Tag: xenophobia

Finland’s and fortress Europe’s razorblade chicken feed response to the refugee crisis

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Like cancer, fear, inaction and xenophobia cripple and destroy nations.

Finland and Europe are looking more lost than ever concerning the refugee crisis and this has been shamelessly exposed in the raw at the EU’s Malta summit. If we fail to resolve the refugee crisis as a region we will face another problem that will be many times worse: Forfeiting our noble values and freedoms for short-term ineffective quick fixes. 

One of these freedoms at jeopardy is the Schengen Agreement, which allows passport free travel through 26 European states.

Since such short-term responses to the crisis, which aren’t responses at all, are doomed to failure it means that the matters will get worse before they improves. We know well what is at stake in Europe when we pander xenophobia and scapegoat groups.

According to The Guardian, there’s nothing to suggest that the “the confusion, disputes and mudslinging of the past few months” have brought the EU closer to a solution. Probably the most worrying question is that our inaction will exonerate isolationist hardliners like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

“I don’t say he [Orbán] should be entirely supported,”a senior diplomat at the Malta summit was quoted as saying in The Guardian. “But he has a point. There is some truth in what he says. Drastic, restrictive positions would have helped earlier.”

In Finland anti-immigration politicians like Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Laura Huhtasaari are stating that we should scrap our international refugee agreements and laws in order to stop refugees from coming to the country.

While some of you may not think much about what Huhtasaari posted, her party is one of the coalition partners in government of a prime minister who offered his home to refugees not too long ago.

Imagine. Here’s an MP of a government party of a country making such a claim that saw over 1.2 million of its people emigrate between 1860 and 1999 and relocated some 420,000 refugees after hostilities ended with the former Soviet Union in September 1944.

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Laura Huhtasaari Raato, if we close our border it’s still ok to seek asylum. We must now decide what agreements and laws we can respect because we have reached a limit [with the number of refugees].
Raato Laaksonen Do you mean that lawmakers will decide not to respect laws?
Laura Huhtasaari If laws and agreements bring considerable harm and turn against us we have to review whether we plan respect them.

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Attempted arson attack against Helsinki’s Pitäjämäki asylum reception center

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales understands that Helsinki’s Pitäjämäki reception center was the target of an arson attack on Friday or Saturday. A Molotov cocktail was hurled at the reception center but didn’t light up properly. 

A handgun and tommy gun was found in the possession of a man sitting in his car near the Pitäjänmäki reception center.

The man in the car wasn’t apparently planning to attack the reception center and wasn’t connected with the arson attack, according to the source.

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On Friday the police apprehended a man in car with a handgun and tommy gun near the Pitäjänmäki reception center.

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While this attempted arson attack was not reported by the media the question is how many of these types of unreported attacks have their been in Finland?

Two arson attacks have already been reported by the media: in Lammi (6.10) and Ylivieska (31.10).

Migrant Tales Literary: Would you buy a used car from PS’ Timo Soini?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Timo Soini is chairman of the nationalist populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. After the most recent opinion polls showed that the political future of the PS is bleak to say the least, what will Soini do after his party returns to the minor political leagues? Will he start to sell used cars? 

Would he sell used Halla-ahos or, maybe, Immonens, Eerolas, Elos, Huhtasaaris and Slunga-Poutsalos at rock-bottom prices?

Would you buy such a used car from him and would you trust his promises?

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Why not buy an Immonen? The engineering is as simple as the foul and poisonous arguments it exhales from its behind. So simple, in fact, that the biggest threat to this car and its driver is adding a square root to its 1 + 1 = 2 anti-immigration arguments. Buy it to impress racist simpletons. Source: www.zwischengas.com/de/blog/2012

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Here’s a spanking-new Eerola! Impress your friends with this vehicle that comes with a year supply of barf bags. Is it a rocket or a car? Who knows? You’ll respond that even if you are a practical nurse that has worked 12 years at a refugee center you still consider yourself an authority on immigration (sic!). Look at the headlights and rocket “fascist-style Mussolini” look. It’s backlights are intended to be more subdued in order to neutralize the racist demeanor that flashes whenever you signal to switch lanes. Source: www.dominnie.blogspot.com  

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What has the PS given to Finland apart from destroying our international image, labeling migrants and polarizing society?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are one of the worst surprises that Finland got after 2011. If the latest opinion poll is anything to go by, the nationalist populist party has returned to the minor political leagues, where it was originally from. 

While it was relatively easy for the PS to increase its popularity in the opposition with the help of a complacent media and politicians that turned a blind eye, being in government has been a totally different story.

As the polls show, the PS has been a paper tiger all along that believed, after two parliamentary elections, in its self-deception and forget its campaign promises.

