Conference, which many see as a turning point in EU-US relations. Vance downplayed the threat of Russia, claiming that Europe’s greatest security threat was unregulated migration and the exclusion of far-right political groups. Purra praised Vance’s words as a great speech. “Freedom, freedom of speech, democracy; threats from within, inability to fight illegal immigration,” she posted on X.
The careful screening of civil society members allowed to attend the Helsinki+50 conference by the Finnish Foreign Ministry almost succeed in steering away conversation from topic the Finnish Chairpersonship wanted to avoid.
Fortunately Finnish Foreign Scholars were able to schedule a pre-event July 30th at Helsinki University Library where the undersigned was able to lay out how extensive military spending by OSCE countries was diverting the funds to address a looming global climate catastrophe on behalf Climate Reality Leaders Finland. There seemed no room for agenda for organizations like ours nor for Bruce Knotts who represented the NGO Committee for Disarmament, Peace and Security at the UN. He was likely too outspoken in his condemnation of countries like Finland engaging in arms trade with Israel. Heidi Meinzolt of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom managed to get in an intervention on the dangerous comeback of the nuclear arms race in a July 31st side event, obviously a topic the organizers were having trouble keeping the lid on. This echoed Kati Juva’s warning of how even a limited nuclear exchange could trigger a civilization-destroying nuclear winter when she spoke on behalf of Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War at the university.
The elephant in the room was of course the ever more dictatorial behaviour of the Trump administration. Perhaps journalist and BBC interviewer Stephen Sackur forgot his briefing notes when he brought up how Trump had cut the funds for Radio Free Europe when questioning its CEO, Steve Capers about the imperilled state of the free media in parts of Europe?
Then there was the matter of the closure of Finland’s eastern border. Nothing on that of course much to the chagrin of the young Romanian woman, I met at a break, working for the UNHCR in Belorus with imprisoned migrant workers keep in dangerous and unhealthy cells after being pushed back for seeking the freedoms promised in the Helsinki Final Act. I mention her now because she never got a hearing of her experiences that day although travelling hundreds of kilometers to attend.
We all know about the vicious racist attacks by the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. Their partner in government, the National Coalition Party, has been flirting with populist-style racism as well—yesterday, Social Security Minister Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, whose responsibilities include gender equality.
On Tuesday, she told Helsingin Sanomat that she would be in favor of Finland joining the likes of France in prohibiting the niqab and burka. She added that these types of attire should be prohibited at school.
As Finland’s government parties continue to see their ratings go down in opinion polls, they are pulling these types of stunts to claw back voters.
The saddest matter is the harm that a minister like Grahn-Laasonen does to children who are Muslims and may use the niqab or veil. I wonder how many children Grahn-Laasonen has seen in Finland wearing a niqab or burka? This is an example of cheap populism.
Or should the issue play out in her world, where Muslim children will run up to her and thank her for liberating them?
The truth is that Grahn-Laasonen would care less for such children because she doesn’t believe in religious freedom.
Migrant Tales will begin to publish a regular weekly posting on the most racist/ xenophobic comments of the week. Why? Because the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are bleeding in the polls and have therefore ratchet up their attacks against minorities like Muslims.
A new list will be published on Sundays.
Member of the European Parliament Sebastian Tynkkynen Tweets: “A question in the middle of summer: Is there anything good about Islam anywhere?
PerussuomalaisetMEP Sebastian Tynkkynen, 16 August 2025
MT comment:The charlatan hypocrisy of MEP Tynkkynen is striking! Here is a politician who has been convicted three times for ethnic agitation.
Tweets Tynkkynen: “Although this issue was not included in the government program and the RKP still believes that young girls can be veiled, Finland began investigating the ban on veils following a decision by Interior Minister Mari Rantanen.
Now pressure is being exerted on the RKP to introduce a ban on veils in Finland.
This is a matter of girls’ and women’s rights.”
Perussuomslaiset MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen, August 2025
MT comment:Read the above comment about Tynkkynen, who in our book is an opportunist poitician who would care less about the wellbeing of Muslim girls.
Kaisa Garedew is at it again with these two posts on Facebook: “Muslims to Muslim countries,” and “ALL oppresive Islamist headscarves in schools should be banned, including hijabs [veils].“
PS MP Kaisa Garedew, August 2025
MT Comment: It is pathetic that we have politicians like Garedew who believe that their mandate in parliament gives them the divine right to attack Muslims and sexual minorities.
