Tag: Racism

Return back to Finland’s “good old days?” No thanks!

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

When some Finns and parties talk about returning to the “good old days,” they are saying that they’d like to return to the days when foreigners had practically no rights and where racism was king. It was also a time of appeasement to the former Soviet Union, media self-censorship, impunity, and human rights abuses.

One of the most quaint matters about those who want to take Finland back to the good old days is that they weren’t even born during those troubled times.

The treatment of asylum seekers and watching over their rights brings stark memories of the good old days.
Take back Finland? Source: Twitter

What kinds of laws were in force back then? The list below is by no means exhaustive:

  • Finland did not have any immigration act until 1983, or about 66 years after independence;
  • The Aliens’ Office granted residence permits on a one-by-one basis;
  • The Aliens’ Office under Eila Kännö functioned like a state within a state;
  • Even if Finnish women were the first to get the right to vote in Europe in 1906, they could not pass on Finnish citizenship to their born child until 1984;
  • Foreigners did not have the right to appeal if deported;
  • Police surveillance of foreigners by the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) was standard;
  • Supo had a register of foreigners that showed which demonstrations the person had taken part in and if he or she supported human rights;
  • Human rights abuses of asylum seekers were the rule;
  • Soviet citizens were denied asylum in Finland even if they requested it;
  • Finland returned tens of thousands of Ingrians and Estonians at Moscow’s request;
  • There were so few foreigners in the 1970s (under 12,000) that the biggest national groups were Finns who were naturalized Swedes;
  • Racialization was the rule and carved in stone;
  • Foreigners could not own or publish newspapers;
  • The Finnish media portrayed asylum seekers from countries like Somalia in an overtly racist manner;
  • Journalists, except for editors, were not allowed to write about Finland’s special relationship with the former USSR;
  • Finlandization, or appeasement to Moscow, compromised press freedom and encouraged self-censorship;
  • The foreign ministry and its propaganda arm, Finnfacts, did everything possible to quiet and ostracize Finlandization critics;
  • Foreigners could not organize demonstrations;
  • Finland was ruled by a strongman, Urho Kekkonen, from 1955 to 1982;
  • Under the Restricting Act of 1939 (219/1939), which became redundant in 1992, foreigners were not allowed to acquire a majority stake in a Finnish company;
  • Ownership limits of Finnish firms were 20% normally and 40% under special permission;
  • Foreigners could not own shares in sectors such as forestry, securities trading, transportation, mining, real estate, and shipping;
  • Foreigners could not own land;
  • Most Finns never heard of pizza;
  • Food markets had very few if any foreign produce.

Does any democratic-loving person who respects human rights want to return to the good old days of above?

Not me!

Gay, Syrian, and forsaken by society because of language and depression

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THE STORY WAS UPDATED

Farid* is a young Syrian who has lived in Finland for the past six years. He claims to have no friends in this country and suffers from depression and spent some time in a psychiatric ward. Farid is also gay.

When listening to Farid’s story, it becomes clear that he is a person without a societal seeing eye dog to guide him through the culture and bureaucracy of his new homeland.

Farid, who suffers from depression, blames his problems in Finland on racism.

“I have never been treated as badly in Syria and Lebanon, where I lived a few years,” he said. “Finland has crushed by life.”

Farid spoke about what happened a year and a half ago to him at the Helsinki Kalasatama health station.

“I was feeling terrible and wanted to get checked by a doctor,” he said. “The nurse turned me away and told me to leave because she did not believe I was sick. I had a fever of 38.8°C.”

Farid tried again.

“I retook another number, but it did not help and they showed me the door,” he continued. “Since I refused to leave, the nurse called the security guards who escorted me outside. I called the police.”

To make a long story short, they locked up Farid in a police van and drove him to the police station.

“I got a panic attack inside the van and started to kick the windows,” he said. “I yelled and asked at the top of my voice, where they are taking me?! Why am I inside the police van?! I got no answers.”

The police then proceeded to administrate pepper spray, which made matters worse.

“I am allergic and was worried that my body would react to the spray,” he said.

At the police station, matters got worse. When he demanded his rights, and to talk to someone like a lawyer, the woman police officer in charge told him that “he could not complain because he is a foreigner.”

Farid filed a complaint a week ago to the prosecutor general after trying, unsuccessfully, to complain to the National Police Board of Finland.

Another problem with Farid’s case is that it happened a while back and moved slowly, yielding no results.

Farid shows the bruises he incurred by in police custody. He claims that the police used a taser.

After the incident with the police, Farid contacted Seta, LGBTI NGO, but they could not help him in offering legal help.

He admits that the incident at the health station forced him to take different types of pills to lower his stress level and help him sleep.

