xenophobia Archives - Page 11 of 92

The problematic far right, racism, misogyny, homophobia and rape delusions of the new Finnish government

Posted on June 25, 2023June 25, 2023 by Migrant Tales

The government fuels two matters: loss of credibility and polarization of society.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government, considered the most right wing since the 1930s, faced a storm of controversy on its first day not because of its austerity program, which will hit the most vulnerable sectors of society, but because of its embarrassing links to neo-Nazis and racism.

Headlined Euronews: “Racism and rape fantasies: The PR headache facing Finland’s new right-wing government.” Madrid-based El País writes: “The far-right will control seven key ministries in the Finnish government.”

The Times of Israel doesn’t beat round the bush either: “[Minister of Economic Affairs] Vilhelm Junnila says previous [neo-Nazi] behavior was ‘foolish and immature’; another key figure in new government, House Speaker Jussi Halla-aho, also has history of racist remarks.”

Apart from taking part in a rally organized by far-right groups, Junnila congratulated in 2019 a PS candidate for receiving the 88 election number. “First of all, congratulations on an excellent election number,” he was quoted as saying in The Times of Israel. “I know it’s a winning card.”

As everyone knows, 88 is code used by neo-Nazis to mean “Heil Hitler,” or “HH.”

It is odd why Junnila now apologizes for such inappropriate behavior.

Minister Junnila, who claims to not house any extremist views, now apologizes for his “88” comment: “Those who know me, know that I am a moderate. I do not belong to any nationalist organisations [sic], nor do I plan joining any.” Source: Twitter

Junnila and former MP Veikko Vallin, givng the thumbs up with their MAGA caps. Source: Facebook

The rise and eventual death of radical-right parties in the Nordic Region

Posted on June 8, 2023June 8, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Denmark is a good example of how radical-right parties like the Danish People’s Party (DPP) grow and eventually die off. In the 2022 election, the DPP saw its support plummet to an all-time low of 2.63%, losing 11 MPs to end up with a total of 5 MPs. In the 2015 election, the DPP had their best election result ever, winning 37 seats.

It should not come as any surprise that the radical right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are close ideological allies of the DPP. It should not also come as a surprise that the catastrophic election result of the DPP last year sent shivers up the PS’ spine.

From left to right, three Nordic Region parties have captured the racist imagination of their voters: The Danish People’s Party, Sweden Democrats, and Perussuomalaiset.

The spectacular fall from the political grace of the DPP to the rapid rise of the Sweden Democrats and PS in the last decade rings a similar bell: rapid growth with the help of a hostile anti-immigration campaign message is easy but does not mean that voters will continue to support such parties forever.

Support for the Danish People’s Party plunged by 87.4% from 2015 to the 2022 general election. Source: Statistics Denmark

Even if anti-immigration parties may grow rapidly, Denmark proved that the most effective way of destroying them is by adopting the same radical policies as these parties. The key is to become more radical because voters will not vote for “light” xenophobic versions of a radical right party.

It’s clear that the Moderate Party in Sweden and the National Coalition Party of Finland are taking a big risk in cooperating with the Sweden Democrats and PS. For one, such support could enable their radical-right partners to eat them up unless they react.

Government talks in Finland: to turn back the hands of time or not

Posted on May 25, 2023May 25, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Watching the ongoing government negotiations to give birth to Finland’s most right-wing and anti-immigration government can raise one’s blood pressure. The sticky issue National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) prime minister-designate, Petteri Orpo, hopes to resolve the sticky issue of migration and environmental policy.

In the face of a chronic labor shortage due to Finland’s graying population, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* have made an ultimatum to Orpo: We will not form part of any government that does not tighten migration policy significantly.

One of the sticking points in the negotiations is how much a non-EU citizen makes in order to work in Finland. In the beginning, the PS stated a 3,000 euro minimum but is ready to lower it to 2,500 euros.

At a Yle A-studio talk show program Wednesday, Ilkka Oksala of the Federation of Finnish Industries (EK) said that one of the factors threatening economic growth is a labor shortage.

