The interior ministry estimates “tens of thousands” Ukrainians moving to Finland as a result of the war in that country, according to Yle News. There are about 7,000 Ukrainians in Finland, but Anna Rundgren, a ministry of interior senior specialist, believes that the actual figure is several times higher. In 2015, the country saw a record…
Tag: war
Nato membership knocking at the door
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…
Exposing white Finnish privilege #83: War doesn’t give a hoot if you are white or black
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…
Selling your political soul to the highest bidder and Putin’s collateral damage to Europe’s far-right parties
Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s plans of breathing new life into a second take of the Soviet empire by invading Ukraine have backfired and produced the opposite effect. Far-right parties like the Perussuomnalaiset (PS)* are collateral damage in Putin’s miscalculation. It’s been a wretched start for Putin: – Plans to carry out a rapid invasion and…
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.
Iraqi asylum seeker in Finland: A journey that began in a tormented land
Migrant Tales is very happy to receive mail from readers. Below is a story about an Iraqi asylum seeker that lives in Finland. These types of stories are important because, contrary to the media, offers a human face to asylum seekers.
Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from February 26, 1996
Migrant Tales publishes on and off Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through some of the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how some of them reflected our xenophobic and racist views.
Finland's ever-growing cultural diversity is an opportunity to overcome past fears
One of the matters that Finnish academics, politicians, policy makers never mind the general public missed out completely about our ever-growing cultural diversity is that our history and myths are hindering us to see the big picture. The official and unofficial response to our culturally diverse society appears to be a subtle “no.”
Finland’s ever-growing cultural diversity is an opportunity to overcome past fears
One of the matters that Finnish academics, politicians, policy makers never mind the general public missed out completely about our ever-growing cultural diversity is that our history and myths are hindering us to see the big picture. The official and unofficial response to our culturally diverse society appears to be a subtle “no.”
New York Times: A Son Returns to the Agony of Somalia
One has to be careful about stories. Especially true ones. When a story is told the first time, it can find a place in the listener’s heart. If the same story is told over and over, it becomes less like a presence in that chest and more like an X-ray of it.