Tag: Racism

ANTI-HATE CRIME ORGANISATION STATEMENT: You should not generalize and label all migrants

Posted on by Migrant Tales
STATEMENT 5.2.2019
Suomen viharikosvastainen yhdistys ry
Finska Anti-Harbrottsorganisation rf
Anti-Hate Crime Organisation Finland
 
The news about the sexual assault cases in the northern Finnish city of Oulu have shocked everyone irrespective of the person’s cultural and religious background. Even so, in racializing the problem and debating whether sexual abuse is linked to a person’s cultural and religion, we have strayed further from finding a solution to the problem.
Apart from the minors who were the victims, other casualties are Finland’s migrant community and especially Muslim asylum seekers and refugees.
Apart from Muslims avoiding visiting Oulu’s city center at night because they feel unsafe, a number of migrants were attacked in that city. On Christmas Eve-Day, Oulu’s mosque was vandalized when a bike rack was thrown through a window.
Another outcome was the City of Oulu’s decision on January 28 to ban asylum seekers from visiting schools and daycare centers. The question that we should ask concerning the temporary ban is if it is legal.

WARNING RACIST CONTENT: Helsingin Sanomat survey exposes the DNA of Finland’s racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED

Helsingin Sanomat’s survey published on Monday after another questionable story on “model immigrants” was widely criticized on social media as outright racist. Even so, I would like to thank Finland’s largest daily for exposing the DNA of Finland’s racism and the continued low caliber and racism of its journalism on topics related to asylum seekers and migrants. 

The latest survey, the daily does not cite any sociologists or other experts and gives a clear picture of Finland’s racism without the daily taking any stand on the issue. Instead, Helsingin Sanomat cites as an “expert source” Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson, Jussi Halla-aho, convicted of ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion in 2012.

One of these sources that were not cited is Gavan Titley, a University of Helsinki docent in media and communications.

“These poll questions are so badly constructed they would fail a first-year research methods module,” he said. “Given that they are constructed by a professional polling company, and a national newspaper, we can only assume that this bad method is deliberate. In other words, HS has decided to gain publicity, hits and clicks by shit-stirring about ‘migrants’ in an already tense situation. Debating this strategy, of course, only amplifies it – the only response is to cancel your subscription and tweet to them why you are doing so. There has always got to be some cost for this crap, no matter how minimal.”

As long as the media continues to see Halla-aho as an “expert” on migration issues, the ongoing debate will regress into a swamp of hearsay.

Here are some of the questions the survey asks:

  • Do you believe that the main factors for sexual assault crimes hinges on the migrants culture and religion? 65% answered in the affirmative;
  •  Politicians have done enough to awaken Finns to the news about the sexual assault cases (in Oulu by asylum seekers). The far-right PS were the most critical and believed that politicians had not done enough to raise awareness;
  • The best way to thwart sexual assault crimes is to tighten laws (26%); educate foreigners on Finnish laws and values (19%); lower the number of residence permits granted on humanitarian grounds (10%); and lower migration in general to Finland (10%).

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WARNING RACIST CONTENT: The “successful” Chinese, Vietnamese versus the “unsuccessful” Other

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Remember the myth spread by the Finnish media from the 1980s  that the Vietnamese were a model of adaption in Finland? The latest story published by Helsingin Sanomat about well-adapted Chinese is a repeat of a story that the daily published in 2015 about the Vietnamese. 

How does Finland’s biggest daily measure success of a particular ethnic or national group? In the Chinese story, it is business startups and “the willingness to adapt to Finnish culture” whatever that means.

At the time when Helsingin Sanomat wrote about the “successful” Vietnamese, the latest unemployment figures for that national group was 26.9% in 2013 compared with the national average jobless rate of about 8.5%. I doubt that unemployment rates for the Vietnamese have dropped dramatically since 2013.

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Warning: Islamophobic content – schools and daycare centers in Oulu to temporarily ban visiting rights by asylum seekers, refugees

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Here is a story you would never expect to read in a country like Finland, which bases its values on social equality, human rights and mutual respect. The decision to ban asylum seekers and refugees from visiting schools and daycare centers in Oulu due to the suspected sexual abuse cases raises a lot of questions. 

Writes Yle News: “Mika Penttilä, the city’s Head of Education and Cultural Services, said the decision was driven by parental concerns. ‘We have agreed with the organisers that no such visits will take place at the moment. People have approached us about these visits to find out whether they pose a security risk,’ he said.

Penttiläs cites “parental concerns.” Does this mean that in the future I can exclude whole groups that are innocent from going to schools and daycare centers? Can I exclude white teenage Finns because they have participated in school shootings?

