Tag: social ills

Finance Minister Katri Kulmuni’s grotesque Internet poll is a symptom of a wider social problem in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Center Party of Finland is a liability to the future of Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s government. We already saw how they forced former Prime Minister Antti Rinne to resign. And then, we witnessed Finance Minister Katri Kulmuni’s Instagram poll.

Kulmuni’s post not only exposed her total disregard for human lives and the country’s international obligations but was a warning that some politicians, even ministers, are ready to leave the fate of their citizens to public opinion and chance.

She asked in the Instagram poll whether it would be ok repatriating “[Finnish] children only” or “children and [Finnish] mothers” from the al-Hol camp in Syria.

Andrew Stroehlein of Human Rights Watch was one of many who were awestruck what Kulmuni’s post. “Seriously, Finland? This is awful, if true,” he tweeted Thursday.

Finland has always been good at getting the maximum mileage from its international image by hiding its problematic social sore spots.

One of these is women’s rights and equality. Women still make about 20% less than men and a recent survey found Finland to be the second-most violent country for women.

Even if some brag about how Finland became the first to grant women the right to vote in 1906, it was not until 1984 when women were able to grant citizenship to their children through jus sanguinis.

Finland also had draconian laws against foreigners and foreign investment thanks to the Restricting Act of 1939 (Law 219/1939), which was made redundant in 1992.

Moreover, Finland got its first Aliens Act in 1983, or about 66 years after independence in 1917. Finland had total disregard for human rights when in the Cold War it returned Soviet citizens back to the USSR without granting asylum. Finland has serious issues with racism, hate crime and asylum policy.

Finland was also the last Nordic country to legalize gay marriages in 2014.

And here lay the question of questions that reveal how deep our collective heads are stuck in the mud: How can such a perfect society, which is supposed to be the happiest in the world, have an openly racist and misogynist party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* leading in the polls?

Even if our media scores high on the World Press Freedom Index, why is much of the reporting uncritical when it comes to serious social issues like migrant and minority discrimination and rights? The fact far-right populism is breathing down the necks of mainstream parties is a good indication of the failure of the media to challenge such social ills.

Let’s get real. What Finance Minister Kulmuni posted is a symptom of our denial in confronting those sore spots that only help cover and play down our more serious social problems.

The sooner we understand this, the sooner we can begin to start making Finland a good country to live in for all of its inhabitants irrespective of their backgrounds.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: The victim of rape and racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

“What similarities are there between the victim of rape and racism? Deniers of rape blame the woman for causing the man to rape her. Deniers of racism blame the victim for causing the man or woman to insult him or her.

Racism feels like being raped. Racism and rape are chronic social ills. Arguments used to give such ills cover and aim to perpetuate them and dilute the victim’s suffering.”

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Racism is everywhere. Our denial allows us to pin it on one group

Posted on by Migrant Tales

“When people speak of racism in Finland they refer to the Perussuomalaiset* and Blue Reform. They do so to wash their hands of the social ill by claiming that it is a minority fringe group that is the country’s racism problem. Racism is everywhere in Finland and so well-entrenched that it forms part of our institutions and permits us to deny and deceive ourselves of the existence of the problem.”

Racism is not granting public spaces to Others but denying the right of migrants and minorities to have such spaces as equal members of society.

* After the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13 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.  One is more open about it while the other is more diplomatic. 

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.

Why do some dark-skinned children in Finland fear the sun?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

There are many ways to measure how racism works on a day-by-day level and structurally in our society. Umayya Abu-Hanna wrote a while back how Finland’s middle class ensures that migrants and minorities can never compete economically, politically and culturally on an equal level with white Finns. 

Instead of prime ministers and government officials stating how much they are against racism, why don’t they actually challenge this social ill in earnest?

The reason why they don’t may surprise some: They don’t consider racism a serious enough problem.

Näyttökuva 2015-8-21 kello 9.15.33

Source: www.beeanddaddoo.com

Racism in Finland starts from early childhood. Children are bullied at school because of their ethnic background, even some like Rebecka Holm are harassed in public by total strangers.

Continue reading “Why do some dark-skinned children in Finland fear the sun?”

Thank you for the Herätys Suomi! Racism is Real! video

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales would like to personally thank Susheela, Albulena, Henrik, Nadia, Osman, Nawal, Sadek, Dizzy, Christian, Salomon, and Edna for making this video below on racism in Finland. 

The makers of the Herätys Suomi! Racism is Real! video are a shining example of how migrants and minorities should raise their voices against a social ill like racism.

I am confident that we’re in good hands with people like these that produced and acted in the video below. We’ll succeed at challenging racism effectively in this country.

Don’t forget that racism is based on lies and everyone knows that lies don’t have legs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=36&v=8HbH_3nUrC8

 

Study: Homophobia and racism hinder young minority athletes from joining Finnish sports clubs

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Helsingin Sanomat reported that homophobia and racism are two factors that hinder young minority athletes from joining a Finnish sports club, according to a study. If the story is true it is not only another indication that some Finns live tucked deep in the values of the previous century, but for this to be going on still today is shameful, self-defeating and above all unacceptable. 

Another factor that stops minorities from joining a sports club is cost.

Even if  discrimination is an obtacle in some sports clubs it is a reflection of our society as a whole and our acceptance by too many of these types of social ills.

Like any social ill, racism and homophobia are difficult but not impossible to show.  Even so, the study shows that prejudice and racism do not foster inclusion but fuel social exclusion.

What to do? When battling discrimination we have to first make a decision that we will actually challenge this social ill. Secondly, we must be persistent and patient because eradicating decades of near-unchallenged racism and homophobia in Finland will take many generations.