One of these continues to be an empty promise that they will fix the Somali and Muslim problem in Finland. Like many of its empty pledges, they never will.

The PS is like cheap fast food. It may taste good after the first bite but the impact on your health is devastating.

Timo Soini and the PS tried to show – and succeeded – with poker faces these past years to defy the laws of politics like gravity and create a political revolution with the help of anti-immigration and anti-EU rhetoric.

The PS took a risk by joining the coalition government and they near-destroyed themselves in the process. Not only did they cause great harm to themselves, they have put in harm’s way as well Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government and all of Finland.

Due to the PS’ serious woes, it may well be that we may have new elections as early as next spring.

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Go to PS website here.

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YLE poll: Support for PS of Finland takes another dip to 9.8%

Posted on by Migrant Tales

A poll commissioned by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) revealed more pain for the nationalist populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, which saw its support plummet below 10% to 9.8%. The party that gained the most in the poll were the Social Democrats, which saw their support rise by 2.4 percentage points to 20.7%. 

Trying to become a “mainstream” party in government has been like digesting poison for the PS, which has based its support on nationalism and anti-immigration rhetoric.

For Finland’s ever-growing culturally diverse society the poll is the best news yet in a long time.

It’s naive to believe that the PS could ever abandon its racism and nationalism since that would mean committing political hara-kiri. Being a member of government has apparently a swifter hara-kiri for the party.

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Read full story here.

While some have waited for the populist party to face the same fate as its predecessor the Rural Party in the 1970s, when the party imploded due to internal bickering, it is the voters that are giving the thumbs down today to the PS.

One diplomatic source told Migrant Tales recently that the PS appears like the sinking Titanic. The orchestra is playing and that distracts people from their doom.

I have written before that the even if the PS may implode or return back to the minor leagues, it’s what is coming after them that could be scarier.

Support for the PS will be tested in April 2017, when Finland will hold municipal elections.

* The Finnish name of the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English-language names adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.

Finnish PS Kotka counclman under police investigation for ethnic agitation

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Mertsu Merivirta is a Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party councilman of the southern Finnish city of Kotka. His Facebook wall is full of nationalist anti-immigration posts and sexism. If you’re going to victimize migrants and minorities why not include women as well. 

Is it a surprise that Merivirta is a member of the nationalist populist PS?

All of the above is second- and third-hand knowledge about the PS, a party that gets attention and support by spreading bigotry about migrants and minorities.

Merivirta is under police investigation for ethnic agitation for a Facebook post on October 28, which has been removed.

In light of the police investigation, the Kotka city board not only condemned what was published but recommended that the  PS city council group suspend Merivirta from taking part in city council meetings until the investigation is over.

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City of Kotka councilman Metrsu Merivirta was in “a euphoric” state when he posted this on his Facebook page, which was removed. The post states above the machine gun  that soon you’ll have as neighbors “happy migrants.” “Greet them in the traditional way in Finland,” the post adds.

Guess what the answer was from the head of the Kotka PS city council group, Freddy Van Wonterghem, a far right politician who has been sentenced for ethnic agitation as well?

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Perussuomalaiset woes deepen as Sebastian Tynkkynen reelected chairman of the Finnish party’s youth league

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The problems of the nationalist populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party got worse Sunday after its third vice president, Sebastian Tynkkynen, got reelected by a clear majority to head the party’s youth league. 

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Read full story here.

Tynkkynen got elected with 42 votes against 22 for Sami Vuotila, the PS youth league’s vice president, according to Iltalehti.

Tynkkynen got his membership revoked over a week a go after he unsuccessfully challenged the PS’ leadership demanding that a special congress be convened to debate whether the party should continue in government, according to YLE News.

Considering the sloppy manner in which the PS board revoked Tynkkynen’s membership and that it may have been against the law, it’s clear that the third vice president’s reelection as chairman of the PS’ youth league means more trouble and internal bickering for the anti-immigration party, which has seen its poll ratings nosedive recently.

If Soini and the PS leadership don’t watch out, Tynkkynen may threaten them with their very own Stalingrad, a decisive battle that became a turning point in the war Nazi Germany waged in Russia. If, however, they do succeed in purging Tynkkynen from the party it may well turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory. Soini and the PS leadership face a lose-lose situation.

Tynkkynen, who is demanding that Finland close its northern border with Sweden like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán did with Serbia and Romania, has built ties with far right groups like the Sweden Democrats.

It’s clear that if the party adopted some of Tynkkynen’s demands it could well mean an early exit from government.

