xenophobia Archives - Page 49 of 92

No disciplinary action to be taken against Helsinki substitute councilman who wants African men sterilized

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Remember in May when Perussuomalaiset (PS)* substitute councilman called Olli Sademies commented that African men should be sterilized after having three children? While the decision by the police to not press ethnic agitation charges against Sademies was expected, it is the shameful attitude of the PS not to take any action against the substitute councilman that is the most worrying.

In one comment by Sademies and the inaction of his party to his racist outburst, we mock and undermine our own institutions and values.

Writes YLE in English:

When asked why the group didn’t discuss it [the comment by Sademies], [head of the Helsinki PS city council group Seppo] Kanerva told Yle’s Swedish language service: ‘We had so much to talk about that we didn’t have time for such nonsense.’

Kanerva said that if Sademies continues to write similar posts he could be thrown out of the party.”

When was insulting and threatening black people in Finland with forced sterilization “nonsense?”

Certainly sacking Sadimies for such a racist statement would have sent a clear warning to other members of the parties that this type of behavior is unacceptable.

Fortunately we have laws and resources in this country to challenge racism and don’t have to depend on xenophobic parties like the PS.

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A letter from a Finn to a Swede

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Dear friend, you probably read about the elections in Denmark and how xenophobia raised its head yet again in another Nordic country. The elections in Denmark didn’t surprise me. Two months earlier we had elections in Finland. Here too the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)* became the second-biggest party in parliament and are now in government.

With the right-wing populist Progress Party (FrP) in government for the first time in Norway since it was founded in 1973, and with the Danish People’s Party (DPP) likely forming part of Denmark’s next government, Sweden is the only country in this part of Europe where populists haven’t clutched power.

The Swedish government of Stefan Löfven has succeeded, thanks to the support of other parties, given the far right Sweden Democrats the political cold shoulder.

After elections in Denmark, your example is even more important in light of the anti-immigration and right-wing populist shift being witnessed today in the Nordic region.

Thank you Sweden for being resolute and not caving in to populism and xenophobia.

I am grateful to Sweden for having the courage to stand up to the vicious us-and-them language being spread by parties like the FrP, DPP and PS.

Our problem in Finland with anti-immigration populists started in the last decade, when parties like the Social Democrats and National Coalition Party (NCP), which should know better, started to flirt with the PS.

The NCP, together with the Center Party, is sharing power in government with the PS.

Continue reading “A letter from a Finn to a Swede”

Timo Soini overjoyed by Danish election result and good showing of the Islamophobic DPP

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Chairman and Foreign Minister Timo Soini wrote in his blog today that he was elated that the xenophobic Danish People’s Party emerged in the Danish elections as the second-biggest party after the Social Democrats.

Soini is happy about the DPP victory? Certainly he is because he likes their xenophobic and nativist nationalistic message because it’s the same message of the PS when the DPP was starting out in Denmark.

And he continues: “I sent to my good friend Morten Messerschmidt my warmest regards. Morten is coming again to our annual congress where he’s a liked guest.”

DPP MEP Messerschmidt was charged in 2007 for singing Nazi marching songs and giving the Hitler salute in a bar in Tivoli, the major tourist attraction in central Copenhagen.

He was cleared of such charges in 2009 by a court, which forced the daily BT to compensate Messerschmidt for libel. Together with two other DPP members in 2001, Messerschmidt was sentenced by a court for 14 days for ethnic agitation. A DPP ad in Studiomagazinet claimed that Denmark would face mass rapes, violence, insecurity, forced marriages, women would be oppressed, and gang crime if the country became a multiethnic society.

Politiken is one of Denmark’s biggest dailies. A tweet below lists some of the xenophobic stands of the DPP below. Is this the type of country Soini wants for Finland?

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Is Finland on the path of becoming an isolationist, nationalistic and xenophobic country?

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Finland hasn’t been itself for a number of years, especially after a populist Euro-skeptic and anti-immigration party, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, rose to the political major leagues in the 2011 elections.

Sadly Finland appears today lost politically. it is like a blind person using as its seeing-eye dog nationalism and xenophobia. It has become a country that has not only lost its self-confidence but in some cases fears its own shadow.

