One of the most significant political debates going on in Finland now is the fate of about 40 Finnish women and children at the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria. The debate has taken such shameful turns that even ministers have tuned to their followers on social media to ask whether these women and children should…
Tag: Syria
Stop bickering and repatriate the wives and children of ISIS fighters now
The reaction to what Finland should do about 10 Finnish women who are alleged wives of ISIS fighters and their 30 children at the al-Hola camp in northeast Syria has all the characteristics of social media lynch mob populism and Islamophobia. The biggest trolls are not anonymous persons but opposition politicians of parties like the…
Migrant Tales Podcast: Shirlene Green Newball talks to Rami Thawi
Shirlene Green Newball talks with Rami Thawi, a musician who has lived in many countries from Venezuela to Syria to Finland now. What inspires him to compose music and be from many places simultaneously. Rami songs are full of power and expose the challenges and power of being from many places.
Asylum seeker hiding in Kemi, Finland: “Why do they [Finnish Immigration Service] make our lives so difficult?”
Migrant Tales reported Thursday about how a deportation had broken and separated a family of three (or four) in the northern Finnish city of Kemi. The family’s father, 58, and son deported on Thursday at around noon to Lebanon while the mother, 56, escaped from the hospital and is now in hiding.
My name is Raghad Mchawh and I’m from Syria
My name is raghad, I’m from Syria. I’m 18 years old and I’m 10 years older than the war that rages in my country.
(Asylum Corner) Reporting on migration: magnifying glass or distorting lens?
On January 25th, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) brought together a large group of experts and well-known panellists in Brussels to debate the ways to balance the narrative on migration on both sides of the Mediterranean. During the event, which relates to the scope of the EUROMED Migration IV project, Aidan White, director of the Ethical Journalism Network (EJN), presented the first report on the study he is currently conducting on behalf of ICMPD about media and migration in the Mediterranean area.
Ahmad Liath: “I left Iraq because I long for freedom”
Ahmad Liath was twelve years old when he left Iraq in 2005. Two years before that year, the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and in 2004 his father was killed.
Facebook: Finland’s abstension and pitiful explanation why
Finland’s ambassador to Switzerland, Jari Luoto, isn’t too happy about Finland’s abstention on Tuesday when interior ministers met and decided to distribute 120,000 refugees.
Perussuomalaiset party wants Finland to turn back asylum seekers from Sweden
The populist anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party’s parliamentary group wants to turn back asylum seekers that are entering the country from Sweden to the northern city of Tornio, reports YLE in English. The PS are the only party in Finland making such a demand.
Facebook: REFUGEES WELCOME (TO FINLAND) ????
There are some disturbing reports that have emerged in the media about how some asylum seekers in Finland are getting a hostile reception. Trish Pääkkönen gives us a taste of what she went through when she tried to help a group of refugees at the the Helsinki and Espoo police stations.