“The problem concerning [foreign] labor is that there is too little of it,” said Oksala, “so we should not place obstacles but contrarily place conditions that will bring labor migrants [to Finland]. We are in dire need of [more] labor.”

Technology Industries of Finland chairperson, Jaakko Eskola, who did not participate in the A-studio talk show, believes that Finland needs during a 28-year period 50,000 labor migrants annually, or 1.4 million people.

Riikka Purra threatens to walk out of government talks: The PS will not participate if migration policy isn’t tightened significantly

Posted on May 20, 2023May 20, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Watching the ongoing negotiations between the National Coalition Party, Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, Swedish People’s Party, and Christian Democrats to form Finland’s most right-wing and anti-immigration government is concerning. For one, PS head Riikka Purra’s usual vitriolic anti-immigration rhetoric reminds me of a Brexit minime bully.

Purra warned on Thursday that without “migration policy tightened significantly,” they will abandon talks.

Purra’s warnings sound like a Brexit minimi bully whom others, like National Coalition Party’s prime minister-designate Petteri Orpo, back down.

If you want to see the harm that Brexit has caused to the United Kingdom, the PS is a “mini” Brexit that will cause damage to the Finnish economy because of its hardline stance on labor migration and asylum seekers.

Xenophobic stances are costly to any society because they encourage unemployment, marginalization and crime.

The fact that Orpo, the Swedish People’s Party, and Christian Democrats are negotiating to form a government with the PS is an extraordinary example of cowardice.

Source: Helsingin Sanomat

Helsingin Sanomat published a story revealing how a new government could tighten migration policy. There’s not much apart from worsening the already-low financial help to asylum seekers, tightening again family reunification, more effective deportations, and limiting the number of times an asylum seeker can appeal, among others.

Sounds familiar?

Planning to move to Finland? Come at your own peril!

Posted on May 8, 2023May 8, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Finland is suffering from a chronic labor shortage in the face of an ever-shrinking labor force and graying of the population. If you want some friendly advice, Finland would be one of the last countries in Europe I’d move to. There are several reasons you should think twice before moving here.

One of the main reasons you should choose a friendlier country to build your future and bring up a family is that Finland is a hostile country towards migrants, especially Muslims and visible migrants.

We have asylum seekers who have been in legal limbo for eight years. Anywhere up to 10,000 people, according to some estimates, are undocumented.

Don’t be fooled by superficial surveys that claim Finland to be the happiest country in the world. It’s only a PR stunt. But here is the question: How can the happiest country have its second-biggest party in parliament, the Perussuomalaiaset (PS)*, be openly racist and hostile to migrants?

You have a choice: If you are white and can flow with the xenophobia, Finland could be a good country for you. Who knows, maybe you can become an example of a super migrant as seen by xenophobic politicians.

Who are these super immigrants?

Nordic far-right populism is a threat to the welfare state and the region

Posted on May 3, 2023May 3, 2023 by Migrant Tales

In Finland’s parliamentary election in April, the country shifted abruptly from a left-wing government led by the charismatic Social Democratic Prime Minister Sanna Marin to a possible right-wing government. Some see the good result of the conservative National Coalition Party, and especially the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS),* as a threat to those values, social welfare, and solidarity held dear to the welfare state.

Like in neighboring Sweden, the far-right Sweden Democrats did well in the election and helped boost the right-wing bloc to victory through cooperation with the Moderate Party. In Finland, the National Coalition Party is ready to give the PS a ticket to become a government coalition member.

Following the PS’ election victory of 2011, which saw their MPs increase from 5 to 39, the far-right party has done exceptionally well in parliamentary elections. In the last election, the PS saw its MPs rise to 46, a record.

The PS’ claim of success lies in spreading news stories about migrant crime to lure voters with the help of the media and police.

With some PS politicians openly supporting Viktor Orbán of Hungary, former President Donald Trump, and even violent far-right groups, do populism and polarization threaten Finland’s democracy?

