Tag: Perussuomalaiset

Finland’s blind spot of bigotry and white privilege is the Perussuomalaiset

Posted on by Migrant Tales

If there is one party that has brought out bigotry, racism and populist far-right ideology as of late it is the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*. But Finland is so much in denial about its bigotry and white privilege that it sees no harm in the PS. This means that the government will do little, except offer lip service on how to challenge social ills like racism. 

That blind spot is costing Finland a lot of problems as the election for new PS chairman in early June  shows. PS MEP Jussi Halla-aho, who was convicted for ethnic agitation in 2012, is the favorite to win the chairmanship of the party against Minister of Culture, Sport, and European Issues Sampo Terho, according to Helsingin Sanomat.

Finland’s face of racism: MEP Jussi Halla-aho and Minister of Culture, Sport and European Issues Sampo Terho. Source: Helsingin Sanomat.

According to a poll, 40% said they would vote for Halla-aho  and 26% Terho. The poll showed as well that 25% of those polled were undecided.

If I were a bigot and voted for the PS, I would certainly support Halla-aho because he’s the real thing, not a watered down version like Terho, who has become at least in image a more diluted version of the latter’s racist views.

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“Tolkun ihminen” and Finland’s version of the Okie from Muskogee

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President Sauli Niinistö, Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and the deputy head of the Finnish Immigration Service, Raimo Pyysalo, have one thing in common: They believe that the ongoing debate about asylum seekers, immigration and our ever-growing culturally diverse society is dominated by two extremes. 

Moreover, they don’t directly condemn the extremes and rarely, if ever, name which groups form part of those fringe groups.

In the 1970s, when US President Richard Nixon was facing opposition from those who opposed the Vietnam War and civil disobedience, he tried to show that those that were against him were a minority and that the silent majority was behind him.

In the same way, the whole tolkun ihminen debate is pretty much the same thing but in a Finnish context. A minority are apparently debating heatedly while the Finnish silent majority remains passive.

Below is a song about Nixon’s vision of the USAmerican silent majority that supposedly lived in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

We never knew if that small town in Oklahoma represented the voice of the silent majority since the whole matter was more wishful thinking than anything else by then President Nixon.

Pyysalo writes in the Sleep Easy website about how the ongoing debate about immigration and asylum policy needs more voices from the “silent majority,” or sensible Finns who do not belong at the extreme points of the debate.

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Finland’s immigration and asylum policy is only a momentary Pyrrhic victory

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The picture below isn’t from Gaza or some war-torn region but of the playground of the Konnunsuo immigration removal center in Joutseno, Finland, a country that claims to be proud of its social achievements and respect for human rights. 

The view is the one that a family with seven children had for over a month of the playground rudely toward by high walls and barbwire.

But there is good news: The family from Karbala, Iraq, was freed from detention Friday and are now staying at an asylum reception center in Turku awaiting a decision on new asylum request, according to YLE.

This is not a picture of a prison in Gaza but where children are detained for over a month in Finland. YLE

Four years ago, Zuzeeko’s blog brought attention to an Amnesty International campaign to stop the detention of unaccompanied minors in Finland. Even if the seven Iraqi children are accompanied by their parents, the  International Convention on the Rights of the Child – to which Finland is party – outlaws the detention of children, unless as a last resort and for the shortest possible time (see article 37[b]).

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The old and new Cadillac model of Finnish PS racism

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Racism is like a Cadillac, they bring out a new model every year.

Malcolm X

If you want to see how racism in Finland is like a Cadillac, check out two Perussuomalaiset (PS)* politicians below. One is of a dying breed and another one of a new “Cadillac” model, Minister of Culture, Sport and European Issues Sampo Terho. 

City councilman, Markus Jukarainen, who was sacked Tuesday from the local PS party of Kuopio represents a dying breed. If you look at Jukarainen’s clothing style below nothing could be picture better the old Cadillac PS politicians: black dress, PS and Finnish flag sicker and the Finnish lion chain hanging conspicuously in front of him.

Jukarainen got sacked from the PS for making inappropriate comments on social media after repeated warnings from the anti-immigration party. Considering that the PS bases in large part its message on racism and Islamophobia, it does look pretty bad in your CV that you got sacked from such a party.

The new Cadillac model of racism in Finland is instead of saying things straight out, you have to fine tune your racism and speak in code.

Terho is a good example as is Jussi Halla-aho, who got sentenced for ethnic agitation in 2012 and breaching the sanctity of religion.

Believe it or not, these type of local politicians exist in Finland. Source: YLE.

A dying PS breed above and a new Cadillac model politician below.

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Defining white Finnish privilege #35: Case Sampo Terho and the ministry of (dis)culture

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Why are you so surprised that Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Sampo Terho is Finland’s new minister of culture, sport and European affairs? The Swedish-language HBL expresses dismay and there are many others among us who appear just as awestruck by the appointment. 

Terho, and everything that he represents, are the best example of white Finnish privilege and extreme denial. He is a dangerous example of how official Finland plays down racism and bigotry and its impact on our society.

I’m still amazed by how the Finnish media, politicians and other institutions, who should know better, continue to deny and flirt with fascism, racism, bigotry.

Sampo Terho. Source: perussuomalaiset.fi.

Swedish People’s Party chairwoman Anna-Maja Henriksson of the opposition naturally sees Terho as the wrong person to head the new ministry. Terho has led the charge with other groups as chairman of the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity to undermine the role of the Swedish language in this country.

Swedish is the second official language of Finland.

