Tag: xenophobia

The oddly unspoken topic of racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

“Racism is a refuge for the ignorant. It seeks to divide and to destroy. It is the enemy of freedom, and deserves to be met head-on and stamped out.”
Pierre Berton (1920-2004)

Many visitors have come and gone on Migrant Tales. Those that jump the MT ship the soonest are those who choose to justify a social ill like racism. Some have gone as far as to claim that there is no racism in Finland.

A recent blog entry by Mark highlights how hate and racism are perpetuated even by the police.

Establishing an autocratic regime is relatively easy in a country with poor infrastructure. In Argentina, where the country’s telephone network was mostly out of order, it was simple to shut the country from the outside world and spoonfeed censored news by the military rulers to the public.

Irrespective of the censorship that was imposed on Argentina in the 1970s, people did have access to newspapers like Le Monde, The Guardian, Washington Post and others that wrote regularly about the human rights violations committed by the military junta.

If we have in Europe enough historical information and evidence that show us beyond any doubt the destruction that xenophobia and racism have caused on our continent, why do we still consider such social ills worthy of our support?

If you are a pessimist, the answer you may hear may shock you: People and politicians support xenophobic and racist behavior because they are xenophobic and racist themselves.  In Argentina, the military regime, which was one of the most ruthless in Latin America in the last century, was able to carry out its crimes thanks to the support it had from the public.

There must be something wrong with our educational system if we’re still influenced so much by xenophobia, racism or autocratic regimes, which are the enemies of our freedom.

A journalist from a local newspaper told me recently that the reason why they don’t write a lot about racism cases is because they don’t want to give racism any attention.

That kind of a stance is exactly what has made xenophobia and racism grow in Finland and Europe. Not noticing it, or ignoring such a social ill, will not help it go away. It will, contrarily, encourage it to become bolder.

We cannot afford to be silent in the face of those forces that aim to usurp our freedom and well-being.

Like Berton pointed out, racism must be faced head-on and stamped out.

The same face of intolerance lives amongst us today

Posted on by Migrant Tales

When I was growing up in the 1970s, one of the matters that followed me around was the constant news of the mass murder and cemetery silence imposed by ruthless Latin American dictatorships. If you lived in one of those countries where human rights violations were the rule, you were confronted by two options: take up arms or be quiet. 

Kuvankaappaus 2012-12-21 kello 9.18.35
Read “Uncovering Crimes of Argentina’s Junta” here.

Much of the bloodshed that took place in Latin America during that tumultous decade could have been averted if there would have existed democratic institutions and respect for civil liberties.

It is a tragedy that millions of people were denied the right to express their opinions democratically.

In many respects, but in a different context, the same type of exclusion is taking place in many parts of Europe today. Ethnic groups like the Roma, Somalis, Turks, blacks, Muslims, Jews and other minorities are still treated like third-class citizens and with contempt in some countries.

Even if these groups are not persecuted in the same way like political dissidents in Latin America were four decades ago, they are treated with contempt. We can never be at peace as long as we allow poverty, ignorance and apathy to silence whole groups.

In many respects, but in a different context, too many Finnish politicians have shown too little interest for the rights and welfare of immigrants and visible minorities. The fact that we grant asylum to refugees and then force them to live separated for years from their families is one of many examples of their scorn.

If we look at the arguments used by right-wing anti-immigration extremist groups in Europe and Finland today, they have the same aim that autocratic regimes had to socially exclude and silence whole groups.

How long can a minority be forced to remain silent? In the United States, it took centuries before Rosa Parks ignited the Civil Rights Movement in December 1955. Hopefully different minorities in Europe react much faster.

The most important lesson we can learn from social movements like the above is that change must come from the group.

One of the oddest arguments one hears in Finland every now and then is that the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS), a party that is the breathing ground for right-wing extremism,  has helped integrate troubled politicians who are multiculturally challenged into the system.

Such a preposterous argument is, in my opinion, only a justification for our fascination with modern-day fascism.

Democracy and civil rights is not a right that one group can own at the expense of others.

Keeping it from other groups is sowing the seeds of tomorrow’s violence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taming the beast of right-wing extremism in the EU and Finland

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Our reaction to racism should be first and foremost a reaction. 

A comprehensive report published recently by the Institute for Strategic Studies in Sweden not only exposes far-right or right-wing extremism in ten European Union countries, but its historical roots as well. While these extremist groups may have different names in different countries, they are all bonded by one overriding factor: intolerance. 

