After a three-month summer break, the September issue of the Foreign Student came out and wished all the members welcome back and gave them a heads-up about the Foreign Students Club’s 15th anniversary celebrations in October. Vice chairperson Alexandr Sannemann wrote that in Finland there is a lot of room for improvement concerning foreigner rights….
Tag: Foreigners in Finland
Global Family Awards 2019
We had a great night at the Global Family Awards in Helsinki on Tuesday at the World Human Rights Day 2019. We heard wonderful music by Liikkukaa – Sports For All chair Mr. Ike Chime and a warm welcome speech by Rasmus Ry chair Dr. Faith Mkwesha, as well as inspiring spoken word performances by…
Migrant Tales Podcast: Shirlene Green Newball talks to Rami Thawi
Shirlene Green Newball talks with Rami Thawi, a musician who has lived in many countries from Venezuela to Syria to Finland now. What inspires him to compose music and be from many places simultaneously. Rami songs are full of power and expose the challenges and power of being from many places.
Are immigrants and Multicultural Finns becoming a social movement in Finland?
The news coming out of our television sets in recent months show protests in the Arab world, Greece and recently in London. Similar demonstrations have sparked in Chile and Israel. Despite differences between these protests, the message is the same: We don’t trust our traditional rulers any longer.
Some past and present reflections of life in Finland
In 1984, a groups of foreign students published a critical analysis of life in Finland called Strange days – the experience of foreign students in Finland. Some claim that the content of a good book can withstand the unrelenting hand of time. How would the reflections of being a foreigner in Finland sound if we read Strange Days today?
If I were an ultra-nationalist immigrant basher in Finland
If I were an ultra nationalist and enjoyed bashing immigrants for fun and political profit, Finland is the country to be in today.
Racism debate: Finland today – United States in the 1970s
Some Finns that claim today that they are automatically labelled racists if they speak out against immigration resembles very much the atmosphere in the United States in the early 1970s, when blacks started to win legal as well as social rights after the civil rights movement.
First demonstrations by foreigners in Finland
When was the first time that immigrants demonstrated for greater rights in Finland? Two major demonstrations by non-Finns took place in 1974 and 1982. The first one was by some 50 Pakistanis who marched from Turku to Helsinki because they were going to be deported by the authorities after they came with expectations of finding work in Finland.
Ghostbusting national identities
Linda has posed an interesting question: What is Finnish culture? Even though the answer to the question is more complex than one would think, it brings forth some very important points about our identity and who we believe we are. One of the biggest problems with “national identities” and “cultures” is that they are built…
How immigrant-friendly is Finland?
If we look at the unemployment figures (20% jobless among foreigners) and the motives of non-Finns that moved to this country according to their residence permit applications, we are still faraway from being an immigrant-friendly country. According to the Finnish Immigration Service, last year 6,196 (32%) residence permit applications were for employment followed for studies…