PUBLISHED 12 AUGUST 2025
“Society must first and foremost take care of its own. That is why zero asylum seekers is a good goal. And that is also why, due to unhealthy incentives [to asylumm seekers], it is necessary to reduce state subsidies to a minimum, reduce the refugee-quota scheme to zero, and abolish municipal and regional area compensation for integration.“
Mari Rantanen, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* minister of the interior, 12 August 2025
MT comment:Mari Rantanen is spearheading the PS’ plan to halt asylum seekers to zero even if it means ditching our respect for human rights. Rantanen’s and the PS’ thinking is the following: never trust migrants and pass laws that message your great suspicion of them.
“Why do we have to force these cultures, which are frankly fucked, upon Finland? How is it possible that we have political parties that support the beating of women? Women are not beaten in Western countries! Think about it! Women are beaten on the streets of “liberal” Europe and Finland. I don’t want this kind of Finland.“
Laura Huhtasaari is an MP for PS, August 2025
MT comment:Huhtasaari was a rising star fuelled by her hatred of Muslims. As if rising from the grave after a long lapse of silence, Huhtasaari falsely claims that “women are not beaten in Western countries.” She forgets to mention that Finland is the second most violent place in Europe for women.
“The ban on headscarves is only the first step in saving Finland from Islamization. Islam does not belong in Finland.“
Kaisa Garedew, PS MP, 11 August 2025
MT comment: Kaisa Garedew is one of the most hateful politicians in Finland. Her comments about Islam show that she has unresolved issues.
“I am truly concerned. There are many Islamic groups in Finland, some of which are covert. They operate under the guise of the Palestinian issue and are growing rapidly in Finland. I have informed the security police about them. For my own safety, I cannot name or reveal them here. For example, there is a large network in Oulu…
…I can provide further information about the organizations and their connections.“
Katariina Reponen, Hyvinkää city councilor, Perussuommalaiset, August 2025
MT comment: Reponen is another PS politicians who sees Muslims under her bed and even claims to work with the security police to uncover Islamic groups, which she claims are a danger to society. Paranoia?
Perussuommslaiset (PS)* Finance Minister Riikka Purra’s announcement of 900-billion-euro cuts in next year’s budget is seen by some a political stunt with a strong anti-immigration PS stamp. On the same day as Purrra’s announcment, Matias Turkkila, the editor of the party’s newspaper and the main strategist of the PS’ xenophobic message, became Purra’s special advisor.
A coincidence? Not.
One Yle story described Turkkila as “a master of political provocation.”
And that is what he is. Turkkila is the perfect advisor to Purra because what he does well is to provoke and polarize.
It remains to be seen if Turkkila and breathing sronger life into the PS’ anti-immmigraion message will save it from itself.
Even so, I don’t believe Turkkila is very talented in his racist provocations. He knows, however, to exploit the racist undercurrent that flows in Finland.
Turkkila’s, Purra’s, and the PS’ victimization of minorities like Muslims is not only racist but affects, for example, innocent children at school. The most shameful matter is that the media and many politicians cannot muster up enough courage to denounce such racism, which explains why Turkkila is still kept in some regard by the mainstream media.
The announcement by President Alexander Stubb that he is prepared to recognize the state of Palestine if the government of Prime Minister Petteri Stubb formally proposes it. Of the Nordic countries, Finland and Denmark are the only ones that have not recognized Palestine.
Iceland was the first country to recognize Palestine, followed by Sweden, the first EU country, and Norway in 2023.
The decision to recognize Palestine follows announcements by France, Canada, and the United Kingdom that they plan to do so during the UN General Assembly in September.
While we hope that Finland will follow suit, the matter is complicated since two government parties, the Christian Democrats and the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, have expressed their opposition to such a move.
While the Finnish media has been following the rift and why Denmark refuses to recognize Palestine, there is little to no analysis on why and what the circumstances may be. Context is left out in stories, which leaves the door open for bias.
Both government parties, the Christian Democrats and PS, have a long anti-Muslim track record, which sheds light on why they are against Finland recognizing Palestine. Denmark, too, has a terrible record of being one of the most Islamophobic countries in the EU, which explains why we are with it in this shameful group.
There are many examples of how the Christian Democrats loathe refugees. In a 2019 EU election compass, question 13 asked: “Is it 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?”