Image1-44_edited-1“Multiculturalism is hazardous to your children and grandchildren,” reads a flyer of the Neo-Nazi  Suomen Kansalinen Vastarintaliike. They have become so bold that they openly spread their far-rght ideology in public and in people’s mail boxes.  This is possible thanks to the rise of parties like the Perussuomalaiset, which are the birthsite for right-wing extremism.

How is it possible that a region like the European Union, never mind a country like Finland which has one of the best educational systems in the world, can become the breeding ground for right-wing extremism and intolerance?

Some culprits could be our own national myths and the global recession, which has caused unemployment to soar.

If anything, the present threat by extremist parties to Europe and Finland should be a wake up call for us on how little work we have done in the past to challenge intolerance.

Setting aside countries like Hungary, where anti-Semitism and racism are the order of the day, Finland is probably a good candidate that could follow the same route if we don’t react soon enough.

The 19.1% victory of the anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam Perussuomalaiset (PS) party in 2011 is a good example of how extremists have regrouped and organized effectively within existing political parties that enjoy popular legitimacy.

What should be clear is that their brand of popular legitimacy is far from mainstream or anything that is close to our way of life and values. It is a Trojan Horse with a politically volatile and hostile brew packed with intolerance, populism, extremism, fascism, racism and Counterjihadism.

The deception of intolerance to its avid and silent followers is that you can control it by keeping it on a short leash. Apart from impoverishing our society in many ways, nobody can control racism because it knows no master.

If you disagree, why not ask Anders Breivik.

Institute for Strategic Studies: Preventing and Countering Far-Right Extremism – European Cooperation

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Here’s a good country-by-country report on the history and modern growth of right-wing extremism in ten European Union countries  (Sweden, UK, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Hungary, and the Slovak Republic).  

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Read full report here.

As Migrant Tales has correctly reported time and again, the biggest sources of right-wing extremism in Finland are the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party, Suomen Sisu, Hommaforum, Suomalaisuuden liitto and others.

The aim of these groups is to make right-wing extremist ideology, which always comprises of racism and xenophobia, as natural as Finnish blueberry pie.

Here are some of the main points of the report by Anne-Cahtherine Jungar:

  • Right-wing extremism has, with some exceptions, tended to develop in the form of parliamentary political parties, and has therefore probably been less prone to extra-parliamentary violence than the phenomenon in other European countries;
  • One third of the 39 True Finns parliamentarians have a background online, both with Hommaforum and Suomen Sisu. These representatives have been particularly influential in radicalizing the True Finns’ immigration policies.
  • Historically, right-wing extremism was spearheaded by the Academic Karelia Society (Akateeminen Karjala Seura) during 1922-44, the Laupa Movement (Lapua liike) during 1929-32, and Patriotic People’s Movment (Isänmaallinen Kansanliike) during 1932-44. The peace treaty with Moscow banned fascist organizations in Finland;
  • Those right-wing extremist groups which did mobilize in the late 1990s are better organised, more internationally connected, and aim for more political influence than the skinhead groups in the late 1980s;
  • According to SUPO (the Finnish security police unorganized right-wing extremism decreased towards the beginning of the 21st Century; it has recently resurged again. SUPO estimates that there are 1000 to 2000 individuals involved in the Finnish right-wing extremist environment today;
  • The Internet has been a key tool for spreading far-right ideology. The best known platforms are Hommaforum, Tundratabloids, Scripta and Varashammer. Right-wing extremism in Finland comes in the form of counterjihadism;
  • A more successful route for the extreme right milieu has been to engage with existing political parties that enjoy popular legitimacy, as Suomen Sisu has done with the True Finns.

 

 

UPDATE: Former Finnish PS councilman slapped with 120-euro fine for inciting ethnic hatred

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Tommi Rautio, the former city councillor of Köyliö in western Finland, who suggested giving a medal to a killer after he shot and killed a Muslim at an Oulu pizzeria in February, was convicted and fined 120 euros Wednesday by a Satakunta regional court for inciting ethnic hatred, reports Uusi Pori. 

Rautio, who said he was not guilty of the charges, is unemployed and depends on student aid for his livelihood.

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The former city councilman said that his writings on Facebook were done ironically.

Rautio wrote on his Facebook page:  ”If Janne is the one [who shot the foreigners at the pizzeria] then we should give Janne a medal…there is already a war going on and in every war [soldiers] are decorated.”

Rautio was sacked in March from the PS.

The former councilman ran again for councilman but was not reelected. He got nine votes.

Former Finnish PS councilman to be charged for inciting ethnic hatred

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Tommi Rautio, the former city councillor of Köyliö in western Finland, who suggested giving a medal to a killer after he shot and killed a Muslim at an Oulu pizzeria in February, will be charged for inciting ethnic hatred, reports YLE. 