Continue reading “Gay, Syrian, and forsaken by society because of language and depression”

The toothless response of the police and society to human trafficking is similar to other social ills like racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

A column by Helsingin Sanomat gave a realistic view of human trafficking and why there it continues unhinged. One problem that the column cites, and which is a problem concerning other racist crimes committed against migrants and minorities, is fear of the police.

The column, which exposed some of the shortcomings of protecting victims of human trafficking and exploitation at work, sheds light on a more significant problem: Indifference fed by prejudice and racism.

The Finnish police have a questionable history when dealing with racism. Migrant Tales wrote some of these issues in 2018 that persist to this date:

  • The police’s suspicion without proof that asylum seekers are rapists and criminals;
  •  A poll showed that close to 80% of the police in a survey considered the asylum seeker crisis as the most severe threat to Finnish security;
  • The same poll revealed that 25.1% of those polled voted for the National Coalition Party (NCP) and 24.4% for the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*. The PS and NCP parties are the most anti-immigration parties in parliament;
  • Ethnic profiling continues to be a serious issue among the Finnish police service;
  • The Council of Europe has expressed concern about ethnic profiling in Finland;
  • A study by the European Agency of Fundamental Rights (FRA) claims that a third of people of African descent (PAD) surveyed have experienced racial harassment in the last five years. The highest harassment took place in Finland.

Paavo Teittinen’s column hits it right on the nail: “The source of human trafficking and similar type of exploitation in Finland is not inevitable. It has been allowed to happen. Criminals can run their [businesses] fairly freely due to the lack of information, resources, and [police] interest.”

Read the full story (in Finnish) here.

Some of the main points of Teittinen’s column:

  • Employers are not worried about being reported to the police because of lack of interest;
  • An employer can commit human trafficking with few to no consequences;
  • Few human trafficking victims turn to the police because they fear deportation. They continue to fear the police like in their former home country;
  • The police and authorities don’t actively seek to curtail human trafficking;
  • The powers granted to the Regional State Administrative Agencies (AVI) is negligibly coupled with a shortage of staff;
  • Interior ministry has shown little interest in the problem;
  • Few police resources allocated to fighting human trafficking;
  • Some police play down the problem because they are suspicion of asylum seekers and their motives;
  • The police justify their inaction by stating that even if a person was underpaid, it is more money than he ever made in his home country;
  • Victim Support (Riku) said in a statement that laws to protect human trafficking victims are inadequate in Finland. The victim usually ends up holding the short end of the stick.

So what does the inadequate tratement of human trafficking expose?

It tells us that the police are not only ill-equipped to serve Finland’s ever-growing culturally diverse community, but many continue to allow prejudice, racist attitudes, and structural racism to continue.

Exposing white Finnish privilege #72: False police reporting is an example of violence and open hostility

Posted on by Migrant Tales

White Finnish privilege is powerful since you can use the police to project the need for defense and protection. In the United States, we saw two viral examples (see below) involving Amy Cooper and Lisa Alexander.

For those who don’t remember, Cooper is the “Central Park Karen” for false reporting to the police. She falsely stated on video that she was in danger of being attacked by a black man after he told her to put her dog on a leash.

The second case involving Alexander, or “San Francisco Karen,” happened when she and her husband approached a black man who was writing on his front lawn, “black lives matter.” The couple did not know that it was the black man’s property.

These two cases not only reveal white privilege but hinge on myths dating to the era of USAmerican slavery when they viewed black slaves as sexual threats to white women.

In Turku, we got a sour taste of the latest example of false reporting. The police report in a tweet that a robbery took place in Turku. According to the “victim,” the man had “a field jacket, dark pants, dark hair, was of Middle East origin.”

The police tweet later on: “The incident is over. Everything is fine. The person [who made the false report] is resolving the matter with the police since he/she admitted that he/she had made the whole thing up.

Patrol resources could have been better used elsewhere.”

FINNISH WHITE PRIVILEGE #72

Like in the two recent cases in the United States, will we see the perpetrator of the false report in Finland apologize? How much damage does such a false report, tweeted by the police, impact people of color?

It is surprising that the Finnish police use outdated ethnic profiling identification. Today, a Finn can be of any color and ethnicity. Moreover, the ethnic makeup of the Middle East is diverse.

Grouping people by nationality is racist. The incident also exposes the police in an unprofessional and racist light.

How many more cases of false reporting are there, and what do they reveal about white Finnish privilege and its open hostility to people who are not white?

