Tag: Racism

Migrant Tales (2016): Remember Jari Sillantie of the Kolari asylum reception center and coming out of the Islamophobic closet?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales context: In 2016, we reported about the terrible treatment of asylum seekers in the northern town of Kolari. Lapin Kansa, a Rovaniemi-based daily, got intereted in the story and helped the demontration to get national attention. One of the reasons why the demonstration was organized was against the asylum center’s deputy manager Jari Sillantie. One editor spoke to me later angered and questioned if Sillantie was a racist. The story below should answer that question. I believe that this demonstration was the first that caused the sacking of a manager.

I do, and very vividly. Jari Sillantie was the deputy manager of the northern Finland Kolari asylum reception center that sacked him after some 140 asylum seekers protested his management style.

Even if his management style and Facebook “likes” did not reveal his attraction to the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, they did speak volumes about his anti-immigration views (see picture below).

After all of the asylum seekers at the reception center demonstrated on May 4 and forced the Red Cross, which managed the reception center, Sillantie was sacked and deemed “unsuitable for the job.”

We learned more things about Sillantie: His heart is with the Islamophobic PS party, and he was convicted for tax fraud in 2018. He owes 666,000 euros in back taxes to the state.

Jari Sillantie, who was sacked as deputy manager of the Kolari asylum reception center in 2016, was not suited for the job. His “likes” on Facebook, which have now been deleted, are an assortment of far-right associations and politicians like Laura Huhtasaari.

Sillanpää is a good example of the hypocrisy of the PS. He states in his campaign message all the racist talking points of the party. Migrants should follow the law but Sillantie and the PS have special privileges.

Sillantie’s message comes in loud and clear in his campaign poster: Vote for Finns first!

Thanks to the asylum seekers of the former Kolari asylum reception center, the media, and our work, we were able to expose Sillantie for what he was: a questionable person who wanted to make the lives of asylum seekers as difficult as possible.

Denmark: Muslims were not the threat but white supremacists

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The recent warnings by US President Donald Trump of taking over Greenland “whether they like it or not” raises and exposes a lot of questions about Denmark. For one, Denmark, considered one of the most Islamophobic countries in the EU, got it all wrong. Not Muslims but white supremacists from the United States are the greatest threat.

What we are seeing is the implementation of the US’ National Security Strategy and its support of a new world order government by far-right parties in Europe.

The whole debacle over Greenland exposes as well the hypocrisy and racism of Denmark, which is not a country guided by Nordic values of mutual respect but by racism and discrimination. The image of Denmark as a progressive country has been false for over forty years.


Denmark’s openly racist policies toward Muslims and other non-Europeans have come home to roost by targetting the wrong “enemy.” Starting wth Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Fredrikson, who has propagated exclusive anti-Muslim policies, all political parties in the country are complicit for their shortsightedness and racism.”

Taking into account the openly exclusive policies of Denmark against minorities, it is doubtful the country will be able to correct its ways because all of the political parties have contributed to the situation.

Liz Fekete wrote in “Europe’s Fault Line,” a few years ago that there has been a massive shift to the right with racism of all parties complicit with this becoming widespread.

What is the plan in Venezuela? Who is next? Greenland? Mexico? Cuba?

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One of the big questions about the US invasion of Venezuela is what is the next step. Does th Trump régime have a plan? Or is it the first step in the Western Hemisphere to control Greenland, Mexico, and Cuba? Is it a message to China to takeover Taiwan an Russia to overtake Ukraine and parts of Europe, like the Baltic States?

Facebook

There’s not much that could be done in the US since Trump’s Republicans control Congress and the Senate. Mid-term elections are in November.

Apart from the wreckless foreign policy, and to add insult to injury, Trump is wishing for some Noble Peace Prize for his reckless policies that will lead to no good.

The Monroe and Donroe Doctrines. Sources: Expansion and rouming.cz

If anything, Trump’s about-turn in domestic and foreign policy reveals that his administration, led by the likes of Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio and other far-right politicians, shows how low we have fallen by giving big business, and wealth power. These will eventually receive their comeuppance in the end, if we don’t destroy before ourselves through catastrophes like war and disregard for the environment.

