In a ploki, a nationalistic Finnish translation of blog, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Foreign Minister Timo Soini states that he’s against European Commission (EC) plans to spread refugees throughout the community.
Tag: Immigration policy
Feeding our amnesia and sidestepping the issues in the immigration and refugee debate
You can remind me four years from today what I’ll say now: Very little will be resolved concerning the challenges facing our ever-growing culturally diverse society except for witch-hunts and underlining the poisonous message of “us” against “them.”
Thursday’s A-studio: How the Finnish media and politicians paint immigrants with a single brush
I almost fell off my seat when I watched A-studio Thursday. Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Hanna Mäntylä justified the ongoing victimization and labeling of Finland’s small migrant community. She said this was fine because some white Finns are poor. “We have in effect people who live and are on the verge of suffering from hunger because…
How the Finnish media gives anti-immigration parties like the PS space, inflated respectability and importance
An article in Sunday’s Helsingin Sanomat about Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Mika Raatikainen, who will replace former PS MP Jussi Halla-aho’s after he was elected to the European parliament in May, reveals once again this country’s media fascination with racist double-talk and rhetoric that just don’t add up never mind make sense. If there is a culprit…
Finland’s interior minister wants more quota refugees in 2015
Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen of Finland, who considers homosexuality to be a sin and wants to tighten immigration laws, said on YLE that she would like to raise the number of quota refugees next year by 300 to 1,050 from 750. While this is welcome news, especially for the few hundred refugees that will get a new…
Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen is on the anti-immigration warpath again
Anti-immigration and anti-gay hardliner Christian Democrat interior minister, Päivi Räsänen, said on YLE in English that she’s in favor of tightening immigration policy further by closing a “loophole” for asylum seekers. Under the present law, those asylum seekers whose application has been turned down, can get temporary residence for two years before acquiring a permanent…
Migrants’ Rights Network: Another tragedy in Lampedusa, one too many
Clara Dublanc* The migrant boat disaster off Lampedusa has highlighted the struggle of Southern EU members to deal with migrant flows. It is time that Europe steps up and accepts shared responsibilities for the external borders of the Union. Last Thursday 3rd October, the small Italian island of Lampedusa witnessed…
Migrants’ Rights Network: Attitudes to immigration, polarisation or convergence?
By Juan Camilo Research published last month shows that attitudes to immigration in Britain are more polarised than in other countries, with older, poorer, and less educated people tending to have much more negative views than younger, well educated, financially secure and ethnically mixed people. Will a generational shift bring about more positive attitudes to…
Family reunification: Interior Ministry calls for comments
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…
Finland & Cultural Diversity 2011
In many respects 2011 was a watershed year for Finland and Europe concerning the rise of anti-immigration parties and xenophobia. The biggest news to hit Finland this year was without a doubt the April 17 election, which saw the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS) party win 39 seats compared with only 5 in 2007. On July 22 Anders Breivik gunned down most of his 77 victims in Norway.