While in a different historical context, the false reporting in the US and Finland have the same goals: reinforce and embolden racism. Add to this prejudice and racism of the police, and you have a potent weapon against minorities and migrants.

https://twitter.com/melodyMcooper/status/1264965252866641920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1264965252866641920%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftime.com%2F5857023%2Fkaren-meme-history-meaning%2F

See also:

Trump and Huhtasaari: White supremacy in the US and Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

If we look at US President Donald Trump’s makeup and that used by Perussuomalaiset* MEP Laura Huhtasaari, we can conclude that their personas are different shades of white supremacy.

We all know about Trump’s white supremacist views and we know about Huhtasaari’s feelings on the matter. Her posts and hashtags (#proudtobeFinn and others) speak for themselves.

Even if both politicians are from different countries, they built their political careers on racism and white supremacy. Trump reached infamy by his birther claims that Barack Obama was not born in the US, while Huhtasaari went on the rampage against Muslims and the EU.

If we look at white supremacy in Finland, it does, as in the case of Huhtasaari, involve white-silver dyed hair, white clothing, lots of white makeup as well as white supremacist soundbites.

Source: Twitter
Different shades of Huhtasaari’s dyed hair and white supremacist image. Source: Twitter
Blonde hair and makeup do wonders for bringing out the white supremacist image. Source Google.

A guide to becoming a white supremacist politician:

  • Dye your hair blonde
  • Use a lot of whitening makeup
  • Spread racism by scapegoating vulnerable people like asylum seekers
  • Get elected and continue undermining democracy.

Perussuomalaiset: The shameful a**hole party of Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

“What are you without racism? Are you any good? Are you still strong? Still smart? Do you still like yourself?”

Toni Morrison (1931-2019)

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Mauri Peltokangas, a far-right politician and member of the Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu association, labeled government ministers “a**holes” for not expressing concern about the attack against the party’s campaign manager Pekka Kataja.

Those who have followed the Kataja incident will note that it is a pretty mixed up story. First, Kataja pins the blame on “Arab-looking” attackers, then changes it to far right even if he adheres to the same Islamophobic mindset.

The post on Peltokangas’ Facebook page was removed, which is yet proof that he is a loudmouth opportunist who takes racist, Islamophobic, and misogynist potshots at his rivals. Peltokangas can’t stand the heat so he is the first to exit the kitchen.

If you are surprised that the PS parliamentary group will not take any action against Peltokangas, this Islamophobe has a long history of rants and racist statements.

Writes Peltokangas: “Each of our ministers are sorrowful a**holes. Eveyone is silent even if the victim works for parliament.”

If a recent (22.2.2020) rant below, which lasts 2:36 minutes, Peltokangas utters around every 20 seconds the following swear words:

Continue reading “Perussuomalaiset: The shameful a**hole party of Finland”

QUOTE OF THE DAY: I trust the laws of this land, you trust institutional racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

A recent column by Seida Sohrabi exposed, in my opinion, how people justify racism and social inequality. I and many others trust the law of this land while people like her have faith and trust institutional racism.

Sohrabi claims to have a master’s in political science; she is an elementary school teacher and gives talks about her views on how migrants should adapt to Finland.

If you read the column as well as her past opinions, I wonder if she understands how our Nordic society functions. She has probably read the Constitution, but like many populists, she does not take it seriously and relies more on society’s prejudices and institutional racism.

Moreover, if she has said before that schools should prohibit children from wearing the veil (hijab), does she prevent their use in her classes? Does she teach her pupils to hate their religion as she does?

Sohrabi, who is a close friend of Islamophobe pseudo authority on Islam, Atte Kaleva, is an example of how people with migrant backgrounds and minorities clamoring to create a space for themselves, will do and say anything to be accepted.

Sohrabi moved to Finland when she was six, which explains why she speaks Finnish without an accent. Is she a “foreigner” or a “Kurdish Finn?”

Atte Kaleva on the left with Seida Sohrabi promoting the politician’s book, “Jihad and Terror.” Already the title of the book should tell you that it is meant for populist and Islamophobic consumption. Helsinki University Middle East expert Hannu Juusola wasn’t too enthused by the book “Unfortunately, there are also an embarrassing amount of factual errors in the book. Read Juusola’s review (in Finnish) of Kaleva’s book here.

Just like a recent story on exploitation of migrants in the labor markets shows that many of these companies are run by migrants, many people with migrant backgrounds but who have lived most of their lives here house pretty Islamophobiv views of Muslims.

Sohrabi is not the only one in this questionable group. There are others like Morocco-born Junnes Lokka, Marco de Wit, who is of Dutch background, Miki Sileoni, whose father is Argentinean, and Gleb Simanov to name a few.

Black people who suck up to white USAmerica are called Uncle Toms. It’s a bit the same thing in Finland but in a different context. On the one side, they attack migrants and minorities who are struggling to create a space for themselves in their new or not-so-new homeland while on the other they cloy to white power.