That shadow that it fears is in the form of the worst populism, nationalism and xenophobia. Challenging those three social ills is difficult for some Finns because what they are seeing is themselves in the mirror.

I am especially saddened by the present state of Finland. I am disappointed because I know this country has overcome great adversity and can do better. Blaming others and scapegoating is the way cowards do things.

Finland isn’t a country of the masses but of individuals who can make all the difference.

The roots of Finnish xenophobia can be found in the media. This billboard from tabloid Ilta-Sanomat states that the Somalis aren’t leaving but staying in Finland. Source: Migration Institute.

Continue reading “Is Finland on the path of becoming an isolationist, nationalistic and xenophobic country?”

PS report claims that Finnish “red-green” journalists believe that the party is racist and therefore live in a bubble

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* thinktank Suomen Perusta believes that journalists in Finland live in a red-green bubble, reports Helsingin Sanomat. According to Marko Hamilo, who did the report, claims that support for the Greens and the left is “over-represented” among journalists when compared with the rest of the population.

“Studies made in other parts of the world show that journalists are more represented by the values of liberal and left-wing parties than the rest of the population on average,” he said. “Opinion polls made in Finland show the same tendency. Among journalists the Greens enjoy strong support when again the Perussuomalaiset is the least popular party among the media.”

Hamilo adds: “They [journalists] really believe that the Perussuomalaiset are racist. They really live in that kind of a bubble.”

Are the PS racist? This is an oversimplified claim by Hamilo but they are the only party in Finland that says pretty racist and bigoted things about migrants and minorities. They are near-constantly stressing “us” versus “them” and thereby polarizing society. If the PS didn’t say and act in such a racist manner there wouldn’t be any need for Migrant Tales.

Most of the over 2,000 stories we’ve published since 2007 are about racism in Finland and in the PS.

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UPDATE (June 10): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link.

June 10

Suurlähetystö joutuu selittelemään Timo Soinia: “Ymmärretään usein väärin täällä Saksassa (Ilta-Sanomat)

What’s wrong with this story? The headline offers us an answer to the latter question why their new boss, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Foreign Minister Timo Soini, is commonly misunderstood by the German media. What has the German media “misunderstood” about Soini? The Finnish embassy spokeswoman stated that the PS is commonly seen in a negative light by the German media and labelled as a far right party. In all of the seven German dalies quoted in the Ilta-Sanomat story, none of them claim that Soini’s party is “far right” but “right-wing populist” and “EU-skeptic.” If Ilta-Sanomat were interested in quality journalism it would ask why there is such a perception of the PS in the German media in the first place and are they wrong in claiming that it is a right-wing populist, anti-immigration and anti-EU party? A lot of stories and names could serve as sources to reinforce the latter: Jussi Halla-aho, Olli Immonen, Juho Eerola, Teuvo Hakkarainen, Olli Sademies, Teemu Lahtinen, Jussi Niinistö, Harri Tauriainen, Tommi Rautio, Tony Halme, Hanna Mäntylä, James Hirvisaari, who was sacked from the party, and many, many others.

Continue reading “UPDATE (June 10): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism”

Juha Sipilä’s government is one of the few in the world that still ponders whether immigration is good for the host country

Posted on June 7, 2015 by Migrant Tales

The Finnish government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä must be one of the few if not the only one in the world that is still pondering whether immigration is good or bad for the country. Even if the new government decided to carry out such an assessment by an independent body, thanks to pressure by the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, it’s universally accepted by economists that immigration is good for the host country.

But plans to carry out such an assessment not only shows the xenophobic mindset of the PS but the shameful lack of leadership of the country’s two major parties in government, the Center Party and National Coalition Party (NCP).

A recent study by the OECD showed that immigration boosted the Finnish economy by 0.16% in 2011 including pensions.

This story by YLE was a good example of questionable journalism in Finland. Find out why here.

Such plans to commission such an assessment are also a direct insult to all migrants and minorities living in this country.

The only party that has criticized the assessment on the cost of immigration is the Swedish People’s Party. Its chairman Carl Haglund said Saturday that “it remains a mystery how we’ll succeed at luring people to move to our country when Sipilä and his buddies are standing at the border labeling [newcomers] on the forehead with a price tag.”

