Frances Webber The first of a post-election three-part series on civil liberties in the UK examines the government’s proposal to replace the Human Rights Act by a British Bill of Rights. Prime minister David Cameron was quick to don the mantle of ‘One Nation Toryism’ after his party’s election victory. But the Tories’ priorities set…
Tag: Immigrant rights
November 6, 1981: Address to the international seminar (on the plight of foreign students in Finland)
Enrique Tessieri Finally the consciousness of the Finnish government and the Finnish public via the press have come to the point where the status of foreigners has been recognized as a problem. The simple fact that this issue has found its way into the public consciousness shows that we’ve come a long way. We’ve made…
Helsingin Sanomat’s Cold War policy towards immigrants
Immigrants, expats and Finns marched on October 19, 1982 to demand their rights. The march started from Helsinki University’s Porthania building to Parliament. One of the comments that caught my attention on that chilly Tuesday, was that Helsingin Sanomat made a big exception about writing about the march since it did not publish as a rule stories…
How can immigrants and visible minorities clear the minefields of misinformation?
There is an interesting news story on today’s YLE that raises a timely question: Not why there is so much misinformation spead about immigrants, but what does this reveal about us as a society? Does it bring to light ignorance or a subtle conspiracy that permits us to have and eat our racist cake simultaneously?…
If you’re anti-gay you’re probably anti-immigration (or don’t understand what is at stake)
It is surprising that a country like Finland, which claims to be a Nordic democracy, we see so much opposition to gays not only from anti-immigration parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS), but from other ones as well like the National Coalition Party. PS MP Mika Niikko, a fierce opponent of gay rights, echoed on Helsingin…
Oulu city councillor and transsexual attacked
Green Party Oulu city councillor, Janne Hakkarainen, was attacked and beaten over the weekend while accompanying a transexual, reports Oulu-based daily Kaleva. Hakkarainen said that three men attacked them in a park after he accompanied his friend home from a bar after 4:30am. Fortunately a person spotted what was happening and forced the…
Immigrants in Finland must rise up and challenge the ogre of indifference
By Enrique Tessieri What can be done if Finland’s third-largest party in parliament is not only anti-EU but strongly anti-immigration? One of the things you should not do is stay home and gripe. Many immigrants and multicultural Finns had it worse in the early 1980s, when the then Aliens’ Office could throw any foreigner they…