One of these questions that the decision by the City of Oulu raises is if it isn’t outright racist to exclude whole groups due to the suspected crimes committed by a few people who have the same religion or come from the same country?

It is not only racist, in my opinion, but outright counterproductive. What we are witnessing is another tragic chapter of the racist history of this country.

A question: If an asylum seeker becomes a resident, can he or she visit schools and daycare centers? Why doesn’t the City of Oulu show an ever bolder racist face by banning all Muslims from going to such places? That is what they are really saying, right?

If you want to know what it feels like being singled out and banned from society, why not ask Finland’s 10,000-strong Roma community.

If the racism that the Roma suffered before impacts their lives today, imagine the harm city officials and society in general cause on Muslims in Finland with the ban.

We know from the Oulu police, politicians and city officials that they have gone to great lengths to racialize what happened in that city.

Do they understand, never mind care, how their actions impact Finland’s Muslim and migrant community?

We have heard that matters are in such a questionable state in Oulu, in great part by the statements of the police and politicians, that Muslims avoid going to the city center at night. Why isn’t anyone bringing up this issue?

Read the full story here.

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Islamophobia and xenophobia on steroids: Jussi Halla-aho’s latest column in MTV

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The Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson, Jussi Halla-aho, convicted of ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion in 2012, is a columnist for television station MTV. Two matters emerge when skimming through his latest column: The media is part of Finland’s racism problem; and the PS is the first modern Finnish party to capitalize exclusively on immigration, especially Islamophobia.  

Another MTV columnist, Ivan Puopol, is in the same anti-immigration league as Halla-aho.

Both of them have one aim in their writing: Immigration is a problem but Muslims are even a worse problem.

When reading their Islamophobic opinions, one asks what is their end game?

If they want to make migrants and minorities feel hated and socially excluded, then that could be an aim of their writing

Will they be able to kick migrants and Muslims out of this country? Will they succeed at keeping Finland white?

In light of their racist worldviews, they will fail because Finland is becoming more culturally diverse, not less.

Our writing should concentrate on how to gain a louder voice and more power in Finland.

Unfortunately, too many Finns, like Puopol and Halla-aho, believe that their privilege and power is eternal.

 

Read the full text here.

* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017 into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. Despite the name changes, we believe that it is the same party in different clothing. Both factions are hostile to cultural diversity never mind Muslims and other visible minorities. One is more open about it while the other says it in a different way.

A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

Finnish white privilege #59: In this country, you are guilty until proven innocent

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Interior Minister Kai Mykkänen and the government are using the same tactics as the Nazis in World War 2 but in a different context. The government is not rounding up people and killing them in cold blood but punishing them severely for the crimes others did. 

Imagine the migrant community of Finland, especially Muslims and non-EU citizens, sentenced by social media kangaroo courts encouraging social media lynchings while politicians reinforce such anti-social behavior  with their hostile statements and silence.

Social media lynchings are common in Finland these days. Source: Westword.

Such irresponsible behavior will cost society dearly in the way of social exclusion and increased racism.

Due to what a handful of sexual assault suspects did in Oulu, the government now vows to get tough and deport up to 8,000 asylum seekers. The government is also studying how it can revoke Finnish citizenship from dual citizens as well as terminate permanent residence permits if a person is convicted of a serious crime.

The lowliest of their plans is to find loopholes to circumvent human rights and refugee agreements at the cost of the rights of embattled asylum seekers.

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The media of Finland is part of the country’s Islamophobia and racism problem

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When it comes to challenging Islamophobia and racism, the Finnish media is part of the problem.

Remember the power that words have when writing a sory. You don’t need to kill an ant with a bazooka. 

Journalists and newspapers in Finland, especially tabloids like Iltalehti, Ilta-Sanomat and state broadcaster Yle, are prime examples of not only white Finnish privilege but of white Finnish overkill and rage. 

Anu Koivunen, a professor at Tampere University that researches the media and gender topics, appears a lot in the media. In an op-ed piece in Suomen Kuvalehti,  she details the reporting of three publications that covered the sexual assault cases of Oulu.

Read the full op-ed piece (in Finnish)  here.

Here is Koivunen’s tally of the reporting:

  • Both Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti gave in their print editions 20 pages of space for the Oulu sexual assault cases;
  • During a week, Ilta-Sanomat published for five days straight front-page headline stories about Oulu;
  • Iltalehti published a special edition on the sexual assault cases;
  • Ilta-Sanomat published three editorials on the topic and Iltalehti two;

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Police officer fined and charged to pay 5,140 euros for making racist statements and slapping a women twice on the face

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A Finnish police officer in Turku was fined by a court to pay 5,140 euros in charges and lawyer’s fees, according to tabloid Ilta-Sanomat. The police officer, who admitted being too drunk to remember what he said and denied being aggressive at a taxi line, called a woman who attempted to him a “refugee-loving whore” and slapped her twice on the face. 

