Russia Archives - Page 2 of 5

I fear nationalism and racism as much as Russia

Posted on July 31, 2022 by Migrant Tales

Apart from tightening laws and plans to build a fence on parts of the Finnish-Russian border, politicians in Finland are debating shutting tourism from Russia to Finland. As I have mentioned previously, one of the biggest fears of the war in Ukraine is awakening Finland’s deep distrust and hatred of Russia.

The hatred will not only affect the Russians and our views of that country but spill over to other groups like Muslims and People of Color. If matters were shaky for these groups in Finland, they would worsen as the war drags on.

Despite all the bravado and defiance by politicians as the eye of April’s parliamentary election, some level-headed opinions are out there. One of these is Helsingin Sanomat, which wrote that the issue of visa restrictions was “not so clearcut. Restrictions must be in line with our values and goals. Sanctions should not be imposed on the basis of nationality, but according to a person’s actions or inaction.”

The PS’ crystal ball racism based on selective scenarios

Posted on June 16, 2022 by Migrant Tales

With the parliamentary election about 10 months away in April 2023 and a disastrous county election showing and equally depressing opinion poll results, it’s clear that the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party is desperately trying to connect with voters.

One example of these underhanded tactics is a proposal by the PS to close the border with Russia in case of hybrid threats coming from Moscow.

Haven’t you wondered how parties like the PS fear-monger? It’s like they have a crystal ball to justify their racism by constructing selective scenarios.

In such stories coming from the PS, one must dig deeper and find out what is behind the proposal.

PS chairperson, Riikka Purra, claims that the measure is to guarantee the security of white Finns. OK, she does not mention white Finn, but that is what she means.

Thus, we see with the PS proposal r message: asylum seekers from Muslim and African countries threaten Finland’s white culture and society.

Purra, who heads the administrative committee of parliament, threatens to give the government’s proposal would fail to pass. In the face of the PS’ 38 MPs. the vote would not get a two-thirds majority.

Suspending the right to seek asylum, or just confining it to the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, is not only a human rights violation but a political prank by the PS to further their election campaign in April. The EU has also stated that suspending asylum applications is illgeal.

Everyone is aware that the aim of closing the border is part of the PS’ zero asylum seeker goal.

Will Nato membership for Finland be good for migrants and minority rights?

Posted on May 12, 2022 by Migrant Tales

If truth Is the first casualty in war, then the second casualty is the loss of your civil rights.

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin are due to announce Thursday that Finland should join Nato “without delay,” according to The Guardian.

While Finland’s security concerns are valid enough for its giant eastern neighbor and what’s happening in Ukraine, the rushed pace of our membership in Nato has stymied debate about Finland’s major foreign policy shift.

One of the matters that worry me is if our hardened stance against Russia will continue to fuel our xenophobic tendencies. As a Nato member, will Finland find understanding to promote social equality for minorities, including Muslims, Africans, and people of color?

Another aspect that raises question marks is the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus).

Even if Nato will improve our security, the new tougher face of Finland could have a negative impact on our Nordic values and how they are applied to different groups.

Disagree?

Nato membership knocking at the door

Posted on March 11, 2022 by Ahti Tolvanen

As the Finnish launches a process to consider the nation’s Nato membership, while the frightening news from the war in Ukraine floods the media, all of us living in the country need to stop and think how we got into this situation and where to turn now.

Perhaps we also need to reflect why we have not sought to join Nato earlier.

This is not the first time Russia has invaded a neighboring country in recent times. We might mention the invasion of Afganistan for which many Western nations boycotted the Moscow Olympics. But not Finland.

Then we might mention the invasion of Georgia, the occupation of Czechoslovakia – even the bloody suppressions of a pre-independence uprisings in Chechenia and Hungary.

Admittedly all these had their unique historical. and geopolitical circumstances. But there were two things common to them all, A. They were events that shocked and upset many Finns when they occurred. B. No Finnish government ever even suggested we should consider joining Nato because of them.

