By many standards, Finland is an exceptional country. Newsweek magazine recently named it the best country in the world to live according to education, quality of life, economic dynamism as well as other factors.
One of the greatest threats to our well-being and international reputation are xenophobia and racism. If the Newsweek staff would have looked more closely at this social ill, would Finland have been named the best country in the world?
Is it possible that a country that is so innovative and dynamic has immigrant unemployment many fold higher than the national average?
What would the newsmagazine say about the Social Democrats’ maassa maan tavalla policy, which thinks that nothing should or will change and that immigration should be a one-way process? Such catch phrases from a party that fought for social justice and our social welfare system is quite incredible to put it lightly.
What would it say about other political parties that instead of showing leadership against racism are starting to use adjectives like ”hordes” and ”uncontrolled” before immigration and accuse a pretty defenseless group of ”taking away our jobs?”
The best way to defend Finland’s image is to treat everyone who lives here with respect. Our laws and way of life guarantee that this can be achieved.
A lot of work has to be still done to build those vital pathways of incorporation to our society for people who have made Finland their new home.
One of the greatest threats to Finland in the new century is not immigration but xenophobia and racism.
The political field is pretty lopsided in this country these days: left-wing parties that were “progressive” in their approach to society have now become conservative and those that were on the “right” appear to be more open to the outside world.
Even the Center Party, which has tradictionally been nationalistic and conservative in its view of the outside world, has under the leadership of Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi become a more middle-of-the-road party.
Even though the Social Democrats have open-minded people such as Liisa Jaakonsaari and Erkki Tuomioja, the anti-immigrant hardliners like MP Kari Rajamäki spoil the day. Rajamäki’s stance on immigrants and refugees is on the same wave length as the True Finns.
Certainly one cannot conclude that all of the members of Kokoomus want to make immigration work for Finland. Wille Rydman and Kai Pönttinen are sore examples of how some politicians want to use the immigration card for political gain.
We would be in a lot of trouble if the one-sided immigration debate in Finland was left to a certain group of people. Those that I am referring to call themselves “critical of immigration,” maahanmuuttokriittinen. It is a funny term used to describe groups that are in fact hostile to immigration.
More people in Finland are beginning to understand the difference between racism and sensible debate.
One of these is Center Party Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi. She recently labeled SDP MP and anti-immigration hardliner Eero Heinäluoma’s statements as “flirting with racism.” Naturally Heinäluoma does not consider his statements racist at all. One of the many incredulous affirmations he has made is that immigrants will fuel racism because they will take jobs away from Finns.
The argument is a bit like the man who raped a woman and then claims that it was the victim’s fault because she was wearing a mini skirt.
There are countless of other examples of anti-immigration groups like the True Finns who claim not to be racist but in truth some are. You can find, unfortunately, these types of people in all of Finland’s political parties.
Since ignorance is not an excuse for breaking the law, it should not be one for insulting other ethnic groups. Even so, some of the views that some Finnish politicians have of immigrants and immigration dates back to the murky 1930s.
Even though not everything that is debated can be slammed as racist, it shows how much in diapers the immigration debate is in Finland. Some do not even know the difference (or pretend not to know) between what is appropriate and racist.
I have said on numerous occasions that you do not need to pass new laws for immigrants in Finland. The only thing we have to do is apply those we have in force today.
A good rule of thumb when speaking of immigrants in Finland is to ask if you would ever make such a statement about your own group or voters. If not, stay clear from them.
One of the pet topics of the far-right in Finland is speaking about social security fraud. The only problem with the debate is that the only culprits are foreigners. Supposedly Finns are honest and therefore do not take advantage of the social security system.
Why aren’t any politicians making a big deal about social security fraud in general, or among Finns in particular? Because it is a hyper-sensitive political issue. They would not touch it with a ten-foot pole especially with elections approaching in April 2011.
Bashing foreigners and over-exaggerating social security fraud among immigrants brings more votes and political mileage.
Finland’s conservative Kokoomus youth leader, Wille Rydman, makes an incredible statement in a letter to the editor to Helsingin Sanomat: The state should not support nor fund multiculturalism because it would hinder the adaption of immigrants into our society.
So, what he is suggesting is that funds from Finland’s well-intentioned but semi-wayward integration program have been earmarked for enhancing multiculturalism in Finland. If Rydman wants to look at Finland’s integration program seriously, he will note that it fails on many fronts, like instilling a sense of dignity in immigrants.
