Tag: immigration

Digital Journal: Swiss Government Bans Video On Execution-Style Deportation

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Ever thought what it feels to be caught and deported from a country as an undocumented immigrant? The reconstruction of how people are deported from Switzerland these days was made by humanitarian group Augenauf (Open Your Eyes). The video clip was shortly banned after it was broadcast on Swiss television, according to Digital journal. 

After passage of a referendum in November, Swiss authorities can deport today foreigners if they are undocumented immigrants or foreign residents convicted of certain offenses. 

The humiliating way people are deported from Switzerland looks like a convict who placed on an electric chair. The Digital Journal continues:  “The procedure involves the shackling and gagging of deportees, presumably to prevent any effort to escape or protest or to make it as unpleasant as possible to return to Switzerland.”

 Augenauf claims that a Nigerian refugee died of heart attack when he was shackled. 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16He1I274Xk&feature=player_embedded]

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Digital Journal: Swiss Government Bans Video On Execution-Style Deportation

A documentary by humanitarian organisation Augenauf was banned shortly after it was broadcast on Swiss television. It depicts a reconstruction of the execution-style deportation practiced by Swiss Government.

Read whole story.

Immigration and world without borders

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

When looking at a problem, I have learned that the answer is usually found under one’s nose. There are many factors that impair our ability to see under our noses. Take a serious challenge like building a world without borders and tackling effectively poverty, hunger, strife and chronic social inequality.

A question always stares back and haunts us no matter how much we’d like our societies in the developed world to be Mr. Nice Guys: In order to be that nice person t home we must pillage and spread misery on most of the world’s population. We act like Dr. Jekyll at home but are enraged and out-of-control Mr. Hydes in other parts of the world.

It would be hypocritical for me, who has a multicultural background thanks to the restlessness of many of my relatives who were immigrants, to deny access to our society to people who are fleeing poverty and strife. Many times I wonder where I’d be today if countries like Finland, the US, Brazil and Argentina would have refused my late relatives entry.

Why is immigration seen as a threat today? Why have we failed to build a better world without borders?

In order to find the answer to those questions, we’d have to figure out what interest groups profit from the culture of fear of the outside world in which immigrants form one component.

US President Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1960), a Republican and former commander in chief of the US forces in Europe during World War 2, warned us about the dangers of the military industrial complex.

He states in the video clip below: “The conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence, economic, political, even spiritual, is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need of the development yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications, our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved…”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY]

If we look at only this last decade and the strife that has torn our world apart, the impact of the military industrial complex is clear.

Past presidents like Abraham Lincoln (1809-65)* warned us about the danger of too large corporations: “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”

Karl Sharro, an architect, offers an interesting talk* about building a society without borders. Is this possible and why and how we must accept the challenge.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZZOer0Y2_c&feature=youtu.be&t=56s]

*Thank you @mahilena and Migrants Rights Network for the heads up!

Aviisi: Lopullinen totuus: Turvapaikanhakijoista pitäisi järjestää kansanäänestys

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Rajkumar Sabanadesan, a consultant who sought asylum in Finland in 1994, writes that even though the authorities claim that asylum seekers are fighting to get into Finland, there are few (1,000-9,000) compared with 20,000 to 40,000 in Sweden. 

This is try about immigration as well. Even though we are constantly speaking about the need for skilled immigrants to move to Finland as more Finns retire from the workforce, there are few takers. 

Sabanadesan says that nothing has changed in the ongoing debate on immigrants and refugees in Finland. It has been dominated by “ostentatious, greedy and manipulative politicians and civil servants who think too much of themselves and care little about those in need.”

He states that even Minister of Economy Jutta Urpilainen has stated that foreigners must respect the laws and live like Finns. “Asylum seekers cannot live like Finns since this type of an opportunity hasn’t been given to them,” writes Sabanadesan. 

Sabanadesan suggests that a referendum should be carried out on asylum seekers.  Finland can take two roads: help people (refugees) in need or turn its back on these people and be self-centered and egoistic. 

Do you agree?

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Turvapaikanhakijat tulevat vaikeista oloista. Monet ovat menettäneet kotinsa, perheensä, kokeneet kidutusta ja kohdanneet kuolemaa, sekä mahdollisesti tulleet raiskatuksi. Heidän ongelmansa ovat erityislaatuisia.

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MTV3: Maahanmuuttajat sopeutuneet Suomeen Britanniaa paremmin: “Vihaa vähemmän”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: I started to write a comment on this story below that appeared Friday on MTV3. To be frank,  I did not understand the point:  Immigrants have adapted to Finland better than in Britain. In Finland, Muslims, for example, don’t hate as much the host society as in Britain. 

Certainly we have done a lot of things right on the immigrant-integration front. Offering everyone the opportunity to get an education is one effective way of integrating newcomers. Compared with Britain, our immigration population is still small. But who is to say that second- and third-generation immigrants will not become radicalized?

What are people supposed to do if prejudice and racism exclude people from society?  Why do second- and third-generation immigrants become radicalized? The answer is simple: They see how their parents were pushed around and excluded by society and will not rightfully accept that type of behavior towards them.