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Nativist nationalist anti-cultural diversity politician Sampo Terho named as Finland’s minister of culture, sport and European affairs

Posted on by Migrant Tales

What kind of message does the appointment of Perussuomalaiset (PS)* parliamentary group leader Sampo Terho to minster of culture, sport and European affairs send? Does it strengthen our Nordic welfare state values or does it drive a wedge between us? Does it expose our denial of racism and bigotry in this country? 

If there is a government that has done great harm to our welfare state and our Nordic values it is without any doubt Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government. Apart from targeting the most vulnerable sectors of our society like single mothers, the unemployed and marginalized, the government’s inhuman and obsessive policies have targeted asylum seekers, migrants and minorities.

Read the full story (in Finnish) here.

This isn’t a government that has only tightened laws like family reunification and caused the number of undocumented migrants to soar, but has declared war on our ever-growing culturally diverse society as well.

Spearheading this hostility is the PS party, which has built its political campaign on anti-migration and especially anti-Islam rhetoric.

The new minister of culture, Terho, is no common politician but one that has built his political career and worldview on racist ideology that will end up undermining our Nordic welfare state and values.

Apart from being minister of culture, Terho is the chairman of the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity, an association whose main task is to exclude non-white Finns and minorities from being treated as equal members of society.

In 2007, the new minister of culture published a eugenics-spirited essay dividing humans into three racial groups (Negroid, Mongoloid and Caucasian) on the different races of the world and how the white Europeans were going to become a minority in the face of non-European migrants.

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Helsinki Times: A rebuttal to Ville Tavio

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An op-ed piece published by the Helsinki Times on April 11 by Finns Party (PS) MP Ville Tavio is a good example of why migrants, minorities and sensible Finns should react and be concerned about the type of country some politicians want to steer Finland towards becoming.

Just as the headline of the op-ed piece is problematic, so are many of the arguments that Tavio sets forth. For example, the PS MP sees the movement of asylum seekers to Europe as an economic factor. He claims that Europe is an “attractive” destination for asylum seekers that “lack the necessary skills for employment and the will to adopt local habits and values.”

Read the full rebuttal here.

For one, somebody should tell Tavio that the vast majority of asylum seekers don’t come to Europe. It is only a minority. Most of them settle in countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and others. Moreover, the underlying reason why a minority of these asylum seekers came to Europe was because of war, as well as our values related to social equality and human rights.

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Deportation of Iraqi family of nine from Finland: Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s asylum policy is a shame to all of us

Posted on by Migrant Tales

As the Finnish government spends the Easter holidays in the comfort of their homes and family company, an Iraqi family of nine is awaiting deportation from Finland. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to put oneself in their shoes and wonder what is going through their heads at this moment at the Joutseno immigration removal center. 

The Finnish government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä, which shares power with the National Coalition Party and anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, is firmly behind these deportations which will start to pick up this year.

“Now is the season for deportations,” said a person who spoke on condition of anonymity and who works with asylum seekers. “It’s going to be a messy job [as the deportation of the Iraqi family shows].”

Deportations don’t work and they are an ineffective way of solving a problem. If being deported can be traumatic process for an adult, it must be even worse for children.

What is the most outrageous matter about the deportation of the Iraqi family and Finland’s asylum policy is that it is political. The PS, which saw their support plummet to the one-digit political league in the municipal elections, are desperately ratcheting up their anti-immigration and deport-them-all all rhetoric to attract voters.

Just like the PS, the NCP and Center Party aren’t any better but accomplices in the deportations.

One of the children of the family of nine looks outside her barred and barb-wired window. Source: Iltalehti.

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Does Finland’s Migri asylum policy hinge on the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset party?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

This warning posted on Tiia Nohynek’s Facebook wall today is the best example yet of how the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party has influenced immigration policy in Finland. The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) warns asylum seekers not to believe rumors and that nobody gets asylum for economic reasons. 

For those who know why asylum seekers come to Europe will appreciate that most of them come here because of what they have heard our politicians say publicly: human rights, peace and be treated with dignity.

The problem is that when they came to a country like Finland, they didn’t find such ideals, like human rights and being treated with dignity, didn’t apply to them.

Don’t believe rumours: YOU CANNOT GET ASYLUM in Finland on economic grounds. After receiving a negative asylum decision you must return home. If you try to abuse the system, financial assistance is not given. You may also be prohibited from entering the entire Schengen area for two years.

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PS MP Ville Tavio: An Islamophobe that is bent on keeping white Finnish power and privilege at any cost and lie

Posted on by Migrant Tales

When publishing anti-immigration rhetoric by politicians like Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Ville Tavio, it’s very important to lead with the following warning: “MP Talk gives members of parliament the opportunity to share their views on Finnish society with an international audience. The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Helsinki Times.“

MP Tavio is a PS MP who has declared war and wants to relegate non-white Finns and migrants to second- and third-class citizens.

Read the full op-ed piece at your peril here. He makes impossible campaign promises that will catch up with him one day like with the PS in the municipal elections of Sunday. The PS are known as a turncoat party because they’ve broken most of their campaign promises.

A recent op-ed piece in Uusi Suomi by the MP from Turku suggested that the Finnish constitution should be changed to give Finns priority over foreigners when it comes to rights.

“The sovereignty that the Finnish state entitles it to decide that its primary task is safeguarding the rights of its own citizens [at the cost of migrants],” he wrote.

Tavio is a lawyer so he should know better what the constitution says and guarantees about equality before the law. His issue, like all of the far-right anti-immigration wing of the PS, is to keep white Finnish power and privilege even if it means relegating migrants to second- and third-class citizens.

The op-ed piece in the Helsinki Times is another example of his disdain and hostility towards migrants and minorities in Finland.

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