The issue is much simpler: work and acceptance. If you want newcomers to embrace and grow in their new home they will have to be inspired by it. Our society must offer them opportunities and, most importantly, acceptance.
Some Finns like Rydman have a simplistic view of how immigrants should conform and adapt to our society.This is understandable because they have never lived in societies, and if they have have never fully grasped, where immigration is normal and where synergies occur.
One of the most flawed components or Finland’s integration program is that adaption of immigrants is one-way: that is, we will tell you how to adapt to our society and what is important to us. This is Rydman’s simplistic recipe: throw away your culture and learn Finnish as a Finn or Swedish as a Swede and, presto, full integration.
This type of recipe for immigrants is not only a disaster but leads to exclusion. Could he please tell us where this type of integration has occurred successfully?
Another saddening aspect of Rydman’s discourse, who is a member of Finland’s largest political party, is that he thinks that all these civil rights goodies in our constitution and laws, like equality and the right to diversity, do not apply to immigrants.
These types of simplistic solutions to the dynamics of immigration is not only irresponsible but shows how little some politicians understand the issue. Certainly with elections in April 2011 around the corner, politicians such as Rydman are eyeing the elections with opportunistic gleam.
Rydman looks at two extreme examples of immigration policy: France and Sweden. Why didn’t he look at how the “major leagues,” countries like the United States, Canada, Australia or England in the European Union, handle large immigrant populations?
Europe is a sad case lined with too many politicians such as Rydman and an unfortunate list of others who forget our dark and xenophobic past.What happened in the 1930s in Nazi Germany and most recently in the former Yugoslavia should serve as extreme rude wake up calls.
Here are some passages that may interest you. Remember that the book was published 26 years ago.
How many time I have listened as my dark-skinned friend tell of the Finns’ awkward, insulting and violent behavior towards them. Almost every time I walk through the streets with one of my more “foreign” looking companions, some Finns figures out a way, more or less grossly, to emphasize our otherness, our foreignness. Therefore, the fact that I have white skin has definitely helped me survive here; however, my disillusion has definitely grown since I became aware of this. Steve Huxley, p. 9
Many Finns hold some of the same stereotypes that were prevalent in urban United States in the 20’s and 30s concerning different races. It is not surprising that Finland is a closed society for foreigners, a “dead-end society” if you will, where there is dear little chance of competing equally for choice jobs with Finns after having taken a degree in this country. Enrique Tessieri, p. 14
You are given a partial or non-admission before arriving here, the next thing to do is to get yourself i any Finnish language courses and prepare yourself for the police harassment via telephone calls or letters. Obi Marizu, p. 18
Its position today as a small neutral sate between two competing superpowers should also make Finland very sensitive to issues involving minority rights. In discussing injustices in Finland, Finnish history also provides foreigners with an understanding of why the country’s laws frequently deal with them rather brusquely. Ahti Tolvanen, p 35
The usual kind of ad for a subtenant room you will find in the newspaper is something like, “Gentle old lady rents room to sober non-smoking female student of religious background.” Now you have been brought up in a convent in Tanzania and came here to study theology – so you go there with great expectations. The first thing you find out is that the old lady is not that gentle at all, the next thing that there are a few additional conditions: absolutely white skin of the same shade as hers, accent-free Finnish and a blue (Finnish) passport. Alexander Sannemann, p. 41
I have been thinking about these things (Finnish consensus, cold war foreign policy) long before writing them down, just not to fall into the vicious circle of self-censorship. Adrián Soto, p. 44
There are two kinds of girls who look for contacts with foreign men. First, there are the Hunters and Gatherers. For them the foreigners are above all foreigners: exotic, dark, reputedly good in bed, possess a high prestige value when shown in the street, and are useful for language practice. The girls are looking for a short adventure or a longer affair, but many think a Finn, in the end, is the only plausible mate. For them, and there are quite a lot of them, you will always be an object, a foreigner, not a human being. Maaria Seppänen, p. 49
Aliens' Office head Eilä Kännö (1970-84) inspecting a foreigner applying for a residence permit. Among foreigners, she was cursed by many for being an inflexible, cantankerous hardliner.By Rabah Boussuira, p. 23 Foreigners have no civil civil right nor chances of getting housing in Finland.By Rabah Boussuira, p. 39Foreigners are no longer a rare sight in Finland as in 1984. By Rabah Boussuira, p. 45
Twenty-six years agoin 1984 Strange days, the experience of foreign students in Finland, was published by Gaudeamus. The book was the second published by foreigners in Finland over the arbitrary treatment they received by the then Alien’s Office, the police and by the country in general. The first one was in the 1970s by a Nigerian called Katso, katso nekru. See part two as well.