Not only is the government unsure whether immigration is good or bad for Finland, immigration affairs are handled today by PS Minister of Justice and Employment Jari Lindström, who is a former paper mill worker and lab assistant.

Do you believe that the plight of migrants living in Finland will improve with Lindström? Do you believe that Lindström has the political will to challenge discrimination and structural racism in this country?

If you do then you know something that a lot of us don’t know.

Continue reading “Juha Sipilä’s government is one of the few in the world that still ponders whether immigration is good for the host country”

Swedish People’s Party Carl Haglund: Who wants to move to Finland knowing that a price tag will be placed on your forehead?

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Imagine a country that needs skilled labor due to the rapid graying of its population and whose new government still doesn’t know whether immigration brings benefits or not? Well that country, folks, is none other than Finland. Yes, the country that saw over 1.2 million of its people emigrate between 1860 and 1999 to the world and which saw the rise of an anti-immigration party from the minor political leagues to become the second-biggest party in parliament.

The party, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, bases its newly acquired power on its anti-immigration message and strengthening “us” against “them.”

It recently published a study, which got a lot of criticism due to its methodology, which concluded that immigration costs Finland 700 million euros.

It didn’t matter if the study had a lot of methodological holes because its main aim was to send a clear message to its voters: We don’t want migrants unless they’re white.

Government immigration affairs are under Justice and Employment Minister Jari Lindström, a former paper mill worker who later became a lab assistant.

Read full story in Finnish here.

Chairman of the Swedish People’s Party Carl Haglund had at the party’s annual convention harsh criticism or the new government and echoed what Migrant Tales has been saying for a long time.

Continue reading “Swedish People’s Party Carl Haglund: Who wants to move to Finland knowing that a price tag will be placed on your forehead?”

Feeding our amnesia and sidestepping the issues in the immigration and refugee debate

Posted on June 6, 2015 by Migrant Tales

You can remind me four years from today what I’ll say now: Very little will be resolved concerning the challenges facing our ever-growing culturally diverse society except for witch-hunts and underlining the poisonous message of “us” against “them.”

In the plainest English it means very little will be resolved concerning our ever-growing culturally diverse society because the power that parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* of Finland have today is based on nationalistic fear of the outside world and strengthening “us” against “them.”

What will, then, Center Party Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government accomplish during its four-year mandate except for greater social inequality that will in turn fuel greater anti-immigration sentiment?

Most likely it’s greatest “accomplishment” will be the further impoverishment of Finland, ever-growing poverty and society’s polarization.

Who will speak up for this dear little girl at sea? Our amnesia?

Former EU’s high representative for foreign and security policy and former secretary general of NATO, Javier Solana, writes in an opinion piece about our collective amnesia. He states:

Continue reading “Feeding our amnesia and sidestepping the issues in the immigration and refugee debate”

Xenophobia and Islamophobia get to first base in Finland: And now, what?

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Migrant Tales

Living in Finland after the April 19 parliamentary elections is like witnessing a coup where xenophobia and Islamophobia have strengthened their stranglehold on our country with the blessings of the Center Party and National Coalition Party (NCP). With the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* in government and the election of PS MP Maria Lohela as the new speaker of parliament send a disturbing signal to many Finns and especially to our ever-growing culturally diverse community.

Finland is already a culturally diverse society. If parties like the PS would have wanted to shut our borders to visible migrants they’re too late. Cultural diversity in Finland is unstoppable and will grow in the years and decades ahead.

The rise of a hostile party like the PS, yes hostile to migrants and minorities let there be no questions about that, hasn’t been clearer and more disturbing than after the elections. Their message in coded language couldn’t be clearer: We want Finland to remain white.

A good source of inspiration for social equality and change in Finland is the Civil Rights Movement (1955-68) of the United States. In some cases what MLK said is applicable to Finland. In 1982 we marched in Helsinki to parliament to speed up passage of the country’s first aliens act. Foreigners weren’t allowed back then to organize marches or participate in demonstrations.

Continue reading “Xenophobia and Islamophobia get to first base in Finland: And now, what?”