Thursday’s A-talk exposed once again Interior Minister Mari Rantanen for what she is: A minister with a far-right worldview who loathes Muslims and other people of color. During the talk, she was ready to shelve international agreements that give foreign nationals the right to seek asylum.
“Yes, I would urge us to reconsider and start thinking about whether in this security environment we can guarantee the safety of our citizens by following precisely old agreements [The 1951 Refugee Convention and human rights agreements] that were made in a totally different era,” she said but fell short of fully trashing such agreements.
“These agreements were made in a completely different period,” she continued but then fell short of trashing all of Finland’s obligations to asylum seekers.
“This does not mean that we wouldn’t follow present international agreements during normal times,” she added.
With war raging in Ukraine since February 2022, the latest decision by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government to shut all the border crossings except for one is an example of how both countries are playing hardball with asylum seekers and the Finland’s largest national group, the Russians.
Katja Marova is a human rights activist and a member of the Left Alliance of Lappeenranta, a border city located next to the Russian border.
“Those who suffer most because of these measures are people of Russian descent [in Finland] who have family in Russia,” she said, adding that on Sunday there were up to 300 people in Lappeenranta who attended a demonstration against the closing of the border.
“I have received tens of hostile messages telling me to pack my bags and go back to Russia,” she continued. “If there was hostility against the Russian community before, it has grown since the war started.”
“The photo shows Ekaterina Marova, a human rights activist living in Lappeenranta. The photo was taken at a demonstration she and a few others organized last week to criticize the government’s decision to close the border. So while this issue is grossly overblown, it is also wrong. It is wrong not to allow asylum seekers into Finland (illegal) It is wrong not to allow Russians, let alone dual citizens, to visit Russia. There was no need to combine these things, but they [the government] wanted to do so anyway. There is not even any justification for the latter. Or maybe there is, racism and hatred. Very fine traditional Finnish values. Fear, shame and insecurity can be taken from the same frame of reference, and it is from these elements that the current Finnish government, with all its parties, can be built. The fact that [Prime Minister Petteri] Orpo the coward is what he is is not surprising, but the fact that not even the Left Alliance is saying anything about it is surprising. The worst thing is not the evil of bad people, but the silence of good people, as MLK once said. So I just wonder if it is really the case that we tolerant people have to hate at least something deep down inside? So let it be this minority of 90,000 [Russian] people in Finland that no one wants to defend, even lightly mention anywhere. Ordinary people downgraded human dignity, on both sides of the border.”Finland #Russia #border #leftwing #fFinnishgovernment
Source: Facebook
“It is surprising that we allow some 60,000 Ukrainians to freely move to Finland, but when a few hundred [from countries like Syria, Yemen, Somalia and other ones] attempt to get asylum we immediately shut the border.”
Marova said that one matter that has given strength to the Russian community in Finland is that they dare to speak and express their views more freely than before.
As a non-white Finn, it’s amazing how the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, with the support of the National Coalition Party (NCP),* work with tiny numbers and speak in the conditional. In Sweden, there are tens of thousands of people in gangs while in Finland their number total 150-200.
The same strategy goes for the closing of the Finnish-Russian border. We are talking about tens of people seeking asylum, not tens of thousands like those crossing the Mediterranean.
On Sunday, there were around 16 asylum seekers who came to the Vartius border checkpoint, according to Yle. That’s 16, not 160 or 1,600, but 16!
The border crossing points of Niirala, Imatra, Nuijamaa, and Vaalimaa will be closed until 18.2.2024. The Vainikkala border crossing is only for rail traffic. Asylum seekers now have to apply for asylum at the Salla and Vartius border crossings in remote northern Finland. Source: Yle
How can you trust a party and government that builds its support on conspiracy theories about asylum seekers? You can if you are gullible.
Due to over 300 asylum seekers who came from countries with terrible human rights issues due to wars like Syria, Yemen, and Somalia, the Finnish government has decided to shut four border crossing points until 18 February 2024.
The coverage by the Finnish media of the issue and the statements given by government officials and the Finnish Border Guards resemble a taring-and-feathing event.