Despite the challenge, the sooner we begin the better for the sake of our future generations.

Why write about a Somali immigrant who died in Oulu, Finland?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

One of the matters that has surprised after Migrant Tales scooped more information about the tragic death of a Somali national in Oulu Monday is the total lack of empathy for the victim.  Finland and the Nordic region have not been the same after the April election and when Anders Breivik went on the rampage in Norway in July killing 77 victims. 

In both cases above, anti-immigration and anti-Muslim rhetoric were the smoking guns.

One gets the impression by some of the threads on Migrant Tales and My Finland is International that we should not give much importance to what happened in Oulu since it will not be seen as a hate crime by the police.

Some have gone as far as to claim that what happened in Oulu has nothing to do with immigration or ethnic issues.

I beg your pardon!?

What happened in Oulu has everything to do with immigrants and social ills like violence threatening our society. Somebody must speak out for the victim and we are very proud of being one of those voices.

Add to what happened in Oulu the horrific events in Norway in summer and Finland’s ever-worsening atmosphere for immigrants and minorities, it is only natural that we react to a crime involving an immigrant, especially one where three Finns break into his home by force and perpetrate his death.

Migrant Tales will continue to report crimes against immigrants and hopes it will have the opportunity to do so in the future.

Somali victim of Oulu, Finland: The tragedy that brings us closer to the problem

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The reaction and threads concerning the tragic death of a Somali national in Oulu, Finland, Tuesday after three white Finnish suspects barged into his home reveals the strong divide between “us” and “them.”We still have a long ways to go as a society to deal with social ills like discrimination. Paradoxically, tragedies like what happened in Oulu bring us ever-closer to the issue. 

While we should give the Finnish police the benefit of doubt and trust their professionalism, there are many cases that show the opposite and undermine the credibility of law enforcement officials. Some that come to mind immediately are the decade-long coverup by the German police of hate crimes by neo-Nazi groups, and the infamous L.A. riots, when three policemen were acquitted in 1992 after being videotaped beating a black motorist.

The L.A. riots caused the death of 53 people and as many as 2,000 were injured. The cost of the riots was between $800 million and $1 billion.

While the work of the police should reveal fairness and abiding duty to the cause of justice, factors like politics and prejudice do unfortunately get in the way.

If there are police credibility issues among Finland’s immigrant community, the police should find ways to increase trust.

While we believe in the professionalism of our law officers, we at Migrant Tales are concerned about the ever-worsening atmosphere for immigrants in Finland.  What happened in Oulu Monday night does not assure us that matters are getting better.

We do not have to venture far from Migrant Tales to grasp what is wrong with Finland today when it comes to the attitudes of some Finns. Here is one thread by Allan that is especially worrying: “Now if it so happens to be some gluesniffers on bad acid after drinking kärpässienikilju, where exactly are you blaming *them* ? No, you are blaming all Finns for having that as their social norm.”

Another blogger, Depressed N Worried Immigrant, writes: “I went to read iltalehti chatting room and i was shocked literally, there is no one single person condemning the death of this young man theye’re giving all kind of excuses…”

The police is one important source in resolving the tragedy that took place in Oulu Monday night.

It is the second incident so far in Oulu in a month where a person has fled perceived danger by jumping off the balcony. You can read the story (in Finnish) here.

 

Let’s wait for their verdict.

What should an immigrant do if he cannot find work in Finland?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

What should you do if you live in Finland and cannot find employment? The lucky ones can move to another country but for many it is a crude dead-end street lined with little hope: fragmented work life, lower salary than average, health problems and, worse, discrimination that will discourage you to integrate.  

There is an interesting article in Sunday’s Helsingin Sanomat on page A8 about a U.S. citizen, Ryan Savage, who is married to a Finn.

“USAmerican Ryan Savage is a dream come true for the immigration officials:  university graduate that moved with his spouse to Finland. He speaks the most widely spoken language in the world [English]. The problem is that Savage cannot find any work in Finland.”

Helsingin Sanomat claims that immigrant men make on average 10,000 euros less than Finnish men, while the difference [6,000 euros] is less between immigrant and Finnish women.

Other sad realities about being an immigrant in this country are that you have a greater chance of living in poverty than Finnish families and have twice as greater chance of being attacked by another person than a Finn. One study showed that immigrant men have 50% more ear ailments than Finnish males.

If the above is true, we should be especially concerned and critical about those parties that play down the role prejudice and racism in this country. All these social and physical symptoms mentioned above are indirectly or directly related to social ills like exclusion.

But if a politician, political party or society deny that racism is not a big social problem in this country and that everything is fine, it is effectively telling you that they will not do anything to tackle the problems of our ever-growing immigrant community.  Thus you do not exist. Since you don’t exist there is no reason to even worry never mind begin addressing your problems.

There are many ways of confronting the apathy or denial of the majority concerning our community: get involved in a political party, form a social movement, start up a blog like Migrant Tales or Facebook page like My Finland is International, or simply leave Finland for greener pastures.

Everyone isn’t that fortunate that he or she can just move to anther country. Some are forced to face that depressing  music that eats away at your self-esteem and keeps you from realizing your full potential in this society.

A society like ours that claims to be for social justice and equality cannot accept prejudice, exclusion and inequality in any form.

While first-generation immigrants should raise their voices in Finland and demand changes, it is their children  that are our hope.

Some of them have seen enough of how their parents have been excluded from the labor market and are getting the short end of society’s stick.

They, rightfully, have a valid gripe and should demand far better than what their parents got.

It’s time to organize, be and think proactively.