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YLE reported that the Satakunta region prosecutor wants to slap Rautio with “a heavy fine” for threatening, defamatory and abusive language against immigrants.

Rautio wrote on his Facebook page:  “If Janne is the one [who shot the foreigners at the pizzeria] then we should give Janne a medal…there is already a war going on and in every war [soldiers] are decorated.”

The cold-blooded killing in Oulu, was one of four Muslim deaths reported during a tragic four-week period in January-February.

Rautio was sacked in March from the PS.

The former councilman ran again for councilman but was not reelected. He got nine votes.

One of the matters that raised some eyebrows after the Rautio affair was being covered nationally by the media, were plans by the police to not investigate the case.

The police announced three days later that it would, however, carry out an investigation whether Rautio incited racial hatred with his statements.

 

 

 

Common Ground News Service: Spreading “anti-rumours” about immigrants

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By María-Paz López

Barcelona, Spain –“They are invading us”, “They don’t respect the rules”, “They don’t pay taxes”, “They don’t want to integrate”, “They get special subsidies to open businesses”, are just a few of the often repeated accusations against immigrant communities in Spain.

To deal with rising prejudices, Barcelona City Council is now beginning its second training season of volunteer citizens, nicknamed anti-rumour patrols, whose job it will be to counter rumours or stereotypes about immigrants.

The volunteers take free courses to acquire skills to tackle prejudice. For example, in everyday situations at work, in the neighbourhood, in the supermarket or at the gym, an anti-rumour agent who might overhear someone saying, “You know, Moroccan immigrants are collapsing the Health system, they are always queuing for a doctor, with their many kids …,” could step in and counter with fact. “You know, actually, according to the authorities, immigrants go to the doctor 50 per cent less than natives, and their healthcare costs are only 4.6 per cent of the total in Spain”.

According to 2012 census data, the largest national minority groups in Barcelona are Pakistanis (23,281 individuals), Italians (22,909), Chinese (15,875) and Ecuadorians (15,551), in a city with some 1,630,000 inhabitants.

The promoters of the programme, which began two years ago, could have opted for an ideological, philosophical or human rights’ approach. Instead, they have chosen a down-to-earth, factual one.

“It is more effective” says Miquel Esteve, Town Hall commissioner for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue. “The programme strategy always uses accurate and objective information to deactivate false perceptions such as the belief that immigrants monopolise social aid, do not pay taxes, get subsidies to start businesses, collapse emergency rooms or abuse the health system.”

Using factual data and statistics, the anti-rumour agent seeks to invalidate the rumour right in front of the person who is disseminating it.

Last spring, 436 citizens received the free Town Hall trainings. A new course starting this month includes workshops that analyse how rumours, stereotypes and prejudice are created and divulged, and how they contribute to constructing an overwhelmingly negative opinion within the host community of what diversity means.

Citizens enrolled in the courses also learn to deal with their own prejudices, something that, as the trainers say, they never think they have.

Among the most frequently repeated rumours that affect the whole foreign population, the most dreadful one may be “They are invading us”. To fight it, anti-rumour agents respond: “It is actually the opposite. The foreign population in Barcelona remains very stable. Foreign residents as of 1 January 2012 totalled 282,178, or 17.4 per cent of residents, and that number in January 2011 was 278,320, 17.3 per cent of total residents. That is not fast growing”.

Another typical stereotype about immigrants – “They don’t respect the rules” – can be invalidated by saying, “You know, from 2006 to 2010, only 18 per cent of fines due to violations of the local Ordinance of Civility were for foreigners residing in Barcelona”.

Even if the economic crisis in Spain is causing municipalities to drastically cut budgets, not one Town Hall official in Barcelona – now led by a conservative nationalist mayor – has suggested cancelling this programme.

There is wide consensus of its importance for social cohesion in the city. “When we started…we discovered that false rumours about immigrants were something pretty widespread, that they harmed conviviality, and that it was something we definitely had to address”, explains Daniel de Torres, who was the Town Hall commissioner for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue when the programme started.

Good “rumours” are spreading about its success in the region. Other municipalities in the Barcelona metropolitan area have shown an interest in establishing similar programmes, and they are getting the advice and materials to do so.

It’s a powerful way for civil society to become involved in improving respect for diversity in an urban context, and it’s an idea that can travel.

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* Barcelona-based author Maria-Paz Lopez is Senior Religion Writer at the Spanish daily La Vanguardia and chairs the steering committee of the International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ). This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 04 December 2012, www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.

Read original blog entry here.

This piece was reprinted by Migrant Tales with permission.