Perussuomalaiset Interior Minister Mari Rantanen is the ugly face of Finnish Islamophobia.. She has a long history of spreading conspiracy theories and anti-Muslim racism. Apart from tightening the screws on asylum seekers, her radical anti-immigration views are littered by hateful quotes, which have been deleted from her social media pages. Some of these are founded on the far-right great replacement theory. “Source: Yle.
Even if the trickle of asylum seekers coming to Finland are from countries with serious human rights violations, officials and the media prefer to label them as “illegal” migrants. Even President Sauli Niiinistö, whose past statements against Muslims and asylum seekers reveal his disdain for such groups, he has unsurprisingly given his support to the government.
Even the council of state defends its decision to shut the Finnish-Russian border on stopping “illegal immigration.” The anti-Muslim and anti-immigration campaign by the government is at full swing. Source: valtioneuvosto.fi
Some of the Finnish media continues to see refugees as “illegal” migrants. In this billboard, tabloid Ilta-Sanomat wants that “this year 10,000 illegal refugees” will arrive in Finland.
President Niinistö has stuck his foot in his mouth a number of times when he opens his mouth about asylum seekers. One of his most infamous comments is about an Iraqi asylum seeker, culture inside four walls.
Purra tweets: “You don’t have to wait for that, as it has happened many times, even to other institutions like the judiciary which is under direct or indirect protection.
Yle: “Today [Wednesday] about 70 asylum seekers asked for asylum [at the Russian border].”
A-studio: “One hundred thousand people attempt to cross the Mediterranean annually [to enter Europe].”
I’ve been quiet, watching with manifest unease, the actions of the government spearheaded by the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party about the trickle of asylum seekers arriving at the Finnish -Russian border. For the PS, even President Sauli Niinistö, it’s the usual pouring fuel on the xenophobic flames.
Racism and xenophobia are such a powerful political force in Finland these days that it threatens to take Finland to the political backwoods, a stuffy place where we mistrust everyone different from us and win elections and brownie points by spreading hatred and conspiracy theories of minorities like Muslims.
Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, who has a dubious history of spreading conspiracy theories and bigotry of Muslims, is one matter, but why is PS Finance Minister Riikka Purra beating viciously the Islamophobic drum?
The answer lies with PS immigration policy and halting Muslims and other asylum seekers from developed countries from coming to Finland.
Purra tweets: “You don’t have to wait for that, as it has happened many times, even to other institutions like the judiciary which is under direct or indirect protection.
If there is a reminder on how bad Finland’s racism problem has got, take a look at the rise of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party since the 2011 parliamentary election and specifically its main motor, Jussi Halla-aho. Having him treated as “a normal” politician by the media and other politicians makes him look like a wretched politician in an intensive care ward.
His political life-saving support comes from his blog, Scripta, written in the 2000.
For many Finns, it is difficult to weigh how demeaning and racist his writings are and how they paint a capricious and greedy man who is a white supremacist desperately seeking recognition and approval. Halla-aho will never apologize for his racist writings because it would cut off his political life support.
Moreover, playing down and moving forward with a poker face concerning the damage he has caused on Finland and especially on minorities, would not be possible if he apologized for his racist writings.
There are many ways to skin the cat of an old racist who hides behind the cloak of democratic institutions. One of these methods is to reverse the roles of his victims in his writing to grasp how toxic the person is.
Example 1:
“I am thoroughly confused as to why muslims have such a great desire to inflict pain on those who are in a weaker position, such as animals, children and women. I think this pattern is pretty clear. Why do muslims jump around ululating with their dicks hard whenever heads get chopped off or someone gets whipped?
“I am thoroughly confused as to why muslims white Finnshave such a great desire to inflict pain on those who are in a weaker position, such as animals, children and women. I think this pattern is pretty clear. Why do muslimswhite Finns jump around ululatingdrunk with their dicks hard limp whenever a Russian’s head gets chopped off or someone gets whipped beaten to a pulp?
“It is hard for me to think about a lower reptile in the universe than a Scandinavian social democrat. The most slimy subscpecies of this reptile is the Swedish social democrat.”
“It is hard for me to think about a lower reptile in the universe than a Scandinavian social democrat a Finnish Perussuomalaiset. The most slimy subscpecies of this reptile is the Swedish social democratSweden Democrat.