It is perfectly ok to be passionate and “radical” about social rights and justice.

“A riot is the language of the unheard,” according to Martin Luther King (1929-68). 

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Jouni Sipilä

Britanniassa hallitus on huolestunut muslimimaista tulevien maahanmuuttajien radikalisoitumisesta. Toisen ja kolmannen polven maahanmuuttajat ovat omaksuneet vanhempiaan konservatiivisempia uskonnollisia näkemyksiä. Britanniassa radikalisoituminen on eräiden tutkimusten mukaan ollut nopeinta Euroopassa. Meillä Suomessa tämäntyyppistä kehitystä ei ole havaittu. Asiantuntijoiden mielestä maahanmuuttajat ovat sopeutuneet meille huomattavasti Britanniaa paremmin.

Read whole story.

Verkkolehti: Maahanmuuttokielteisyys on Suomessa vasta alullaan

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Comment:  This interview with researcher Pertti Joenniemi on this week’s Verkkolehti left me concerned. Joenniemi believes that the anti-immigration sentiment we are witnessing in Finland today is only the beginning and will get worse.  Joenniemi has lived in Denmark for the past 15 years.

According to the researcher, Denmark does not have any outside enemies and in order to bolster their national identity, some Danes have found that new “enemy” in immigrants and refugees.

In Finland the situation is different since we have a defined enemy. “Thank God we have such an enemy in Finland,” he said. “There is a mutual agreement (among Finns) that Russkies are Russkies full stop. We don’t have the same problem as Denmark since there is a foreign other. Our identity as Finns is clear since we know what does not and what does presumably threaten us.”

Joenniemi believes that the anti-immigrant sentiment will get worse in Finland before it improves. “In order to understand what is happening and to get ready for what awaits, it would be important to get acquainted with (what is happening) Denmark,” he said. 

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Jarkko Mänttäri

Tanskan kokemusten pohjalta erikoistutkija Pertti Joenniemi ennustaa, että maahanmuuttokielteisyys on Suomessa vasta alullaan. Pahempaa on tulossa.

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guardian.co.uk: A world without borders makes economic sense

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Here is a good question: Why do we restrict immigration? Who does the present system benefit? These are some of the questions that Michael A Clemens looks at in the guardian.co.uk story below.

He writes:  “Large numbers of people wish to move permanently to another country – more than 40% of adults in the poorest quarter of nations. But most of them are either ineligible for any form of legal movement or face waiting lists of a decade or more. Those giant walls are a human creation, but cause more than just human harm: they hobble the global economy, costing the world roughly half its potential economic product.”

And continues: “Many people fear that even a minor increase in international migration will wreck their own economies and societies. Those fears deserve a hearing. They are old fears, of the kind that filled US newspapers a century ago. The US population subsequently quadrupled, largely through immigration to already-settled areas. Today, even in crisis, America is the richest country in the world. History, too, deserves a hearing.”

Do you agree?

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By Michael A Clemens

What is the biggest single drag on the beleaguered global economy? Opponents of globalisation might point to the current crisis, which shrank the world economy by about 5%. Proponents of globalisation might point to the remaining barriers to international flows of goods and capital, which also serve to shrink the world economy by approximately 5%. That sounds like a lot.

Read whole story.

Migrant Tales Poetry: “Good manners”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

GOOD MANNERS

My parents taught me such good manners

I always enter my dreams with three-piece suits

Bow to women and hear wonderful waltzes

And agree with everything you say!

My parents taught me such good manners

That I once thanked my executioner for chopping my head off.

As it rolled down a slope

All I could say was thank you, thank you and THANK YOU!

Luckily some carried pity

In their hearts’ pockets

And asked me if I was a refugee

Or some kind of an immigrant.

I tried my best to assimilate:

Thrum! And a great thrust forward!

Another thrum!

Falling down as a loud thud!

Migrant Tales will begin to publish poetry, photographs, short stories and short plays reflecting the livesof immigrants and minorities in Finland and elsewhere. Please send your contributions to [email protected].

New World Finn: How many Finnish Canadians and USAmericans?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Those who like to insult and ridicule immigrants and refugees in Finland, and who still believe Finns are some lost tribe in this part of Europe who have not mixed with anyone, should pay close attention to the statistics below. If over one million Finns would not have emigrated from this land from 1860, our population would be over 7 million today.

Thanks to immigration, Finland’s cultural diversity is richer than what many of us want to believe. The interesting question to ask is why this hasn’t been acknowledged. Is it because it would force us to ask serious questions about who we are as a nation? Would many of our myths about ourselves be challenged?

Thanks to New World Finn, an English-language quarterly published in the United States for this information.

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During the late-19th century and early 20th century, over 300,000 people from Finland migrated to the United States and, to a lesser extent, Canada. While there had been a sporadic flow of immigration before the mid-19th century, the bulk of the migration did not start until about 1870.