In an interview with the Finnish League of Human Rights, Eliza Ruynowski, a human rights lawyer from Poland, cautioned Finns to avoid accepting simplistic solutions to complex issues. She advised them to be cautious of individuals who blame specific groups of people, whether they belong to a minority or hold differing political views, as a means of resolving problems.

But let’s go back in time to uncover the dangerous political path Finland, and the rest of Europe, are on.

In reporting about Adolph Eichmann’s trial in Israel in 1961, philosopher Hannah Arendt described the war criminal responsible for transporting millions of Jews to their deaths as an ordinary bureaucrat who, in her own words, was “neither perverted nor sadistic, but “terrifyingly normal.”

Arendt called this disposition the banality of evil or the state where Eichmann performed evil deeds without evil intentions. Thus he could fulfill his tasks diligently irrespective of their horrific crimes by the inability to think from the victim’s standpoint.

At the Nuremberg trials (1945-46), US Army psychologist Captain Gustave Mark Gilbert stated that the Nazi war criminals on the dock had one matter in common: Their incapacity to feel with their fellow men and women.

Nordic region’s lurch to the far right

Posted on April 22, 2023April 22, 2023 by Migrant Tales

The problem with xenophobic parties in the Nordic region is that all promote social exclusion and more social exclusion.

If the elections in Sweden weren’t a preview of the political path of the Nordic region, the April elections in Finland confirmed it. In both countries, parties that base their support on suspicion of minorities and migrants fared well.

Apart from such a recipe for election success in Sweden and Finland, the Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi roots, and the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* were helped and given political legitimacy by a mainstream conservative party: the Moderates and National Coalition Party (Kokoomus).

For me, the rise of parties whose message is maintaining white-Nordic privilege should not surprise anyone. The exceptionalist view that the Nordics are home of social equality and other noble values is a wise tale. The question a serious student should ask is who enjoys social equality.

If we were to look at how anti-immigration and anti-diversity views take root in the Nordic region, Denmark offers us a case in point.

National Coalition Party head Petteri Orpo and PS’ Riikka Purra in the background. Nordic mainstream parties like Kokoomus have enabled and normalized anti-immigration parties like the PS.

At the beginning of this century, we saw the rise of the staunchly Islamophobic Danish People’s Party (DPP), which influenced politics so that the country turned into one of the most hostile countries for Muslims in the EU.

The DDP, like the Sweden Democrats, could eat and have their racist cakes simultaneously through minority governments.

But in 2019, the Social Democrats, under the leadership of Mette Frederiksen scored a huge victory, with the DPP losing 21 seats. What was the lesson learned? If traditional parties use the same anti-immigration rhetoric as populist parties, they can win elections.

The Danish example suggests that if Sweden and Finland want to deflate the popularity of their Islamophobic parties, they should follow what the Social Democrats did in Denmark.

The other opinion, hoped by some, is to allow the PS to form a government and see how well they come through with their promises. It may mean a nosedive in support.

Polish human rights lawyer Eliza Ruynowski warned Finns in an interview with the Finnish League of Human Rights. “I would urge every Finn to question simple answers to difficult questions. Be wary of those who claim to solve the problem by blaming a group of people – whether it is a minority or those with different political ideas.”

Recently at an Islamophobia conference in Ankara, Turkey, I asked the crowd how a country that won for a sixth consecutive time the title of the happiest country on Earth may have such a big racist party.

Silence responded to my question.

The rise of hostile political parties and public discourse against minorities and migrants reveals how Nordic countries have failed to create social equality.

Finland goes to the polls Sunday – another beachhead?

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Far-right populism is an illness inflicting Europe at present and it now has a beachhead in Finland.

Migrant Tales (18.4.2011)

d. Yle published an opinion poll today showing the radical-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, Social Democrats, and National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) neck and neck.

Another poll published Wednesday by Helsingin Sanomat showed Kokoomus leading (19.8%), followed by the Social Democrats and PS, tied at 19.2% apiece.