A Päjät-Häme district court sentenced 31 October for the first time in Finland members of the far right with the intent of committing a terrorist act. Even if the case is considered the first in Finnish criminal history, it is long overdue and a stark reckoning that white Finns can commit terrorist crimes.
According to earlier news reports, the three convicted men follow neo-Nazi ideology linked to accelerationism, which claims that fundamental societal transformations can be achieved only by accelerating different processes in society.
The principal convict in the case was Viljam Lauri Antero Nyman, 29, who was sentenced to prison for three years and four months. A second convict born in 1996 was sentenced to a year and nine months in prison. A third member was convicted to 1 seven-month suspended prison sentence for aiding and abetting.
The two convicts were charged with aggravated firearms offenses committed with terrorist intent and training to commit a terrorist act.
Nyman used to be a member of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Youth and a candidate of the radical-right party.
The convict, Viljam Lauri Antero Nyman, was a municipal candidate for the radical-right PS in 2017 for the northern Finnish city of Rovaniemi.Source: Twitter.
The PS forms part of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s right-wing coalition government.
Even if Finland is waking up to its far-right terrorism threat, there is still a disconnect with the PS’ role in spreading far-right ideology.
In a video posted by MTV below, the members of the groups warned of an ensuing “race war.”
Watch the video and read the story (in Finnish) here. Source: MTV.
Migrant Tales has been covering several terrorist-related stories in Finland, like the one in 2021 in the Western Finnish town of Kankaanpää.
The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* speaker of parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, is trying his hardest to have his cake and eat it. The trial that led to ethnic agitation conviction and for breaching the sanctity of religion in 2012 rose him to prominence. The very racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and homophobic writings on his Scripta blog in the 2000s brought him a handsome political career.
I wonder what people would think that after not getting elected in 2007, he became speaker of parliament in 2023. His political rise does not only say a lot about him but also about Finland. Many Finns are conservative and racist.
Thanks to Halla-aho’s blogin 2008, it gave me a good reason to continue writing Migrant Tales.I was planning to abandon the blog but thanks to Scripta, and the hostility against my blog, I planned to stick it out. That was almost fifteen years ago.
Left to right: Even if Jussi Halla-aho hopes that people will forget his racist roots, behind the gavel he uses as speaker of parliament, he will always be an evil clown show. Accepting Halla-aho would be saying that all his racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, and far-right views are ok and normal. It’s not, even if he is running for president, where he takes the cue from other PS politicians like Laura Huhtasaari who appear abnormally white thanks to makeup and hair dye. Sources: berkeleyside.org, Suomen Kuvalehti, and.PS.
Below is some of the racist filth found on Halla-aho’s blog:
National Coalition Party (NCP) Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s coalition partner, the radical-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, is going all out to make life as miserable as possible for migrants, especially asylum seekers and undocumented migrants.
PS Interior Minister Mari Rantanen has threatened to take “a radical shift” in asylum policy and undocumented migrants. In her opinion, if an asylum seeker does not get a residence permit, that person must leave the country.
Their policies are based on racist hearsay and their policies are a direct stake to the heart of many migrants aiming to survive in an ever-difficult and hostile Finland.
The story of an Iraqi family who came in 2015 is a case in point.
After waiting for eight years for a residence permit, three of their children, who are now adults, appear to be “safe” since they have studied, graduated, speak Finnish and have employment.
The story is different for their teenage child, mother and father, who haven’t landed a job and speak a little Finnish. All three are in danger of being deported to Iraq.
When it comes to migration policy and treating asylum seekers, the EU has three solutions:
Sticking one’s head in the sand.
Sticking one’s head up the arse.
Build high deadly walls with nails of denial.
It is clear that with global warming and democracy under attack, more people will have to abandon their homes and come to regions like Europe. If I were them, I’d do the same.
But the most distressing fact is that Europe is in denial and believes that populism and xenophobia will help keep the people who are knocking at our doors out. No, populism or Frontex will not secure our borders.
Finland’s answer, like that of Europe’s Frontex, to climate refugees is a fence, wishful thinking, and the populist rhetoric of politicians. Source: Kauppalehti.
Europe is walking into a disaster of its own making caused by its colonial legacy, contempt, and racism.
