Tag: Racism

YLE: Rasismi näkyy verta useammin kyyneleinä

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Here is an interesting story based on an interview with researcher Vesa Puronen, who puts a lot of things into perspective concerning the ongoing debate on immigrants and immigration.

One of the most common matters that anti-immigrant groups like the True Finns do is to group all immigrants into one bag.  In order to demonize them, they see everyone in the group as a threat and/or a criminal.  Racism isn’t a social issue that has raised its head with the ever-growing, albeit small, immigrant population in Finland.  The Saami, Roma and other minorities have been its victim Finland.

One of the favorite arguments of anti-immigrant and far-right groups is to demonize an ethnicity or religion. The aim is the same in every country: Since these people are a “threat” to us they can never live and be part of our society. Our racism and hatred is justified.

Puronen said that one matter that strengthens racism is silence. I totally agree. It explains why the True Finns and other anti-immigration parties and politicians have grown in popularity: silence has been their best ally.

Parties and some of their national representatives that should know better have preferred to be quiet to racism. They are now paying a big price for their silence.

If we want to build a successful society in the future, one matter is for certain: racism has not place in it.

Do you agree?

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Kati LahtinenRasismi ei ole maahanmuuton seuraus. Se on syvemmin suomalaiseen yhteiskuntaan juurtunut ilmiö, jonka maahanmuutto on ehkä nostanut esiin. Rasismi ei myöskään katoa jos maahanmuuttajia ei ole. Suomalaista rasismia ovat kohdanneet myös Suomen kansalaiset, saamelaiset.

To keep on reading click here.

You can also hear the interview (in Finnish).

Finland flirts with lost opportunities

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

It is sad to think that a populist party like the True Finns may be set to win a lot of seats in the April 17 election. While everyone has a right to his opinion in Finland, pushing myths and flimsy arguments that incite nationalist sentiment at the cost of immigrants and minorities is simply unacceptable.

If the True Finns get under 20 seats in the next election it will be an upset for Timo Soini’s party. Anything above that could be seen as a victory.

It is unfortunate but Finland has been gripped by poll hysteria. Even before the first vote has been cast, some are already predicting a “huge” victory for the True Finns.

I personally believe that the True Finns are a bubble that will end up exploding after the anti-immigration wing led by Jussi Halla-aho and former SMP members like Soini clash.

Finland has not done well with far-right parties in the past. When we aligned ourselves as a co-belligerent (the official term) with Nazi Germany we ended up paying a huge price. Finland’s forte has been smart diplomacy and keeping a cool head in global and domestic affairs.

Ratcheting up the rhetoric of minorities and the outside world for short-term domestic consumption is a perilous mistake especially for a country like Finland to make.

One sign that the True Finns are not ready to lead this country is their manifest arrogance. Every time the polls have shown their popularity rise so has their contemptuousness. Some of them think they now have a carte blanche to push their views based on prejudice and ostracize those they consider different.

Some of the major parties like Kokoomus, Social Democrats and the Center Party have awoken to the True Finns menace. They are paying a big political price for not reacting earlier to this threat. But as the saying goes, better late than never.

The jury is still out on how the True Finns will do. A big election victory for the party would mean a big setback for Finland’s image abroad and to our values as a society. We will exchange our image of a country that has championed for social justice for one that has succumbed, like Denmark, to overt racism, far-right nationalism, populism and religious fundamentalism.

Jumping on the far-right bandwagon will only hurt Finland because that path will be lined with lost opportunities.

Sensible Finns voice objection to racism and exclusion

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

To commemorate the UN Week for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination that started on Monday, we will try to answer a question: Why is racism harmful to a society? How can it threaten Finland?

That timely question can be answered by asking why some people in Finland still believe that racism is sexy and patriotic?

Apart from swimming in ignorance and low-self-esteem, there is nothing patriotic about racism.  Patriotism means having a sense of community that is inclusive. Nationalism, on the other hand, uses ethnocentric arguments to raise low self-esteem.

This ad below sums up pretty well why racism is a threat to society:

Racism is a four-letter word:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppi5XtOYz9I&NR=1]

Celebrating diversity clip:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GY_jpfQzZs&feature=player_embedded]

A very important message to future generations:

Even though racism is difficult to spot it does not mean that it is invisible. True, it uses ingenious methods while hiding in the gutter of society as an ogre. One of its favorite alibis is that “it isn’t a racist but…”

Probably one of the reasons why some of us cannot see racism in our society is because it sits right under our noses.

How can racism threaten Finland? Why not look behind your shoulder deep into recent history: European colonialism, Nazi Germany, Former Yugoslavia, the Roma question in Europe, Rwanda, Israeli-Palestinian conflict… Should I go on? In other words, the more we discriminate against others we attack our society’s values in Finland. How can we speak of equality if we are in favor of excluding other members of society?