Read the full story here.

Considering how close the three parties are in the opinion polls, anything can happen and have for the first time a PS prime minister. That would be quite a feat in the face of the party’s historic victory in 2011 when it raised the number of MPs to 39 from 5 previously.

I remember apprehension that election day 11 years ago. Some were in shock, while others played it down. You’ll see, it is only a matter before they implode, some said, assuring themselves.

One of the lessons learned from the entry of a major Islamophobic party in Finnish politics in the last decade is that matters only get more polarized and the rhetoric more hostile.

The PS bases its politics on anti-immigration sentiment, which has crippled Finland’s ability to debate the topic and cultural diversity civilly. Spreading fear of other groups is the elixir that the PS drinks to get political power.

The rise of the PS in Finnish politics is a blow to its exceptionalism and alleged “happiness,” as it has won for a sixth time in a row the title of the happiest country in the world. How can such a happy country house so much hatred for other groups?

A political analyst told me recently that he hoped the PS would win big on Sunday.

The Finnish media, politicians and the police treat white far-right terrorism differently

Posted on March 24, 2023 by Migrant Tales

THE STORY WAS UPDATED

The National Bureau of Investigation (KRP) has remanded in custody a 28-year-old white Finn who used to be a municipal candidate for the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party but now belongs to the far-right Sinimusta Liike (Blue-and-Black Movement), according to Helsingin Sanomat.

The police’s intelligence gathering of the suspect led to a search of his home, where arms were found. KRP is investigating the suspect’s activities and if other suspects are involved.

The case is not the first white Finnish suspect. In December 2021, the police announced the country’s first far-right terrorist case. In November, detective inspector Toni Sjöblom told Migrant Tales that charges would be brought against five suspects “within a few weeks.” By mid-March, no charges have been brought against the suspects.

The Finnish Security and Intelligence Service’s (SUPO)In National Security Overview 2022 said that the threat of a terrorist attack in Finland would come from “supporters of right-wing extremist or racial Islamist ideology, and from small covert cells [comprising] of such individuals.”

The latest terrorist suspect, who studied law, was a Perussuomalaiset (PS) candidate for councilperson who lobbied at the university against “woke culture” and “cultural Marxism,” a concept used by far-right activists.

The same type of bias in how the media, politicians, and even the police treat “white” terrorism is evident in the case of the 28-year-old. He was active with the PS Youth of Lapland, representing the party’s most far-right views, and was a strong proponent of ethnonationalism.

One active member of the PS Youth of Lapland was Johannes Sipola, who was convicted with Toni Jalonen for ethnic agitation in 2020. Sipola blamed in a tweet below the Christchurch massacre on multiculturalism.

An election pact with the devil

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Migrant Tales

Sometimes, the hunger for power is so voracious that politicians and their parties will make pacts with the devil. It was the case in September in Sweden when the conservative Moderate Party joined forces with the Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi roots. Finland will hold its election on April 2, and there is the same trend: the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) is looking at the radical-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* to form a government.

Apart from losing credibility, a conservative party that goes to bed with a party like the Sweden Democrats or PS may devour the party’s support.

The Moderate Party came in second place after the Sweden Democrats. The arrangement was like in Denmark with the Danish People’s Party (DPP), which supported a minority government in return for concessions on the anti-immigration front.

Contrary to the DPP and the Sweden Democrats, the PS has said it will support a minority government arrangement. In Finnish political terms, it means they have to either win the election, giving them the power to form the next government, or be an integral part of the new government if Kokoomus wins.

**Finland will hold its parliamentary election on April 2.** **Source: vaalit.fi**

The Social Democrats (SDP), Left Alliance, Greens, and Swedish People’s Party have said they will not form a government with the PS. The reason? SDP Prime Minister Sanna Martin has branded the PS a racist party.

With the parliamentary election only 12 days away, recent opinion polls show Kokoomus, SDP, and the PS neck-and-neck for the top spot.