Why now?

The suffering caused by the Russian invasion and the flight of about two million refugees is certainly extremely upsetting. More so because of our modern access to graphic coverage in mainstream and social media. The public’s empathetic response to the victims of war is understandable and commendable.

But his cannot be the main reason for why the government now wants to consider joining Nato. The past conflicts were also frightening in their day and the invaders often ever crueler.

An explanation might be found in the doctrine espoused by President Juho Paasikivi after the last war – adopted by his successor- President Urho Kekkonen- that maintaining cordial relations with the country’s biggest neighbor was the cornerstone of Finnish foreign relations. Finland should always remain a non-aligned nation between East and West. From crises to crises this was an edict repeated by both Russian and Finnish leaders that kept peace on the border.

Exposing white Finnish privilege #83: War doesn’t give a hoot if you are white or black

Posted on March 6, 2022 by Migrant Tales

The war in Ukraine is like a sinister brew boiling over death, destruction, tragedy, hatred, and xenophobia.

Apart from the shock and horror, our double standards and jingoism stand out as a stark reminder that we have done little to challenge the very social ills that caused the deaths of tens of millions of people in World War 2.

I’m talking about accomplices like the Holocaust and Stalin’s purges. And to our silence and inaction.

White Finnish privilege #82

“Rather than being a movement to turn on each other, this refugee crisis should be a reminder that ‘refugee’ is not synonymous for ‘brown person.’ Anyone could become a refugee. It’s a thing that happens to you, it’s not who you are.”
Trevor Noah

Will we learn anything from this war?

Will the tears of the dead and the living awaken us from what Henry Miller called the air-conditioned nightmare?

We are all hardcore nationalism junkies.

Detoxification now.

See also:

Ukrainians battle against the Russians but do little with the Poles to fight racism

Posted on March 1, 2022 by Migrant Tales

Shameful and racist treatment. Ukrainian train conductors push back on Africans fleeing the war while Polish border officials don’t permit Africans to enter Poland, reports The Guardian.

Just like when Poland fenced out Middle East asylum seekers in November from entering the country, which even led to the death of children from hyperthemia, Africans are facing the same obstacles at the border.

Keeping out asylum seekers was done with the full complicity of the EU.

Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

Racism is a driving source of injustice in the EU swept under the rug with double standards and hypocrisy.

Such acts and treatment of Africans and other people of color force Ukraine and the EU to lose their grip on their high moral ground they wish to have.

Donald Trump called Vladimir Putin’s invasion “genius and savvy.” Why are the Perussuomalaiset hiding their faces in shame?

Posted on February 26, 2022 by Migrant Tales

While the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are scrambling to prop up their dismal poll numbers, they are also changing their tune on Vladimir Putin and Russia. One of the best ways to understand the PS’ admiration of Putin and the tragedy in Ukraine is through former President Donald Trump.

We can cite Jussi Halla-aho’s praise of Trump in a tweet, where he claims that the former president is the best thing that happened to the United States and the Western world, to Veikko “Tramperen Trump” Vallin posing with Vilhelm Junnila with MAGA caps on May Day.

And how could we forget former parliamentary foreign affairs committee chairperson Mika Niikko, who suggested that a Western leader should assure Putin that Ukraine will not join Nato?

Writes historian Ahti Tolvanen, who sits on the Migrant Tales editorial board: “It is interesting to note that when Niikko presented an idea for a compromise in the Ukraine conflict, there was a vast outcry demanding his resignation right away. When his replacement Halla-aho suggested Finland should send arms to the Ukrainian military and scrap Finland´s traditional role as peacemaker and non-aligned country- there were no calls for his resignation. Since the last war, Finland’s keystone political position was denounced by the new foreign affairs chairman in parliament, and even President Niinistö has said nothing so far!”