An insult to over a million Finns

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The racial and cultural “theories” peddled by some members of parties like the True Finns are not only an example of their ignorance of the subject but a rude slap in the face to over a million Finns who live abroad. Many of us are that multicultural “nightmare” that some in this country want to avoid at all costs.

Too often when some Finnish politicians speak out against refugees and immigrants as if we were a plague, that person usually ends up insulting hundreds of thousands that emigrated from this country to other lands.

Finland’s debate on immigration and multiculturalism has deep flaws. For one, it has a lot of racist overtones since some believe that being an immigrant or having a multicultural background is a disadvantage. Finns are “white, Lutheran and represent a monoculture,” they argue.

With so many Finns living abroad in so many countries  how can anyone make such a ludicrous claim in a globalized world?

When anti-immigration groups in this country  insult refugees as “welfare shoppers” they throw dirt on those refugees and immigrants that left Finland in the past centuries.

Expatriate Finns must take part in the ongoing debate in Finland on immigration and refugees because we are the fruit that has budded in foreign lands thanks to our ancestors’ restless yearning and ambition.

I for one am especially proud of my Finnish and multicultural background.

The True Finns and their “True Finland”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

With about a month to go for the April 17 election, the biggest question still refues to reveal itself: by how many times will the True Finns multiply their MPs from eight now? Some reliable estimates place the number between 15 and 35.

For me as a Finn with a multicultural background, there is a lot riding in these elections if we consider that Finland’s demographic challenges will begin to accentuate especially in the next two decades. We are heading to become a society where the number of over-sixty-five-year-olds in the population will jump to 27% by 2040 from 17% in 2007, according to Statistics Finland.

If you want to see today what Finland will look like demographically in the next three decades, one has only to visit some rural towns where over 30% of the population is over 65 years.

There is nothing wrong with pensioners. The problem, however, is who is going to pay for all the expensive health care and social welfare costs to service this ever-growing age group?

Should we be worried that the True Finns are heading for a victory in the April election?

Yes because instead of Finland looking for effective answers to its demographic as well as a number of other challenges facing our country and society, a large number of Finns have chosen instead to be spooked by the rhetoric and populism of the True Finns.

We have only ourselves to blame for the rise of the True Finns in the polls. We have never really addressed racism and discrimination forcefully enough in this country since we have had so few immigrants among our ranks in the past. Instead of questioning our hatred for the Russians, some of us still feel the same way about our eastern neighbor as on the same day they unjustly  attacked us in the 1939-40 Winter War.

Instead of trying to rid our society of ills like racism, some politicians have used it for their own opportunistic political aims by instilling fear and claiming that our country will be overrun by Russians and foreigners.

On the positive side of things, it is good matter that many Finns who should know better than to peddle nineteenth-century racial “theories” are now in the public light. I personally believe that they have given us a good opportunity to challenge for good their distorted ideas that date back to the 1930s and to the writings of Rolf Nordenstreng and Eugen Fischer.

I refuse to believe that Finland, the country that is our dear home and which sacrificed so much to build a world-class educational system and society, will throw it all away for a few cheap populist soundbites from groups like the True Finns and politicians like Social Democrat Kari Rajamäki and Wille Rydman of Kokoomus.

The “True Finland” that the True Finns want to build is nothing more than a “False Finland” glued by populism and low self-esteem. We must all stand up against them, especially on April 17.

Finnish voters deserve better

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The opportunity to make political capital out of immigrants, refugees and asylum-seeker has proven irresistible to some politicians ranging from the True Finns to Social Democrats. Certainly on this list you will find politicians from all of Finland’s major and minor parties.

It’s pretty clear that the election in April will be dominated by immigration and refugees. The answer is simple: immigrants and refugees are easy targets and they awaken voters’ passions even if 2.9% of the population in Finland are foreigners.

A recent review of Milla Hannula’s book, Maassa maan tavalla, by Helsingin Sanomat blasts her arguments to pieces and with it the central argument of the so-called “immigration critics.” The daily states, correctly, that being an “immigration critic” is only a word hiding anti-immigration sentiment attempting to make xenophobia acceptable.

We at Migrant Tales had spotted the red herring of the “immigration critics” a long time ago.

It is sad but never in the history of Finland have so many politicians jumped on the “immigration critic” bandwagon and appealed to the worst in Finns: blatant racism and hatred of people in need.

When the True Finns’ bubble bursts there will be a lot of angry voters because they will have noted that they have been taken for a ride.

It will be the day when these so-called “immigration critics” will lose face among the voters for good.