Apart from scaring the wits out of the US’ allies, it is clear that if the goal is money and wealth, nothing lasting can come out of it. The tiptoeing around Trump of the EU and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb is nothing short of disgraceful.

Stubb, like the European Commission, has given his blessing to the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers at our borders. He has blessed the pushback law, which give the Finnish border guards the right to turn back without due process any asylum seeker.

I wonder when Stubb will play golf with Trump again?

What the Trump administration is doing is awakening the fighting spirits of Malcolm X, Eldridge Cleaver, Angela Davis, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Tamara “Tania” Bunke, Nelson Mandela, Rosa Luxemburg, Eva Perón, Mahatma Gandhi, Frederick Duglass, Martin Luther King Jr., Toussaint L’Ouverture, Karl Marx, Emiliano Zapata, Frantz Fanon and many, many others.

We have wonderful examples of the wisdom and learnings on how such people pushbed back oppression and injustice.

The latter list of social fighters gives me hope in 2026.

Shame on you again, Finnish media, MTV and the police!

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Shame on MTV, the privately owned TV station! Why? They are at it again with gusto exploiting crime by youths especially perportrated by so-called “youths of migrant backgrounds.” In one stroke of a paint brush, MTV with the help of Markku Heinikari, head of the police criminal unit. The MTV stars propping up the racist narrative are all there again: Ivan Puopolo and Tiia Palmén, who never answered my emails to her concerning MTV‘s biased reporting.

It is sad, even irresponsible, for the police and the media to label all youths taking into account how heavy the label weighs on these adolescents. Heinikar as well as MTV are ignorant of Finnish immigration history, when Finns were suspected for every crime in Sweden?

With the latest story about youth crime committed by “a majority of adolescents with migrant backgrounds,” MTV pours on again its racism. Policemen like Heinikari do nothing more than reinforce the racist labelling. Imagine, ALL youths “with migrant backgrounds” are guilty of being criminals or potential criminals.

Heinäkari is an old guest of MTV’s reporting on youth crime. He labelled shamelessly again ike in the past all brown and black youths as criminals. The police states in the picture above: “Migrant background is a clear link in youth robberies, migrant background and in led crime from Sweden.” He does not, however, offer no proof except his opinion, which some would state are racist.

Migrant Tales formed part of a team that exposed in a report how far-right parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* used the youth gang “problem” to help them lure voters.

Former Helsinki Police Chief Commissioner Jari Taponen admitted in the report, “The saddest thing about the youth gang debate is that it labels all minority youths (as potential criminals).”

The fact that media like MTV would care less about their reporting is nothing new taking into account how it has framed the topic.

A story titled “The Government Plans to Tighten Integration Rules” was
published by MTV, a private television company, but was taken down
almost immediately. The reporter who interviewed Interior Minister Mari
Rantanen was Ivan Puopolo, well-known for his anti-immigration views. European Islamophobia Report 2023

Other media like Helsingin Sanomat also reported on this phenomena. However, none like MTV, have done so with so much enthusiasm.

Shame on you again, Finnish media, MTV and the police!

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Shame on MTV, the privately owned TV station. Why? They are at it again with gusto exploiting crime by youths especially perpetrated by so-called “youths of migrant backgrounds.” In one stroke of a paint brush, MTV with the help of Markku Heinikari, head of the police criminal unit label youths as criminals.The MTV xenophobic stars propping up the racist narrative are the usual ones: Ivan Puopolo and Tiia Palmén, who never answered my emails to her concerning MTV‘s biased reporting.

It is sad, even irresponsible, for the police and the media to label all youths are criminals taking into account how heavy the label weighs on these adolescents. Heinikari as well as MTV are ignorant of Finnish immigration history, when Finns were suspected in the 1960s and 1970s for every crime committed in Sweden.

Does the phrase “en finne igen” [a Finn again*] ring a bell?