There is a long list of other PS politicians that have been more direct about their admiration of Putin, like PS MEP Laura Huhtasaari.

**Matteo Salvini is one of many far-right politicians who praise Vladimir Putin. On the right, Salvini and Huhtasaari.**

Apart from all the expressions of admiration and support of Trump, who is under multiple investigations for attempting a coup, the PS are members of the far-right EU group Identity and Democracy, where they are in “good” Putin buddy company with leaders like Marine Le Pen.

Russian aggression against Ukraine threatens Finland and exposes hypocrisy

Posted on February 24, 2022 by Migrant Tales

It finally happened. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of a sovereign country like Ukraine. Apart from former President Donald Trump, who admires Vladimir Putin like many of the far-right Republicans, in Europe, we have racists and populists who are rooting for Russian aggression openly and silently.

Caught with their hypocrisy and political pants down, populist parties like the Perussuomalaiset, and even conservative ones like the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), are now quiet about building a fence on our border with Russia to keep out asylum seekers.

What will we do if tens of thousands of Ukrainians seek asylum in Finland?

Should we suspend temporarily their right to seek asylum?

Just asking.

Jussi Halla-aho, who wanted the Greek army to crush protestors ten years ago, is expected to replace Mika Niikko

Posted on February 9, 2022 by Migrant Tales

According to Helsingin Sanomat, former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-ago is expected to replace Mika Nikko, the chairperson of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, according to Helsingin Sanomat. Niikko resigned Tuesday evening after he suggested in a tweet that the West should assure Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine will not join Nato.

While Niikko is a loose canon, Halla-aho isn’t any better. He wrote in 2011, on Facebook that Greece should have a military junta to crush protests. He was temporarily banned from the party’s parliamentary group for the comment.

No media in Finland has mentioned how inappropriate Halla-aho would be as chairperson of the foreign affairs committee for suggesting, among other matters, a military coup in Greece.

In 2011, he was temporarily banned from the party’s parliamentary group after he wrote on Facebook that the military junta could best solve the crisis in Greece by crushing protestors.

A Russian asylum seeker’s escape to freedom from Russia and Finland

Posted on March 13, 2021 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales insight: Ogneslav Shevchenko, 36, is a Russian national with Ukrainian parents seeking asylum in Europe. Once you get to know him a little, you notice that he has traveled for many years, searching for a country where he is free from persecution. His story is like others seeking asylum and traveling in the sometimes unfriendly and cold corridors of Europe.

“In February 2017 I flew to Finland by plane. The main reason for fleeing Russia was a criminal case against me. Against undesirable authorities of the opposition, the state fabricates criminal cases on fictitious charges and deal with such people with physical violence so they will leave the country. Torture and covert killings are routine in Russian prisons.

I had difficulties with Migri [Finnish Immigration Service] right away. When I was giving the first interview, I was provided with one translator; during the second interview the translator was changed, and he translated and distorted a little what I said. As a result, I had to correct my statement in the third interview. In general, I was dissatisfied with the quality of the translation and interpreters.

Migri responded to my asylum case after 2.6 years of waiting. This is a violation of the terms of consideration! I have repeatedly complained to Migri and other refugee rights organizations about this, but it was useless. By law, an asylum application must be considered within six months. That’s the time on the document of my interview. But I got an answer after 30 months. There was a well-known case that was reported in the media about an Afghan asylum seeker who committed suicide after four years of waiting for the first decision from Migri. The answer was also negative. Four years of waiting!…

As a result, and during those 2.6 years I waited, the criminal code in Russia, the one I was persecuted with, was softened and based on that change, I was refused asylum in Finland. There is no criminal case – there is no threat to my life. I have the impression that Migri purposefully waits and takes its time so that matters in the country of asylum seekers will improve so they can then deport them safely to their home country.

“We have too many refugees, and we can’t handle the job.” Such was the given to me by Migri to the question: “Why it took so long to have an answer about my case?”

But they’re cheating!