Here are some timely excerpts from Strange Days that could still apply to immigrants in Finland:
If anything, the tales contained in this book could be described as those of a disappointed lover who still has some hope left. The editors (Gregory Moore and Adrián Soto, p. 7)
There are foreigners who have survived many years in Finland by maintaining ignorance, by remaining content with the “peace” which comes through not being able to participate in political life, the peace which comes when one has only a minimum of rights. I realized that I had, for a time, been one of these people. Steve Huxley, p. 9
Those of us who plan to make our homes in Finland after finishing our studies discover that there is no work for us in our chosen field. Many foreign students have given up their studies because they know that their university degree in Finland will only be a paper which they can hang on their wall. Because jobs are so scarce in Finland for degree holders, the standard hiring practice you’ll be faced with is first Finns and then, maybe, you. Enrique Tessieri, p. 15
I have used this philosophical statment of (Elizabeth) Browning (A great mind, A great courage, A great energy. And a great persistent patience) because this is what it entails to live and survive as a foreigner in Finland. Obi Marizu, p. 18
As a foreigner residing in Finland it is more than likely that you will have dealings with the police from time to time. That is because the official body for carrying out most government policies related to foreigners is the Aliens Affairs Office (today Finnish Immigration Service) in the Police Bureau of the Interior Ministry. The main function of the Aliens’ Office is surveillance. It was set up during the last war to keep track of all foreigners in the country and counteract possible espionage activity. Ahti Tolvanen, p. 25
I have a question mark concerning the following: Of course there are positive sides to sleeping under bridges. Judging from the amount of frozen drunkards collected by the police every winter, you won’t get lonely there. And as for staying with friendly people– you’ll usually have to pay your rent with sex, especially if you are a male foreign student. After she’s handed you on to her seventh girlfriend, you might start dreaming about getting your own place to stay. Alexander Sannemann, p. 37
This is, of course, a democratic society. But Finnish democracy is structured in such a way that all ideas and decisions come from above, very little is ever taken from the ground level. Adrián Soto, p. 44
…it is the attitude Finnish men have about foreigners. This will cause you many problems. You may be assaulted by a drunkard when walking with a Finnish girl, you may be told you have only come to steal our girls, or at least you and the girl will be objects of intense, hostile staring. This goes to the extent that foreigners married to Finnish girls tend to find the Finnish public more racist than do unmarried foreigners. Maaria Seppänen, p. 49
Even though Finland's immigrant population has grown by ten times since 1984, when Strange Days was published, the ongoing one-sided debate on immigrants and immigrantion to Finland makes this drawing by Rabbah Boussuira still valid.
The fate of two grandmothers, Eveline Fadaylin of Egypt and Russian Irina Antonovan, is a scandalous situation that shows how civil servants and politicians run away from responsiblity and hide behind shoddy laws.
I wish you the best of luck if you want to place your trust on some of these politicians that are handling the case of these two unfortunate grandmothers. Before you make such a decision, take a look at the Roma, who have lived in Finland for ages and are still treated like second- and third-class subcitizens.
Certainly the immigrants are to blame if we allow the authorities and politicians to use us as political fodder to strengthen their narrow-minded views and short-term opportunistic goals. Immigrants and Finns should, however, send a loud and clear message to such politicians that this type of behavior is unacceptable and shameful.
If, for example, the Social Democrats are to be believed, Finland has today a serious social problem on its hands. Apart from sky-high unemployment, immigrants are also being exploited by being underpaid and discriminated at workplaces. If the SDP are really interested in this alarming situation, why haven’t done something about it?
Is ignorance the only matter that is behind our difficult relationship with other cultures? Is it embedded in the 1930s and in racist eugenics’ theories that continue to strengthen our mistaken view of ourselves and outsiders? Does the ignorance have its roots in outright suspicion and hatred of other cultures, like with the Roma?
I believe that there are enough sensible Finns in this country that consider the behavior of some politicians and of Finns as shameful and unacceptable.
One of the first and foremost aims when building good ethnic relations is acceptance. If you add to that the element of equal opportunity you will solve many of the problems related to bigotry. In sum we will be building a country that will be successful in this century as well.
