Tag: Immigrants in Finland

Family reunification: Interior Ministry calls for comments

Posted on by JusticeDemon

The Finnish Ministry of the Interior recently published a working group report on the present state of family reunification of refugees and displaced persons in Finland. This report seeks to clarify the background to family reunification and to examine the prospects for amending the associated regulations.

The report was prepared in response to the programme of the Katainen government, which envisages harmonisation of family reunification practices in Finland with those of the other Nordic countries. The working group was an internal committee of civil servants from the Ministry’s Immigration Department.

There is nothing objectionable in principle about a closed ministerial committee preparing a preliminary factual review. However, this report also includes one very important “proposal” that is, to all intents and purposes, a policy recommendation. This is described in the abstract as follows:

Selvityksessä ehdotetaan, että asetetaan hanke ulkomaalaislain perhesidelupia koskevien säännösten muuttamiseksi tavoitteena Suomessa jo käytössä olevan toimeentuloedellytyksen laajentaminen koskemaan myös humanitaarista suojelua saavien perheen yhdistämistilanteita.

“The report proposes a project to amend the provisions of the Aliens Act governing permits issued on family grounds, with a view to extending the income condition already applied in Finland to include reunification of the families of recipients of humanitarian protection.”

This would scrap the exemption that humanitarian immigrants currently enjoy from the income condition that otherwise governs family reunification.

It is interesting that this exemption would nevertheless continue to apply to the families of citizens of Finland and other Nordic countries.

In concrete terms, and applying current rates, this means that a person displaced by civil war, for example, would have to demonstrate a net monthly income of EUR 1,530 to bring a spouse to Finland plus a further EUR 450 for each additional child. The national average monthly wage in Finland is currently just over EUR 3,000 before taxes and contributions.

The Interior Ministry has requested comments on the report by no later than 6 July 2012.

A letter from the brother of the Somali victim of Oulu, Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Migrant Tales was surprised Thursday evening to get a message from the brother of the Somali victim who died tragically in Oulu, Finland, this week after trying to flee from three people who barged into his home with a metal pipe. At the most, the three suspects will be charged with manslaughter (kuolemantuottamus). 

The incident touches a sensitive nerve of the immigrant and  Somali community, the fourth largest in Finland. Even if what happened was not a hate crime, according to the police, it brings out the despair, futility and muffled outrage of some Somalis who live in this country.

If the victim’s tragic death, whom his brother calls Abdirashid, can shed light on the plight of Somalis in Finland and the hardships they face, the better.

By writing about what happened in Oulu we are showing respect to the Somali community. Their sadness has a voice in Finland even if many would like to drown it with colorblind arguments.

It should be also mentioned that sensible Finns are just as saddened by what happened as some members of the Somali community.

Abdirashid’s big brother, Jirde, sent the following letter* to Migrant Tales and a picture of the victim:

Jirde’s two brothers. The baby is Abdirashid. 

My little brother was born in Ethiopia in a refugee camp to the second wife of my father in 1989.  During the civil war between the Siad Barre regime and northerners [of Somaliland], my brother was taken to Dijibouti to be treated for rubella by my father’s first wife [Jirde’s mother].  

I am the eldest brother [of a large family]. We contacted all the physicians in Dijibouti [to treat my brother]. We had to go to Europe. My brother had lost his sight due to cataracts.  We managed to get him to Germany. His big brother, who lived at the time in Paris [, France], and with the assistance of God and Germany, the operation on his eyes was successful. 

Four months [after the operation] and after the end of the war [against Siad Barre] my father requested the government of Germany to return his family to the country [Somalia]. My little brother [Abdirashid] returned… 

We request this great nation of civilized people to do justice for my little brother. 

Signed: Mr. Jirde, the big brother. 

*The letter has been edited.

Why did you come here? (1/4) “JL: Only hostility”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Migrant Tales will begin to publish a few short biographies that appeared in an English reader called Why did you come here?  The book, which was published by WSOY in 1994, was authored by Russell Snyder and myself.  

Back then when the book was published, there were so few foreigners living in Finland [55,587 or 1.1% of the total population] that one of the most common questions some Finns asked was: Why did you come here?

There is one part in the interview blow that bothers me. It states that JL’s resentment towards Finnish society  derives from his attitude. JL disagrees with the statement because he blames Finnish society for his unhappiness.

If I’d write that paragraph again today, I’d state that racism affects people differently. For some it is a “killer” while others can handle it better.

Like any social disease, racism is one of the worst that leaves a trail of suffering that is very difficult for many to see.

______________

One of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they seem to sense, once hate is gone, that they will be forced to deal with pain.

                                                                                                                                   James Baldwin

This quote by a well-known twentieth century writer explains well the feelings that JL has about Finland. To many, JL is a successful foreigner. He has a well-paying job and has finished the mortgage payments on his downtown Helsinki apartment. 