With the latest story about youth crime committed by “a majority of adolescents with migrant backgrounds,” MTV pours on the racism again. Policemen like Heinikari do nothing more than reinforce the racist labelling. Imagine, ALL youths “with migrant backgrounds” are guilty of being criminals or at least potential criminals.

Heinikari is an old guest of MTV’s reporting on youth crime. He labelled shamelessly again ike in the past all brown and black youths as criminals. The police states in the picture above: “Migrant background is a clear link in youth robberies, migrant background and in led crime from Sweden.” He does not, however, offer any proof except his opinion, which some would state are racist. Source: MTV

Migrant Tales formed part of a team that exposed in a report how far-right parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* used the youth gang “problem” to help them lure voters. Other culprits included the police and the media.

Former Helsinki Police Chief Commissioner Jari Taponen admitted in the report, “The saddest thing about the youth gang debate is that it labels all minority youths (as potential criminals).”

The fact that media like MTV would care less about labeling youths is nothing new taking into account how it has framed the topic.

A story titled “The Government Plans to Tighten Integration Rules” was
published by MTV, but was taken down
almost immediately. The reporter who interviewed Interior Minister Mari
Rantanen was none other than Ivan Puopolo, well-known for his anti-immigration views. European Islamophobia Report

Other media like Helsingin Sanomat also reported on this phenomena. However, none like MTV, have done so with so much enthusiasm.

Reija Härkönen: Finland has a deeply racist government

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Prime Minister Petteri Orpo assures that his government does not tolerate racism

I’m writing this in English because I want the international audience and media to know a little more about the state Finland is in. I’m hoping, that international awareness will help the fight against racism in our country. The second most important minister in the government, Minister of Finance Riikka Purra says that there is no racism. There are only rumors and scandal stories made up by the people  and the media. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo says, that enough has been said and the discussion must end.

And yet: the Finnish government is a racist government formed by racist parties.

In a small country with only 5,7 million inhabitants, the media is also small and totally dependent on their advertisers and owners, the large companies. The companies are the financial supporters of rightwing politicians, also the far right. The main parties on this side are kokoomus, “the Coalition Party” and Perussuomalaiset, “The Finns Party” or “the Basic Finns”. In this situation it’s difficult, if not impossible, for the media to write, repeatedly or at all, honestly and truthfully about racism in Finnish politics and about the racism of the Finnish government and parliament.

Many private people are reluctant to stand up against racists, too. They are afraid of cyberbullying, of violence and even of losing their jobs or finding themselves in a suspicious position in the eyes of their bosses. That’s why racism is still discussed thoroughly and rigorously in private internet groups. That helps to ease the worried citizens, but it has little effect on the worsening situation.

I wrote a summary about the Finnish government’s racism. I will translate its main content here, adding some explanations.

The latest racism spree by Petteri Orpo’s government took a new geographical direction. Previously, public, blatant racism has been targeted at the Middle East and Africa. As “the Asian eyes” scandal spread, Orpo sent via the media an urgent message from Brussels to the Finns Party: ”This discussion must be stopped in Parliament today and it should be made clear that Finland does not accept any kind of racism and regrets what happened.”

The Prime Minister was concerned about Finland’s reputation in Asian countries. Not about the racism that is rampant in Finland – and has been for years, with added volume during this government.

After returning home, Orpo deeply apologized to the embassies of Asian countries. However, the apology was deeply false. It began: ”I deeply apologize for the recent offensive social media posts by individual members of parliament…” and the last, third paragraph begins ”The chairmen of the parliamentary groups of the governing parties have discussed the actions of individual members of parliament.”

Mr. Orpo is trying hard to propagate that just some individual MPs acted in a racist manner. That is a clear lie.

Continue reading “Reija Härkönen: Finland has a deeply racist government”

Living in a time of monsters

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The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.
Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937)

The quote by the Italian Marxist philosopher, writer and linguist, sheds light on the troubled times we are living in. We can witnes the wrecking ball in the United States, Gaza, and in many troubled regions of the world.

Trump’s National Security Strategy (NSS), which warns Europe of “white civilization erasure” and throws its support to far-right parties, is the best example of how the US is spreading its imperialist intentions.