After one wing of the Social Democratic Party notched closer to the anti-immigration True Finns, one should quietly ask what’s all the fuss about? SDP MP Eero Heinäluoma stated in an interview with Swedish daily HBL that Finland should not encourage labor immigrants because there are 300,000 unemployed. Fair enough, then he goes on and blames immigrants for spreading racism because “they will take jobs from Finns.”
But let’s ask how many workers came from outside the EU to Finland last year. Are you ready for this: 4,000, according SDP MP Susanna Huovinen. Yes, that’s right: 4,000 people are threatening Finland!
The second intentionally unanswered question by Heinäluoma is from where are these non-EU workers going to come from? The Ukraine? Belarus?
Apart from inciting nationalist sentiment at the expense of the immigrant community, Heinäluoma and SDP chairperson Jutta Urpilainen are examples of people that give politics a bad name. Some will sell their souls and ideals wholesale to further their careers.
SDP veteran politician Erkki Tuomioja is another party member who has given the thumbs down to Heinäluoma’s populist anti-immigration rhetoric. In his blog he accuses the SDP MP of making unfounded statements like “immigrants take jobs from Finns.” Tuomioja continues: “This argument (used by Heinäluoma) only happens in a stagnant and lifeless economy where workers are regulated.”
It is evident that Heinäluoma and Urpilainen are opporunistically using immigrants to further their party’s chances in the 2011 elections. The collateral damage their stances have caused on the immigrant community has come in the form of bolstered racism and suspicion in this country.
There is an interesting article published in MTV3 on anti-immigrant pressure group Homma ry chairman, Matias Turkkila, who tells us that being critical of immigration isn’t synonymous with being a racist. “(Death) threats are a sad path that one should not take,” he said. “I am against such actions, but I understand in some cases the frustration of those people that make such threats.”
Even though open debate is a healthy trademark of western, democratic societies, the statement “being critical of immigration isn’t synonymous with being racist” is a good example of deliberately evasive and ambiguous language, or double-talk in plain English. How can one even “understand” people that aim to take the law in their hands because they disagree with an issue?
Are groups such as Homma ry really interested in debate when their popularity rides on bashing immigrants with the help of stereotypes and miconceptions? When groups such as Homma ry spread questionable “facts”about immigrants they help fuel and maintain a climate of racism in the country.
In my opinion many of these so-called “immigrant-critics” have serious problems understanding the outside world and that change forms part of our normal lives. Groups such as Homma ry don’t like to be labeled “racist” because it undermines their message, which is filled with hatred, stereotypes and suspicion of immigrants in Finland.
Racism manifests itself in different ways in different societies. In Finland, it appears as elsewhere as a stereotype that justifies our view of a WHOLE group. A good example are foreign construction workers, who are ALL working for slave-wages, not paying taxes and stealing jobs from “honest” Finns. Is this true?
I remember in the 1960s the same arguments used in Finland today to be against immigrants and refugees as those in the United States during the civil rights movement. Bigots claimed that “blacks are lazy and therefore they are poor” to justify their racism. In my opinion, a Finnish verion of the latter is taking place in this country and maintained by groups such as Homma ry.
I am confident as Finland grows more accustomed to immigrants and these groups learn to defend and fight for their rights in our society, interviews such as these by MTV3 will be carried out but in a more critical fashion since such groups will be put under closer scrutiny by society.
Jyväskylä-based Keskisuomalainen, which appears hellbent on enlightening us on how Finland should relate to other cultures, now dedicates an entire editorial based on two cases of circumcision practiced on children by their parents.While such operations should be only carried out by trained medical staff, it is surprising how forcibly Keskisuomalainen condemns such an act.
Taking into account a previous editorial that incredulously suggests that refugees should be helped in their home countries, it isn’t surprising how such writings help fuel hysteria and xenophobia among the population.
I would kindly suggest to Keskisuomalainen’s editors to take a course in multiculturalism at some Finnish university to bring themselves up to date on how modern, western and democratic societies live with diversity.Instead of looking at other cultures in a narrow-minded fashion, they would do their readers a service by bringing their knowledge on multiculturalism (they are against this path for Finland) up to date and what role it plays in our society.
If they don’t have time to attend any seminars, they should read Arto Leitzinger’s dissertation, Ulkomaalaiset Suomessa 1812-1972. At least they would understand that Finland was, is and will be a multicultural society demographically.
Moreover, their editorials should address more pressing social issues like racism in Finland, high unemployment/equal opportunity and pathways to integration of immigrants into Finnish society.