But JL is very separated from Finnish society. He rarely likes to walk outside his home alone. If he has to, hwe wears sunglasses, which protect him from the people’s hostile stares. 

JL’s deep sense of resentment and anger towards Finnish society derives [in part] from his attitude. JL disagrees with this statement. He blames Finnish society for his unhappiness. 

We are sitting around a kitchen table. JL is drinking a cup of tea and I am having coffee. He takes out a cigarette, lights it , takes a deep puff and exhales the smoke slowly. We begin to talk. 

What do you think about this country?

Finnish society is very closed to outsiders. Finns don’t even communicate with each other. If I enter a pharmacy in Germany, I am greeted by the owner and by all the customers. Most Finns lack good manners which is why they don’t know how to greet you. 

Do you like to go out in the evening?

I only pay house visits to friends with my car. I never go to nightclubs or any public places in the evenings. Especially in these difficult economic times [early 1990s recession when unemployment hit almost 20%], this society has become more hostile to foreigners. You just don’t add up to anything in this country unless you wear jeans, have blonde hair and blue eyes.

How racist are the Finns?

Finns are not just racist, they are super racist. Racial discrimination can be seen in the country’s laws and in everyday life. Finnish men are terribly racist while Finnish women are more tolerant.

I don’t know why so many Finnish men despise foreign men. They only see something negative in us. Not all are like that, however. A few do make an effort to get to know you. 

Finnish women drink too much. I believe it is a great shame that so many get drunk in public. It’s because of the Finnish man. He does not know how to treat a woman sensually. He should take lessons from the French and Italians. 

If Finland your home?

Finland will never be my home. I could never be accepted by this society. I once applied for a job at Yleisradio. They did not accept me because I am a foreigner.

How do you feel about living for over ten years in Finland?

It has affected me negatively. I feel very marginal. My home is my refuge and protects me from the outside world. During my free time I listen to music, my medicine. It relieves much of my pain. 

HS: Ihmisoikeusjärjestö moittii Suomen henkilökorttiuudistusta

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: I was quite surprised to read that the police authorities want to have a blue ID card for Finns and a brown-colored one for foreigners. 

Michael Privot, the head of the European Network Against Racism, thinks that one ID card for Finnish citizens and another one for foreigners “could in part encourage discrimination” since the ID card shows immediately that the person is not a Finnish citizen.”Now a person has to show that he is a foreigners in such situations where it has little importance like when going to the bank,” Pivot said.

The different-colored ID cards are a sad example of how some authorities like the police want to stress “us” and “they” in Finland.

Some columnists in Sweden were very critical of the decision by Finland to have two types of ID cards.

______________

Bryssel. Rasismin vastainen eurooppalainen järjestö moittii Suomen henkilökorttiuudistusta, jossa Suomen kansalaisille ja Suomessa asuville ulkomaalaisille annetaan eriväriset henkilökortit.

Read whole story.

YLE: Maahanmuuttajaehdokkaita yhä vain kourallinen

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Here is an interesting story by YLE about candidates in the April 17 election with immigrant backgrounds. What is a bit disturbing about the story is that there are different definitions on what constitutes an immigrant. One of the candidates, for example, has an Ethiopian father but was born in Espoo.

Why do they make a big thing about these candidates background? Aren’t they Finns since they are citizenship?

Even if by a miracle all of the 48 candidates with immigrant backgrounds got elected, it would not even constitute a majority in the 200-seat Eduskunta.

The party with the most “immigrant” candidates were the Greens and the True Finns with the least.

___________

Maahanmuutto on yksi eduskuntavaalien kuumimmista puheenaiheista. Maahanmuuttajaehdokkaita on kuitenkin vaaleissa vain 45. Määrä riippuu myös laskutavasta. Maahanmuuttajaksi on laskettu myös ehdokkaita, joiden isä tai äiti on ulkomaalainen.

The read on click here.


Verkkouutiset: Stubb: Maahanmuuttokeskustelun ilmapiiri ahdistava

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: It is not the first time that Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb has taken a strong stand against the xenophobia, racism and ignorance that too often characterizes the ongoing debate on immigrants and immigration to Finland.  About a month before the election on April 17,  it not only takes leadership but guts to speak out against what Stubb calls  an “oppressive” debating atmosphere.

The foreign minister was quoted as saying at a seminar on immigrant employment in Helsinki that Finland owes its success and economic growth to its openness and internationalization. “Success requires that internationalization also takes place in this country,” he said on Verkkouutiset, a Kokoomus electronic publication. Tabloid Iltalehti wrote (in Finnish) about Stubb’s comments as well.

Three matters emerge frequently when reading the arguments of some Finns who see immigration as a threat: fear, low self-esteem and ignorance. Even if some are misinformed and carry theories on cultures and ethnicities dating back to the nineteenth century, they can always learn from their mistakes.

