Christian Thibault, chairman of Rasmus, an anti-racism NGO, asks how safe are our streets for migrants and minorities after Sunday’s parliamentary elections? Thibault is concerned but doesn’t want anyone to live in fear. “Don’t withdraw into safe ghettos,” he continued, “but be careful especially this coming weekend [when people of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* will be celebrating the…
Tag: violence
Timo Soini and the PS: “What goes around comes around”
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairman Timo Soini has good acting skills and a poor memory. At a press conference Thursday he told us about the death threats he’s received. I know how he feels because I too have received such death threats possibly from people inspired by the PS’ populist and hateful ideology. Even if I’ve lived in…
A tragic message from Copenhagen
Violence shouldn’t have any place in our society but neither should we lose sight of why these violent acts occur in Europe today. In a society that defends civil rights such as freedom of expression, violence has no place and should be condemned. Violence can, however, come in many forms: bombs and killing people in cold blood. You…
Are Bush’s Iraq War and Abu Ghraib torture to blame as well for the Charlie Hebdo attack?
When I reflect on what happened this week in Paris my thoughts drift to George W. Bush and his proclamation that the United States is on a crusade against terrorism. Juan Cole, an expert on Middle East politics, asks an important question on his blog: Having American troops occupy it [Baghdad] for 8 years, humiliate…
Violent language
Some Finns don’t grasp how violent anti-immigration groups are and the role of institutional racism, which serves and supports such groups. Every lie, distorted and exaggerated fact concocted against migrants and visible minorities is a bullet. These anti-immigration groups and their supporters are, however, big cowards. They often threaten, slander and distort facts anonymously. Some…
Zuzeeko’s blog: Minorities in Finland face unequal treatment, even in death
Zuzeeko Tegha Abeng* Family murders are common in Finland and whenever they happen the media mentions the nationality or origin of the perpetrator and the victim. But the origin of the most recent victim of Finland’s string of disturbing family murders was kept under wraps. Some people, including me wonder why. On 1 September 2013,…
PS far right: Hirvisaari publicly supports the Finnish Defense League
Is it a surprise that far right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP James Hirvisaari now publicly supports the Finnish Defence League, which is an offshoot of the far right English Defense League (EDL)? Not really. The EDL is the fastest-growing far right street movement in England since the National Front erupted in the 1970s. In a span…
University of Eastern Finland concerned over threats to their racism researchers
Unions representing racism and multiculturalism researchers at the University of Eastern Finland, expressed concern Wednesday over the threats they are receiving, reports YLE in English. In a joint statement, the unions said that such threats to its researchers should be a cause for concern, especially in a region where intolerance is on the rise. “Our…
Interior minister: Far right isn’t “a big threat” despite what happened in Jyväskylä
Christian Democrat Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen condemned the attack by three suspected neo-Nazi thugs in Jyväskylä as an assault against freedom of speech and the right to assembly, reports YLE. She didn’t consider, however, the far right to be a threat to Finland but said that the authorities aim to do more work to address social…
Older woman assaulted at Myllypuro metro station in Helsinki
An older woman was attacked and sent to the hospital at Helsinki’s Myllypuro metro station, according to Metro’s April 26th edition. While the story does not state the ethnic background of the woman, Migrant Tales understands that the victim could be a Somali.