The police officer reacted in an aggressive manner after seven non-white Finns entered a minibus taxi without waiting in line for a normal taxi.

“Thanks to women like you,” he said admitting later that he was a police officer, “blood flows on Turku’s streets and [didn’t you know] that migrants commit 95% of all crimes?”

 

Read the full story (in Finnish) here.

The police officer slapped the woman on the face a second time when she said she would file charges against him.

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A letter from Rashid H., the Pakistani migrant who was brutally attacked by three white Finnish youths. Where is justice?

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Migrant Tales insight: The police has criticized us for insisting that Rashid H’s case was a hate crime. The police claim that what happened to the Pakistani migrant on February 23 was not a hate crime. They said that they have access to information that is not available to the public and can make better judgements about a crime than us. True, but what about the victim? Certainly, Rashid H and his family have first-hand information as victims. Both of them are adamant: What happened was a hate crime.

The police told Rashid’s wife that what happened to her husband was not a hate crime because “it wasn’t planned.” She even claimed that the police had told her that the assailants were intoxicated and therefore could not be a hate crime. 

One matter that surprises me on some occasions is how rapidly the police determine a crime is not a hate crime. This happened in Rashid H’s case. The following day after the attack, his wife got a call from the police and the first thing she asked was if what happened was a hate crime. The police responded that it wasn’t.

How did they arrive at such a conclusion so rapidly?

Moreover, when I spoke to the investigating officer about the matter, he said that he had interrogated the three assailants and he vouched that they “weren’t racists.” Really? Did he give them a test?  Determining if a person is racist is the wrong way to go about the matter. We should ask instead  the following question: Could what happened or what was said be interpreted as racist?

When the police investigate a crime, they look at matters like who, where and when but rarely why. 

We believe that our reporting on Rashid H’s case had a positive impact on the police investigation. Initially, the police had charged the three suspects with attempted manslaughter but on April 19, close to two months later, they changed it to attempted murder. 

The three youths were sentenced on May 25 to 9.5 years in prison for their crime.

 

Dear friend,

Even if the district court and court of appeal did not accept what happened to me was a hate crime, I feel today desperate and abandoned. When I was in the hospital with 30 stab wounds, fractured skull and other life-threatening injuries caused by three white Finnish youths, I felt forsaken. Not one person from the government or any newspaper cared to contact me.

I cannot understand this behavior and why.

Read the full story here.

Even if the police claims that what happened was not a hate crime, I have my doubts. The following doubt will always hound me: Would I have been attacked in such a vicious manner if I were a Finn?

Continue reading “A letter from Rashid H., the Pakistani migrant who was brutally attacked by three white Finnish youths. Where is justice?”

What political capital will the Finnish far-right Perussuomalaiset party gain from Oulu?

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The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is the first modern Finnish party to capitalize politically on Finland’s Islamophobic and anti-immigration sentiment. With parliamentary elections around the corner on April 14, the question is if the PS will get a boost from the sexual assault cases of Oulu?

Another question is the Blue Reform Party, which split from the PS in June 2017. Will Oulu give it political capital as the PS is hoping?

Considering that the Blue Reform Party have about 2% support in diffrent opinion polls, it is unlikely that will pose a threat in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The PS’ toxic Islamophobic rhetoric and fear-mongering were important factors that helped it to secure its historic parliamentary election victory of 2011, when it won 39 seats from 5 seats in 2007.

Four years later, in 2015, the PS got a boost from a widely covered sexual assault case about a month before the parliamentary elections. The case, which happened in the Helsinki neighborhood of Tapanila, sparked lynch-mob hysteria and fingerpointing on social media and in print media.

The PS became in 2015 with 39 seats the second-biggest party in parliament.

Like before and today, the reporting by the media of sexual assault cases by foreigners is the same: It paints all migrants with a single brush and spreads stereotypes made by Islamophobes and racists. One of these is that sexual assault crimes soared after 2015 when over 30,000 asylum seekers came to the country.

But charts like the one below tell a totally different story than what groups like the PS and politicians of mainstream parties are telling their voters.

The chart above shows that suspected sexual assault cases of minors by Finns totalled 82% in 2017 versus 18% by foreigners. As we can see, the number of overall suspected sexual assault cases in the chart has retreated while rising slightly among foreigners. Source: Statistics Finland.

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