Social inclusion is never voluntary in a land where racism is king

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Even if the late King Jr. was gunned down in 1968, that quote is still valid today. In Finland it would read in the following manner: “Social equality is never voluntarily given by the majority; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” 

We have discussed on many Migrant Tales blog entries about racism and social exclusion. If we look at this social ill in Finland, it could be placed in two periods: pre- and post-April 2011.

Before last year’s historic parliamentary election, when an anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam party won 39 seats, it’s clear that racism and xenophobia are influential political forces that not only give you votes, but power.

No modern political party in this country has ever tapped the undercurrent of Finnish racism as successfully as the Perussuomalaiset (PS).  Even if the popularity of the PS has weaned from 2011, its anti-immigration candidates did well in the October municipal elections.

Racism has found a good home in Finland to spread roots and survive. The same social ill that is impoverishing our country today by scaring away skilled immigrants and foreign investment, has been around since we became an independent nation in 1917.

Back then, our racism and xenophobia were mainly fueled by the former Soviet Union and Russia.

Racism flourishes in these parts because it is profitable and because too many want to keep it that way.

Racism destroys lives in Finland by robbing opportunities. If you aren’t resourceful to challenge this social ill as an immigrant or visible minority, it will keep you in limbo indefinitely.

One reason why large political parties in Finland have been so slow to react to the menace of the PS is that they too are white. Many house the same reactive attitudes about “otherness” as the PS.

Some parties are now waking up to the PS threat. It’s not because they are anti-racist, but because they see that party as a threat to their political base.

Since we understand a little how racism operates and grows in these parts, the most important step we should take is to trust ourselves.  We are the only ones who will spearhead our inclusion and acceptance issues in this society.

Here are some things you can do now to start changing things:

  • Learn as much as you can about the society you live in
  • Learn how social exclusion and racism thrive in such a society
  • Standing up for your rights will help your discover your new identity in your new homeland
  • Start up a blog or join one like Migrant Tales
  • Get politically active and speak out
  • Be outspoken, brave and have empathy
  • Demonstrate if needed
  • Go on hunger strike if needed
  • Start a petition if needed
  • Lead by example (we cannot change the world but we can influence those around us)
  • Be patient and persistent

 

 

The PS’ anti-immigration message suffers a hard blow

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Despite the fact that the debate in Finland on immigrants and immigration has taken a turn for the worse in some respects, it’s not as bad as it used to be before the April 2011 parliamentary elections and when Anders Breivik went on his murderous rampage on July 22, 2011. While anti-immigration politicians still want to inflame public debate, their message no longer carries the same weight as before.  

Certainly there are still many Finns who believe that what these anti-immigration politicians say is true but not as many as such politicians would like.

Take a look at this video clip of a then-confident Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho being interviewed in 2009 on Voice Häräämö. Why doesn’t he appear any longer on such programs as an “immigration expert (sic!)?”

Answer: loss of credibility and  because reporters are more critical than before of their message.

It must be frustrating for politicians, who base their popularity on anti-immigration rhetoric, to see their message fall on its face after being cut off at the knees by time.

This situation especially worries the biggest anti-immigration loudmouths of the party like MP James Hirvisaari, who recently claimed the PS did poorly in the municipal elections because it wasn’t outspoken enough on immigration issues as before.

Is this the main reason for the PS’ poor showing due to the credibility of its anti-immigration message? Did they do poorly in the municipal elections because of the crackpot stuff they say and do to gain attention?

Most likely.

If anti-immigration politicians of the PS are interviewed by the media today, it’s doubtful that any sensible person would take them seriously never mind any good reporter.

The same ogres that these politicians unleashed against immigrants follow them around like ghosts: racism, fascism and far-right ideology.

Finland is slowly but surely learning to distinguish between what is and what isn’t racism, what is and what isn’t far-right ideology.

This is a positive matter, but a lot more work needs to be done to rid this menace that threatens our society today.

 

 

 

 

 

Send kudos to those who speak out against racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

We must change the ever-adverse debate against immigrants and visible minorities in Finland.  The way to end it is by giving our silence a voice and by sending kudos to those who have the courage to speak out against racism and prejudice.

Source: Lake Harriet Community School.

Migrant Tales would like to give kudos Tuija Väyrynen of the city of Kouvola, who said that racism and social exclusion are on the rise in her city.

For a city official to show her concern about such a worrisome social ill is one matter, but publishing it in the local newspaper with her real name shows courage and sets a good example.

In Finland, there are many people from all walks of life who are just as concerned about the rise of intolerance as Migrant Tales. We should therefore take the time to show our admiration to such people for the bravery.

To read the original story on Kouvolan Sanomat click here.