Pekka Siikala: Three types of immigration critics in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Pekka Siikala is a blogger of the Green Party who writes stinging commentary about anti-immigration groups in Finland.  In his latest blog on Uusi Suomi, Three type of immigration critics (Kolmen sortin maahanmuuttokriitikoita), is no exception.

(I personally don’t use the term “immigration critic” because it is a red herring that hides the true nature of the beast: anti-immigration and Islamophobia in the most extreme cases. Click here to get a better explanation in Finnish.)

The most visible of the three groups cited by Siikala are the ones that see religion as the key issue. This groups, led by Jussi Halla-aho and James Hirvisaari, hate Islam and in practice Somalis. He considers this group to be the most dangerous to Finland because it is made up of religious fanatics.

The second group comprises of those that simply fear foreigners. Their main argument hinges on skin color and dress. Like the first group, this one is also highly suspicious of Muslims and Somalis. Their favorite motto is “conform to our country or leave.”

The third group is worried about the chances of immigrants adapting to Finland. They are critical about immigrants moving to our country because they believe that we  do not have the resources to integrate them in our society. This group is less visible and the smallest of the three mentioned by Siikala.

In my opinion, there are two big groups concerning those that take part in the immigration debate: those who see immigration as beneficial/positive and those that see it as a threat/negative.  The arguments that ensue from these two views are only “background information” supporting the former or latter group’s stance directly or indirectly.

Do you agree?

Suomen Kuvalehti: Totuuspuntari: Onko turvapaikanhakijoiden määrä nelinkertaistunut nykyisen hallituksen aikana?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Here is a good example of the political opportunism of the True Finns. They are using every dirty tricks in the book to get attention to their  mono-campaign platform. Jussi Halla-aho alleged that the amount of refugees to the country has (hold your breaths!) risen by four-fold during the present government. He, however, forgets to use the 2010 figure, which falls by 33.8% from the previous year.

Suomen Kuvalehti states in the article below that the figures provided by Halla-aho are  misleading. If we look at asylum seekers given refugee status between 2000 and 2010, we see a 25% rise.

The interesting question to ask about Halla-aho’s claim is a big “so what?” What if the amount of refugees has risen? Even if they have, you can never compare with Sweden or Norway, which take in many more refugees than Finland. Is  Halla-aho trying to make it a crime to take refugees to Finland?

Furthermore, what is the point? Oh yes, I understand. Halla-aho wants to show us at all costs that the Finnish authorities are a bunch of incompetent softies that let in criminals to the country and that immigrants living in Finland are suspect. If he gets elected, he’ll set the refugee and immigrant house in order.

God help us.

Update (10.2): Here is another True Finns Halla-aho follower, Freddy Van Wonterghem, who only conveniently publishes the 2009 figures. These types of tricks by the True Finns’ candidates have one aim: to secure votes and spread fear. You can read his blog by clicking here.

__________

Jukka Ukkola

Väite:

Turvapaikanhakijoiden määrä on nelinkertaistunut nykyisen hallituksen aikana.

Perussuomalaisten helsinkiläinen kansanedustajaehdokas Jussi Halla-aho on väittänyt blogissaan otsikolla Tiedote eduskuntavaaleihin 2011 liittyen, että turvapaikanhakijoiden määrä on nelinkertaistunut vuodesta 2007, jolloin nykyinen hallitus aloitti toimintansa.

To keep on reading click here.

Saying enough is enough to the True Finns

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

It seems incredible that a populist, anti-immigration and anti-EU party can appeal to some Finns. Apart from not having any workable model for the demographic and economic challenges facing Finland, what is unacceptable of the True Finns is the party’s wholesale blacklisting of immigrants to drive home their populist agenda.

A recent example of how some True Finns fuel anti-immigrant sentiment was reported by Helsingin Sanomat. A True Finns’ candidate had placed a sign at a construction site in Helsinki claiming that a mosque would be built.

Even though these types of pranks in Helsinki reveal the opportunism of the candidate to get votes, it is surprising that nobody in the True Finns’ leadership condemns these types of shenanigans.

While the True Finns may think they are in an envious position due to their rising popularity in the polls, the big challenge that it faces is how to turn its popularity into votes and new MPs. This will be easier said than done.

Some have for good reason pictured the True Finns as a volatile bubble ready to burst at any moment. Will its bubble pop after a disappointing election or after it is clear that the party cannot deliver on its empty promises?

Immigrants are not worried about the True Finns per say. What annoys some is the negative message, xenophobic rhetoric and flagrant political opportunism: It’s ok to bash freely hard-working immigrants in Finland since it translates into votes.

The only way to deal with populism and xenophobia is to challenge it head on.  The big three parties in Finland, Kokoomus, Social Democrats and the Center, have learned the hard way that silence is the most ineffectual way of combating the rise of xenophobia and racism in Finland.

True Finns: enough is enough.