Teaching people to control their racism is just as important as teaching democracy, equality and human rights.  Why? Because society works better than when it is based on inequality, racism and prejudice.

Are you of the same opinion?

__________

Ulkoministeri Alexander Stubbin (kok.) mielestä Suomessa käytävän maahanmuutto- ja kansainvälisyyskeskustelun ilmapiiri on tällä hetkellä ahdistava.

The keep on reading click here.

Opettaja: Lukijakysely: Maahanmuuttajat ovat kouluille rikkaus ja rasite

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: This survey that was published in Opettaja shows that 41% of teachers that were polled would like to place caps on children with immigrant backgrounds at their schools.  Contrarily one third of those polled would not place any such limits.  According to every fourth teacher, larger numbers of immigrant children increase commotion and noise in class as well as violence in schools.

For some the results of the survey is no surprise since other ones have shown that teachers’ attitudes of immigrants have been as negative as the police.

The poll brings forth interesting questions. One of these is if public servants like teachers can limit who they will serve.  Can the police do the same? Is segregating schools by placing caps constitutional?

Everyone knows that if such an extraordinary measure were to be taken, it would be by the government – not by teachers.

At best these surveys show how difficult it is for some in Finland to still accept cultural diversity as a normal matter of our society. A lot of work must be still done.

Do you agree?

_____________

Lukijakysely: Maahanmuuttajat ovat kouluille rikkaus ja rasite. Kolmannes riittäisi osuudeksi Väkivalta lisääntyy, kantaväestön ja ja maahanmuuttajien välit kiristyvät ja opettajat siirtyvät muihin kouluihin, kun maahanmuuttajien osuus koulun oppilaista kasvaa suureksi. Lähes joka toisen opettajan mielestä maahanmuuttajien määrä pitäisi koulussa rajata 20–30 prosenttiin.

To keep on reading click here.

Migrant Tales memorable quotes of the week to February 21

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales will begin publishing on Monday some interesting quotes on the ongoing immigration debate in Finland.  If you have some quotes you would like to share with us, please forward them to [email protected].

Thank you.

–In the book (Milla Hannula’s Maassa maan tavalla) it is stressed that (rising) crime in Finland is due to immigration. Finland is without immigration certainly one of the world’s most violent countries if we set aside the Balkans. Even so, this does not mean that we should hide such crimes committed by people of immigrant backgrounds from public debate.  On the other side of the coin there are the visible number of Finns that have been sentenced (for crimes) in Sweden and Norway. Risto Laakkonen, Turun Sanomat.

(Kirjassa (Milla Hannula’s Maassa maan tavalla) korostetaan rikollisuuden tuloa Suomeen maahanmuuton seurauksena. Suomi on ilman maahanmuuttoakin yksi maailman ja ehdottomasti Euroopan väkivaltaisin maa kun Balkan jätetään huomioimatta. Silti maahanmuuttaja -taustaisten henkilöiden rikoksia ei tule peitellä. Vaakakupin toisella puolella on sitten ulkomailla rikoksista tuomittujen suomalaisten paikoin näkyvä osuus erityisesti Ruotsissa ja Norjassa. Risto Laakkonen Turun Sanomat).

–The thoughts of immigration critics have been made by different political currents ranging from Keijo Korhonen to Kari Rajamäki, from Eero Paloheimo to Jussi Halla-aho. The mass media had, however, for some time either stayed clear of the topic or labeled such people (immigration critics). Milla Hannula, Maassa maan tavalla.

(Maahanmuuttokriittisiä ajatuksia ovat Suomessa esittäneet eri poliittisinten suuntien edustajat Keijo Korhosesta Kari Rajamäkeen, Eero Paloheimoon ja Jussi Halla-ahoon. Valtalehdistö kuitenkin pitkään joko vaikeni aiheesta tai leimasi maahanmuuttokriitikot. Milla Hannula, Maassa maan tavalla).

–Yesterday’s (February 16) publishing of Maassa maan tavalla shows that being ”critical of  immigration” is a euphemism for anti-immigration and  xenophobia. Juha Siivola, Helsingin Sanomat.

Eilen julkaistu Maassa maan tavalla osoittaa, että “maahanmuuttokritiikki” on maahanmuuton vastustamisen ja muukalaisvihamielisyyden kaunisteleva nimitys. Juha Siivola, Helsingin Sanomat).

–In US Muslim terrorists seen as representing all Muslims, but white terrorists r portrayed as “crazy fringe individuals. @haloeffekti

–If I spoke about Finns in the same way as far-right parties do of some minorities, I would be the most hated man in Finland. Enrique Tessieri @MigrantTales

–Far-right parties across Europe speak against multiculturalism but do not give us a clue what monoculturalism is. Is monoculturalism an excuse to deny who we are and exclude millions of minorities from feeling at home in Europe?  Enrique Tessieri @MigrantTales