The Urban Dictionary defines an Uncle Tom as, “a black man who will do anything to stay in good standing with the white man including betray his own people.”

It is unfortunate but true, in Finland we have migrants and minorities who will also do anything to stay in good standing to white Finns. Could we call these people “Tuomo-setä,” “setä Tuomo” or “mamu-setä?”

Moreover, I will continue to support and defend the laws of this land while others seek acceptance, encouragement, and refuge from institutional racism.

The assault that happened in Teuva against a Muslim should be treated as a hate crime

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

The mayor of Teuva Veli Nummela, the town’s newspaper Tejuka were straightforward about the attack against a Muslim in early June in the western Finnish town of Teuva.

Nummela wrote in a blog about the anti-racism work done at the town’s schools. “We will evaluate these practices [anti-racism] at the beginning of the new school year. We want to do our best in the fight against racism and violence and respect for human rights.”

Tejukka‘s June 17 editorial, “Measuring civility,” where it not only openly condemns what happened to the Muslim, but that “racism should not be accepted in any shape or form.”

The town newspaper published an editorial and several stories about the incident interviewing the victim, the police, and a foreigner living in Teuva.

If we look at the motive of the attack (bias indicators), there is a strong case to charge the perpetrators with a hate crime.

The police are not ruling out a hate crime but appear not to be in any rush to do so.

The police state: “For now there is no information that points to a hate crime but we are not ruling out such a possibility.” No evidence of a hate crime (bias indicator)? For one, check out the victim’s car. Source: Poliisi

So what makes what happened on June 7 to a young Muslim a hate crime?

A hate crime is a criminal offense that has a bias motivation targeting a particular group that could be based on real or perceived gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, or disability.

Even if crimes are serious offenses, a hate crime can have a lasting impact on the victim and the community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PDz123cRT8

If we look at some possible bias indicators of the Muslim in Teuva in early June, they could be victim perception (white Finns versus a Muslim), intense violence (the victim ended going to the hospital), his property (a car) was damaged. Later there was graffiti written on it.

According to the Criminal Code of Finland (766/2015), Section 5, there are grounds for increasing the punishment if the crime “was based on race, skin color, birth status, national of ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation or disability of another corresponding grounds.”

I spoke with the Muslim today and he is recovering from what happened.

“I will move [from Kristiinankaupunki] to Helsinki at the end of this month,” he said. “I cannot live here because I am afraid to go outside.”

The reaction and impact of the crime have all the characteristics of how hate crimes affect the victim and community.

While hate speech is not a hate crime, in this case, it is a strong case for bias motivation. The suspects threatened to kill him, and while assaulted, an older man asked him to “ask Allah for help.”

I would be very surprised if the police do not charge the suspects for committing a hate crime. Contrarily, it would be another blow to police credibility and reinforce that the police are not interested in protecting minorities.

The bias indicators speak for themselves and suggest that what happened was no ordinary crime.

Hotel & Spa Resort Järvisydän refuses Roma entry to the resort. Shameful and scandalous!

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The year is 2020, and still, people of the Romany minority are refused entrance to a hotel and spa in Rantsalmi, located in the region of South Savo. Jim Crow is alive and well in some parts of Finland.

The receptionist of the Hotel & Spa Resort Järvisydän refuses entry in the video below to Roma women. When they ask if this is the hotel and spa’s policy, the receptionist says, “yes.”

It is shameful that this is still happening in a country like Finland, which claims to have one of the best education systems in the world, a comprehensive welfare state, and laws that are supposed to ensure that everyone is equal before the law.

Watch the video here.

Please share this Facebook post and let’s raise hell together!

(Migrant Tales) November 9, 2016: “A date that will live in infamy”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales insight: When I published this story about four years ago, I imagined was certain that his presidency would be a fiasco. It was the same hunch I had in 2011 when the Perussuomalaiset scored their historic parliamentary victory. I wrote: “Far-right populism is an illness inflicting Europe at present and it now has a beachhead in Finland.”

______________________________________________________________________________

It looks like Donald Trump is heading for an upset victory over Hillary Clinton in the US presidential elections, according to the New York Times. 

A friend in California asked me a few weeks ago what would happen if Trump was elected US president. I told him that the demise of the United States as a world power would speed up. We are living in difficult times.

When will Trump build his infamous wall with Mexico? What about banning Muslims from the US? How many women will he grab by the genitals? How much racism and bigotry will he unleash in Europe on top of the racism and bigotry that we’ve seen already?

Read the full story here.
Continue reading “(Migrant Tales) November 9, 2016: “A date that will live in infamy””