The 2000 United States Census lists 623,573 persons who claimed Finnish ancestry. Finnish-Canadians, who claimed Finnish ancestry, according to the 2001 census, number over 114,000. There are many of Finnish ancestry who do not claim it.

The states with the largest Finnish-American populations are: Michigan – 101,351; Minnesota – 99,388; California – 56,526; Washington – 40,290; Wisconsin – 36,047. The communities of Thunder Bay, Toronto and Sudbury form the main centers of Finnish-Canadian activity. Thunder Bay boasts the largest Finnish population outside of Scandinavia.

How many Finns emigrated abroad?

Table 1. Emigration from Finland in 1860-1999

Destination                   1860-1944                              1945-1999
Sweden                             45,000                                    535,000
Other Europe                  55,000                                    125,000
United States                  300,000                                    18,000
Canada                                 70,000                                    23,000
Latin America                      1,000                                       5,000
Asia                                              500                                       6,000
Africa                                       1,000                                       4,000
Oceania                                   3,500                                    20,000

Total                                      476,000                                 736,000

Source: Jouni Korkiasaari and Ismo Söderling: Finnish emigration and immigration after World War II. Migration Institute 2003.                           http://www.migrationinstitute.fi/articles/011_Korkiasaari_Soderling.pdf

Turun Sanomat: Emämaan unohtama kansanosa

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Comment: The Finland in our Hearts Festival, which took place in Turku on July 1-4, is a good example of how Finland is slowly accepting its cultural diversity.  No other group are a constant reminder of our cultural diversity than expatriate Finns.  Some 1.3 million Finnish expatriates live abroad.  

Kokoomus Euro MP Villa Itälä, chairman of the Finland Society board and of the Finnish Expatriate Parliament, was quoted as saying on Turun Sanomat that no Finnish government has understood the important of immigration. He described expatriate Finns are “a forgotten people” seen through the stereotypes of the past. The present political atmosphere in Finland doesn’t permit any improvement on this front, according to him. 

One group that has erased almost completely these expatriate Finns with their anti-immigration rhetoric is the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party. Their hostility towards immigrants and refugees in Finland by some of their MPs is a deep insult to the over million Finns that live abroad.

Yours truly chaired on Monday the seminar on Latin America at the Finland in Our Hearts Festival. Apart from talking about Finnish immigration to Latin America, which was small when compared with North America, we discussed at the end what lessons we could learn from these Finnish immigrants’ experiences and how they could be applied to our ever-growing immigrant population.

There seemed to be a consensus among the audience that acceptance was crucial for things to move forward  for immigrants.

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Turku on ollut viime päivinä poikkeuksellisella tavalla kansainvälinen kohtauspaikka. Täällä on kokoontunut tuhansia ulkosuomalaisia, joilla on sitkeät siteet emämaahan, vaikkei heidän arvoaan Suomessa aina muisteta saati tunnusteta.

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euronews: Automatic deportation for foreign criminals in Denmark

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment:  The new law in Denmark, which passed by a wide majority and will now allow convicted immigrants to be deported after serving their prison sentences, is another example of how this small nation continues to dig itself deeper in a hole of its fears.

Immigrants, and especially Muslims, seem to bring out the worst of Denmark. Even so, the sad truth of the matter is that no matter how many times the Danish People’s Party (DPP) demands yet another tightening of immigration laws with the collaboration of the major parties, their fears and nationalism to keep immigrants and their children in line will never be banished nor fed.

The new tightening of the screws of the law will only bring more conflict, suffering and shame on Denmark, but reveal to future historians how the country lost it to nationalism and xenophobia. 

Taking into account that our anti-immigration party, the Perussuomalaiset (PS), is a member the Europe for Freedom and Democracy group in the European  parliament together with the DPP and other right-wing populist groups like the Lega Nord of Italy and Slovak National Party, it is no surprise that we are already hearing MPs clamoring for Finland to follow the Danish model.

PS MP Reijo Tossavainen, who recently said that Finland should shelve its international agreements and close the border to asylum-seekers, wrote on his Uusi Suomi blog that he only saw benefits to the country if it started deporting sentenced immigrants.

“Benefits can be found,” he writes. “In the first place, our country’s prisons are already so full that such a situation has been used as an argument to lighten (prison) sentences. Moreover, one day in prison costs the Finnish taxpayer more than one day in a middle-priced hotel.”

Tossavainen writes that a convicted immigrants should be deported irrespective if the person has family in Finland.

It is unfortunate for Denmark and for PS MPs like Tossavainen that tougher laws aren’t the panacea for our immigration problems.

In many cases tougher immigration laws only worsen them.

Meanwhile, recent comments in the end of May from the Danish immigration minister, Søren Pind, that foreigners should “assimilate” or leave, coupled with the country’s recent unilateral decision to reinstate border checks, have left some residents questioning the motivation behind the crackdown on Marmite, the yeast extract spread.

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In the future, foreign nationals who are convicted of a crime and sent to prison in Denmark will be automatically deported on their release. The controversial legislation sailed through parliament in Copenhagen by 97 votes to 7.

Read whole story.