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The PS of Finland is an amateurish party that wants to normalize ignorance and racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Finns are nice people in general. Some are patient and like to give kooks an opportunity. They do so because they mistrust the establishment or want to confirm that their trust of the establishment is justified.

Let’s be sincere. If the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* ever got over 50% of the vote they would turn this country back to the murky days of the 1930s. There would be no press freedom only a charismatic leader that would goose step us to a country that would look like Viktor Orbán’s Hungary.

But thanks to the fact that the PS’ is an amateurish party that is trying unsuccessfully to normalize racism, ultranationalism with the help of ignorance, becoming the biggest party of Finland with over 50% of the votes is a political pipe-dream.

One of the PS’ happy-go-lucky MPs, Teuvo Hakkarainen, who has made many racist comments in the past, claimed recently that international agreements and the constitution hinder the PS from carrying out its policies.

What kind of policies does he mean? He probably doesn’t know but the catchphrase sounds right to incite ultranationalist sentiment.

Yes, right, Hakkarainen is the MP who sent to a woman last year a picture of his phallus by SMS.

You may rightly ask why we are putting up with MPs like Hakkarainen and a party that has little respect for our Nordic values and constitution. Why would some Finns vote for a late PS MP like Tony Halme, who has called former President Tarja Halonen a lesbian and showed his racist machismo in the following quote below?

“I promise here and now to buy gas for each Lada, if the communist traitors to the fatherland drive away forever straight to hell. The only thing that helps is to stick a Balalaika up their asshole and kick them to the border.”

PS MP Kaj Turunen, who used to sell ice cream in Savonlinna before he was elected to parliament in 2011, is another PS lawmaker that doesn’t understand our laws.

Yes, he’s the politician who filed charges in 2014 against Social Democrat chairman Antti Rinne in 2014 for ethnic agitation. Somehow Turunen believes that the PS is an ethnic group, which it isn’t.

After watching Thursday’s A-studio Turunen was at it again with the following tweet: “YLE attacks the PS and the party will attack YLE.”

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Mikkeli-based daily Länsi-Savo approached Turunen and asked him about that eerie tweet that is common in countries ruled by dictatorships.

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YLE A-studio: The PS reveals its anti-democratic credentials and loathing of press freedom

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Watching Thursday’s A-Studio talk show gave a very disturbing picture of what the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* think about democracy and the role of the media in society. Researcher Markku Jokisipilä exposed, however, with a diplomatic statement what’s wrong with this country and why a party like the PS has grown to become one of the biggest in Finland.

Even if the party’s third vice president Sebastian Tynkkynen row continued to dominate a part of the program, there were a number of comments that caught my eye.

One of these was how the press officer of the PS, Matti Putkonen, tried to dominate and tell the host what should be debated on the show. Putkonen claimed as well that MEP Jussi Halla-aho, who was sentenced for ethnic agitation, is “one of Finland’s best authorities on migration.”

Even if Putkonen’s two-minute exit from the talk show surprised a lot of viewers, it was researcher Jokisipilä who shed light on why politicians, the media and public opinion in the country continue to give the benefit of the doubt to a party that is anti-EU, anti-cultural diversity and especially anti-Islam.

“I’m obliged to congratulate the PS for their [historic] election victory of 2011,” he said, “that was an excellent matter from the point of view of Finnish politics and Finnish democracy.”

For whom was the rise of a party that bases its support on labeling and victimizing migrants and minorities as well as fueling nationalist sentiment  a good matter? I doubt that many people of our ever-culturally and ethnically diverse Finland would agree that the rise of the PS is a “good” matter.

Is the rise of the Danish People’s Party, Front National of France and other nationalist populist anti-immigration parties a good thing for Europe?

I doubt it.

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Watch full A-studio talk show here.

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Kenyan insulted by racist Finnish woman: “You’re a f***ing African woman…”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

How would you feel if a total stranger approached you in public and started to insult you in public? Has it ever happened to you? When something like that happens you feel that you’ve been violated and torn into little shreds.  

Those who still claim that there are only isolated cases of racism in Finland should watch this video recorded by a Kenyan woman and published in tabloid Iltalehti. One should ask why was this only published in a tabloid. Why wasn’t it published in Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest circulation daily?

One of the incredible assumptions that the racist woman makes is that she believes the Kenyan, who is a nurse, lives off welfare. Of all the African groups, Kenyans are probably the best integrated in Finland. Unemployment in this national group is only a few percentage points higher than the national average, or at 12.36%, according to the latest 2013 official figures.

When I watched the video my blood started to boil and I thought about all the opportunist racist politicians and those who turn a blind eye.

Those people have issues with cultural diversity have received a lot of encouragement for years from racist politicians mainly belonging to the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party as well as others that watch silently.

Silence is a political decision.

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