Tag: xenophobia

Saying enough is enough to the True Finns

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

It seems incredible that a populist, anti-immigration and anti-EU party can appeal to some Finns. Apart from not having any workable model for the demographic and economic challenges facing Finland, what is unacceptable of the True Finns is the party’s wholesale blacklisting of immigrants to drive home their populist agenda.

A recent example of how some True Finns fuel anti-immigrant sentiment was reported by Helsingin Sanomat. A True Finns’ candidate had placed a sign at a construction site in Helsinki claiming that a mosque would be built.

Even though these types of pranks in Helsinki reveal the opportunism of the candidate to get votes, it is surprising that nobody in the True Finns’ leadership condemns these types of shenanigans.

While the True Finns may think they are in an envious position due to their rising popularity in the polls, the big challenge that it faces is how to turn its popularity into votes and new MPs. This will be easier said than done.

Some have for good reason pictured the True Finns as a volatile bubble ready to burst at any moment. Will its bubble pop after a disappointing election or after it is clear that the party cannot deliver on its empty promises?

Immigrants are not worried about the True Finns per say. What annoys some is the negative message, xenophobic rhetoric and flagrant political opportunism: It’s ok to bash freely hard-working immigrants in Finland since it translates into votes.

The only way to deal with populism and xenophobia is to challenge it head on.  The big three parties in Finland, Kokoomus, Social Democrats and the Center, have learned the hard way that silence is the most ineffectual way of combating the rise of xenophobia and racism in Finland.

True Finns: enough is enough.

Vihreä Lanka: Suomalainen puolue järjestää Muhammed-hevitapahtuman: ”Mautonta!”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: When I read this story in Vihrea Lanka my first reaction was how far extremist parties will go to get attention. They are like little children trying with their antics to get attention. Muutos 2011 is a party that hides its xenophobia and racism by claiming that it is in favor of direct democracy, which means in plain English taking the law into your own hands.

Like the True Finns, some of their members comprise of people on the outer fringes of society. They bash others to lift themselves socially.

But don’t worry, Muutos 2011 is a taxi party: all of its members can fit in the backseat of a taxi.

What do you think about parties that give Finland and Finns a bad name?

_______________________

Suomen islamilaisen neuvoston tiedottaja Isra Lehtinen pitää ”Crushing The Balls of Muhammad” -hevi-iltaa mauttomana.

Muutos 2011-puolue järjestää 28. tammikuuta Turussa ”Crushing The Balls of Muhammad” -hevi-illan, jossa mainoksen mukaan profeettojen pallit kilisevät. Mitä ajattelet tästä?

”Mitä tulee sanoihin ´crushing the balls of Muhammad´, mielestäni se on vain mautonta. Mainos viittaa siihen, että islamista – tai siitä, mitä he kutsuvat islamiksi – lauotaan aika räväköitä juttuja.

Tapahtuman ennakkotiedotteessa puhutaan uskontojen tasa-arvosta, kun vaaditaan valtion ja kirkon erottamista toisistaan, mutta se ja Muhammad-puheen sävy eivät sovi yhteen. Tulee mieleen, että puolueen riveissä on erityisesti islaminvastaisuutta.”

Kuinka reagoitte tapahtumaan?

”Lähetän ennakkotiedotteen nähtäväksi Suomen islamilaisen neuvoston hallitukselle. Toisaalta olisi hyvä, että ottaisimme julkisesti kantaa. Toisaalta voi miettiä, onko se kannanoton arvoinen.

Voisimme lähettää mielipiteemme Muutos 2011:lle, mutta voi käydä niin, että sieltä alkaa tulla kauheasti sähköpostia perään. Ei meillä ole aikaa ryhtyä mittavaan sähköpostikeskusteluun kahden palkatun työntekijän voimin.”

Muutos 2011 ehdottaa kirkon ja valtion erottamista toisistaan. Mitä mieltä olet siitä?

”En suoraan kannata kirkon ja valtion erottamista, koska äänet, jotka sitä vaativat, ajavat usein maallistuneemman yhteiskunnan asiaa. Jos erottamisen kautta yhteiskunnasta tulee moniuskontoisempi, siinä ei ole ongelmaa.

Ei muslimeillekaan ole riemun aihe, että paljon ihmisiä on eronnut viime aikoina kirkosta. Se on merkki maallistumisesta.”

Pelottaako perussuomalaisten huikea gallup-menestys?

”Huolestuimme siitä jo kunnallisvaalien alla ja Jussi Halla-ahon suosion myötä. Suomeen on tullut myös koulutetun keskiluokan rasismia, mitä täällä ei ole ollut aikaisemmin. Toisaalta jos perussuomalaiset päätyvät hallitukseen, kannanotot luultavasti maltillistuvat. Tutkimusten mukaan hallitusvalta tekee näin radikaaleille.