Days later,representatives of the Somali community come out and state that the tragic deaths of Somali boys should not be politicized. What on earth does the Finnish media, like Yle, wants to frame and message when they state that those who died of drowning were of Somali backgrounds?
It took several days for Yle to publish the Somali community’s concern about the harmful labeling.
Abdirazak Sugulle Mohamed, a representative of the Uusimaa Mosque Association, hopes that decision-makers will take a responsible approach to the issue. He believes that swimming skills should also be discussed in general in Finland, not just for Somalis or so-called people of foreign background.
“We shouldn’t just talk about the swimming skills of immigrants or Somalis,” he said.
But one could take this matter a big further and ask what the purpose of singling out people of color is? Is it to reinforce our racism and show falsely that white Finns are superior swimmers? Probably the most striking matter it reveals is the mainstream media’s racism problem.
Moreover, Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s biggest daily, has not published a word about how the media labels minorities. They did, however, publish an article about how Muslim women go to swimming school. It was like a cultural peep show.
An opinion piece by Milla Palkoaho of Helsingin Sanomat on debating what is culturally acceptable at comprehensive schools. Perussuaomalaiset (PS)* chairperson and finance minister, Riikka Purra, wants to prohibit the veil, niqab, and burka at schools. The writer agrees and states that Purra, who has a long history of making racist comments, has a point.
Does she? If you want to portray yourself as the pro-PS good Samaritan, then she does.
To give more agency to her shoddy opinion piece, Palkoaho asks teachers if they should prohibit, like Purra wants, Muslim attire like the veil, niqab, and burka, which is extremely rare in Finland. So much so that the reporter did not find one example of a pupil wearing the burka.
The opinion piece reveals again the media’s racism problem. With total disregard for cultural diversity and the rights of minorities, it bullies its way with a disingenuous argument: We must debate the matter (even if we, white privilege, will set the tone of the debate).
The nose-dive in support for the PS has forced it to reach out for its political lifebelt: racism.
The truth is that these types of opinion pieces do more harm to the so-called debate the reporter is seeking than good. I would bet my money that she, like the PS, would care less for the wellbeing of Muslims in Finland.
Palkoaho is, however, adamant in her opinion piece: “It is equally relevant to discuss how well a veil that makes it impossible to recognize a person (sic!) or distinguish their facial expressions fits into Finnish culture.”
“Fits” into Finnish culture?!
Here, Palkoaho wants Muslims to whitewash their culture and throw away their constitutional right to religious freedom. I have said it many times: I am Finnish on my terms, and if you can’t take it, that is your problem.
A shameful opinion piece that reminds us that Helsingin Sanomat should know better.
Since we have nothing betterr to do on a hot summer day, let’s pick on migrants.
A news story on the 8:30 pm YLE news today was a new low on reporting about migrants. Even worse, YLE framed migration to Finland as a Third World issue even if Muslims and people from developing countries account for only 10% of all migrants in Finland.
Migrant Tales published in 2015 a series on poor and sloppy journalism by the Finnish media. You will find scores of sloppy stories that frame migrants negatively.
One of our recent stories was on how the media, in collaboration with the police and politicians, created a social problem.
Even if the number of migrants has fallen sharply from recent years, German Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobiandt said he wants his country to be the leader in kicking out migrants to detention camps outside the EU.
Without explaining why stiffening hardline migration policy is a news story, the YLE story leaves out an essential question: Why are the interior ministers of Germany, France, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, and Poland meeting to tighten migration policy?
The answer is simple: All of the countries have hostile far-right parties that capitalize on anti-immmmigration sentiment.
In a show of opportunistic cowardice, Minister Doiandt admitted that one of the reasons why Germany wants tougher migration laws is its political rival, AdF, the second largest party in the country.
A scene from YLE news showing how it frames migration as only a Muslim issue, even if such people account for a faction of all migrants in Finland.
One of the spreaders of Finland’s racism problem is the media. Migrants and minorities follow very little the media due to the lack of trust. Somali Finn Asma Abdi wrote: “Although I am a ‘Finn’ on paper, the media constantly reminds me that I am not wanted here. If I didn’t feel like I were under constant attack [by the media], I could then read the papers.”
Apart from the drastic fall in migrants to the EU, the YLE story does not touch upon the dire consequences of our aging population. It’s pretty incredible: We are pushing away people when we need them.