Even if Finland’s far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party is silent but supports in principle the NSS, the recent racism slanted-eye scandal involving two MPs and an MEP, tells us that racism is the anti-immigration party’s DNA.

An interesting question we can ask is why this particuar racism scandal, which insulted Asians got so much attention? The party normally attacks Muslims and other racialized minorities without any major consequences.

Is it because Asians are considered closer to “white” Finns than say Arabs?

Below, is a shameful picture of the PS politicians who said they “didn’t mean to insult anyone.”

From left to right: Juho Eerola, Kaisa Garedew ja Euroopan parlamentin jäsen Sebastian Tynkkynen. Photo: Facebook.

At a recent parliamentary session Thursday, Finance Minister and PS chairperson Riikka Purra gave a surreal answer when grilled by opposition politicians abour the scandal.

Continue reading “Living in a time of monsters”

With slanted eyes MP Juho Eerola apologizes to Asians

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The person below is none other than Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Juho Eerola, who infamously said that he liked Italian fascist Benito Mussolini’s economic system because there was full employment. His list of racist rants have accompanied him through his political career. In the latest scandal (see picture below), he apologizes to Asians.

Apart from bein an MP, he used to be speaker of parliament and today chairs the legal committee. He’s even made a video where he is being shoved a dildo up his rectum.

Eerola regrets that his image has been interpreted as racist. Interpreted as racist?! It WAS and IS racist.

“In this context, I would like to say to all people of Asian descent that I apologize if this is how it came across,” he was quoted as saying in Yle. “It was by no means my intention to offend them.”

Juho Eerola didn’t mean to be racist with the picture. He is a good example of the far-right’s aim at destroying the crediblity of Finland’s institutions. Disagree? See what Donald Trump is doing n the US. Yle.

What is surprising is the reaction of the National Coalition Party like MP Pia Kauma, who has had her share of issues with racism, considered the action of MPs like Eerola as “childish and inappropriate.”

“Social media posts are childish and inappropriate,” she said in Ilta-Sanomat. “Members of Parliament are expected to behave in a dignified and respectful manner. Fooling around on social media at the expense of racism certainly does not meet these standards.”

MPs of Finland’s government send Asians a racist welcome

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Finland has received a lot of migration from Asia and therefore, the recent racist outburst by MPs of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, a member of government, could serve as a welcome ad for Asian migrants. The ad could read: Migrate to Finland. There is no racism and you’ll be treated with respect.

Sarah Dzafce lost her Miss Finland title when she was posted with a racist picture below, stating that she is eating with

Sarah Dzafce eating with a Cheinese person.

Even if the Miss Finland organizers did the right thing, MPs from the PS below started to copy Dzafce’s racist gesture.

From left to right: Juho Eerola, Kaisa Gredew ja Euroopan parlamentin jäsen Sebastian Tynkkynen. Photo: Facebook.

Also, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo welcomed Asians with his usual defeaning silence.

Racist harassment turns night out into ordeal at Otava (near Mikkeli) bar

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A Saturday night at Otava’s only bar about 14 kilometers from Mikkeli, took a frightening turn for two men who say they were targeted with racist insults and threats shortly after 10 p.m.

“What was supposed to be an enjoyable evening turned into a dangerous situation,” said one of the persons, who requested anonymity due to trauma and ongoing concerns for his safety.

According to his account, the pair were seated at a table in the bar, enjoying live music, when two visibly intoxicated men approached and attempted to provoke a fight.

“One of the men struck my Asian friend on the head as he walked past, and then began threatening him while repeatedly using the n-word,” he said.

Trying to avoid any problems, the two men moved to another table, but the harassment continued. The men allegedly repeated the racial slur and directed another derogatory comment toward the victims.

Security personnel arrived, and the police were called. The racist harassment continued before the aggressors left the premises and were reportedly waiting outside for both men.

“We decided to leave before the police arrived. We just wanted to get back to Mikkeli,” one of the men said.

Continue reading “Racist harassment turns night out into ordeal at Otava (near Mikkeli) bar”