It is also obvious the non-action of the government on what their plan for the Finnish-Riussian border needs to be addressed. Just keepiing the Saimaa Canal closed costs the Finnish economy millions, now even billions if road transport is added to it. Not to mention the disrupted family lives from which the largest immigrant community…
Tag: xenophobia
Finland’s different shades of denial and racism
Racism is like a Cadillac, they bring out a new model every year. Malcolm X Few these days deny that Finland has a racism problem against Muslims, people of color and Third Worlders, the Romany and Russian-speaking minority, the third largest after Finnish and Swedish speakers. The serious student of society does not only look…
Linkedin: The Russians are coming!
The Finnish media, including Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, have attacked in mob fashion Kimmo Kiljunen, member of the Social Democratic Party and chairperson of the foreign affairs committee, for speaking candidly to representatives of the Alexander Union, a Finnish-Russian association, about the Finnish-Russian border as well as other matters. Today, an editorial by Helsingin Sanomat…
Linkedin: Islamophobia is on the rise in Finland: What is the role of the government?
If this question were asked to Prime Minister Petteri Orpo of the National Coalition Party, we would not have to guess his answer. Pointing to the anti-racism plan and a “very good” government program, Orpo would dodge the question in his usual style by sweeping the issue under the rug. In other words, his response…
How the media feeds xenophobia in Finland and forgets to tell us that the sole aim of Denmark’s exteme migration policy is to keep Muslims out
In an interview with Helsingin Sanomat, Danish MP and Minister for European Affairs Maria Bjerre only had positive things to say about her country’s migration policy, one of the most restrictive in the EU. The interview by Elina Kervinen was in my opinion a good example of how the media feeds xenophobia by sidestepping some…
Suspected hate crimes soar to a record level in Finland in 2023
THE STORY WAS UPDATED A record number of suspected hate crimes* were reported in 2023, rising by 28.99% to 1,606 cases compared with 1,245 cases the previous year, according to the Police University College. The author of the report, Jenita Ranta, blamed “societal factors” like the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and the poor economic situation…
The rise of the far right exposes our failure and our propensity to racism
The rise of the far-right and their simplistic scapegoating of migrants and minorities reveals a sad reality hitting Europe. The rise of the far-right does not expose the obvious but the fact that we have failed to educate generations after the horrors of World War 2. If there is one matter that characterizes an autocratic…
Despite assuranced to the contrary, the Finnish government is a far-right homophobic, Islamophobic bad joke
THE STORY WAS UPDATED You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. The saying sits well with Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government. Can you teach a party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* to be civil and ditch their racism? For the PS to turn in a new political leaf and abandon their nationalist rants and xenophobia…
A future in the rearview mirror: Four years of reflection of an immigrant in Finland
As the ‘car’ is effectively unreliable so there were more than just frequent stops to fuel more hate and share some racism to ‘touch base’ and distract the curious followers questioning the destination.
Time has flown past the Perussuomalaiset, it is the party of the past like the National Coalition Party
Racism is like a diehard stain. It’s tough work to rub it off society. With Finland suffering from an economic downturn and rocketing health sector costs, it is beyond me how parties like the National Coalition Party (NCP) don’t see the elephant in the room, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. The PS loathes migrants, especially Muslims…