Huono puoli on se, että isot puolueet saattavat kosiskella perussuomalaisten äänestäjiä´ottamalla huomioon maahanmuuttokriittisyyttä´.”

The real test for Finland’s educational system

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

All of us who have children in Finland are familiar with the high quality of our educational system. Its high standards have been noticed abroad by the 2009 OECD Pisa study, which placed Finland in third place after Shanghai and South Korea.

Irrespective of the high academic achievement of these countries, they are not free from a social ill like racism. Unfortunately the Pisa results don’t measure how well students deal with different cultures.

If some newspaper articles are anything to go by, racism and xenophobia in  China and South Korea are a cause for concern. Even in Finland we have seen such a worrying trend. A good example will be the April elections in Finland and how many politicians will get elected with the help of their anti-immigration and Islamophobic stances.

I personally believe that our high academic standards should save us from populism and xenophobia, or at least keep these social ills in check. One of the cornerstones of our educational system is equality. When we speak of this nobel societal value we mean equality for all people irrespective of their background.

For some parties like the True Finns, Muutos 2011, Vapauspuolue, and for certain representatives of major Finnish parties like the Social Democrats (Kari Rajamäki) and Kokoomus (Wille Rydman), equality does not apply to all members of our society.

If we allow racism and xenophobia to get the best of us in the next parliamentary elections, it will not only end up harming this country’s future but reveal how our educational system has failed.


What racism means to me

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

For me, racism, like indifference, is the worst social ill that inflicts our societies. Because racism has to survive and because racism is astute, it has found many ingenious ways of hiding its sinister self and motives.

Even so, racism is the same ogre that has appeared throughout time and it is the same culprit that still robs humanity from realizing its full potential.

If racism and nationalism did not exist in the same quantity as today, imagine how many resources would be freed to eradicate poverty and social injustice? Imagine how much we’d accomplish if peace reigned as much as war does at present?

Racism means lost opportunities, impoverishment, postponing hopes, accepting evil as good, justifying war and arming ourselves to the teeth, even justification one day to censor these words.

Racism paralyzes societies by injecting them, as a junkie uses heroine, with fear. It serves greedy politicians, short-sighted public servants and other subcontractors of this social malice.

Racists have no scruples.  They insult whole groups on the basis of their ethnic and religious background. Even so, they are not the most dangerous but those that quietly maintain the present social status quo.

If racism gets the best of us in Finland, it means forfeiting our promising future, giving as a present to open societies our greatest minds, replacing innovation with protectionism and, most importantly, our courage to explore the New. We will charge to its questionable clarion call against imagined enemies, die and be forgotten in future wars planned today behind closed doors.

Racism is astute because as you read these warnings about its devastating force,  you may push them aside and conclude that I am only exaggerating.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Swiss deportation referendum success puts human rights at risk

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Amnesty International urges the Swiss authorities at all levels not to enforce the deportation of foreigners convicted of certain criminal offences if this will result in human rights violations after voters backed the move in a referendum on Sunday.

If the results of the referendum known as the ’Deportation Initiative’ are implemented, the Swiss constitution would be amended to permit the “automatic” and immediate deportation of non-citizens convicted for certain criminal offences to their countries of origin.  According to media sources 52.9% per cent of the votes were in favour of the amendment.

Foreign nationals convicted for several criminal offences, including murder, rape, (armed) robbery, trafficking in persons and in drugs, as well as welfare benefit fraud, will be immediately stripped of their residence permit and right to remain in the country.

The Swiss People’s Party used xenophobic publicity materials. © Qtea

“If put into practice, the amendment to the constitution risks violating Switzerland’s obligations under international law, in particular the obligation not to return anyone to a country where they would be at risk of torture or other forms of persecution,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Programme Director.

“Switzerland cannot, and must not, allow popular — and xenophobic — initiatives to override its obligations under international law. Switzerland should also grant persons subject to deportation the opportunity to appeal any decision.”

The amendment required by the referendum removes any possibility of appealing the deportation order, which would be made by a regional migration office. The removal of the right to appeal would also put Switzerland in breach of its international obligations.

The move could put many second and third generation migrants at risk of deportation. Those whose parents were not Swiss citizens at the time of their birth, and retain the nationality of their families’ country of origin, could be deported if the amendment is implemented.

The Deportation Initiative took place following a campaign launched by the populist Swiss People’s Party that resorted to openly discriminatory and xenophobic publicity materials, including a poster with a slogan “Ivan S. – a rapist and soon Swiss?” and another with a cartoon graphic depicting a black sheep being kicked out of Switzerland by white sheep.

A just ending for racist graffiti in Mikkeli in eastern Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

I got an email from Zuzeeko who writes the neat On the Road to Success blog and recently launched with some other people a new magazine called Dunia. This is what he wrote: 

Wow! Glad to hear the racist graffiti are now history. I consider this a success for Kansainvälinen Mikkeli Ry and the good people of Mikkeli. Sincerely, I never thought the graffiti in the pedestrian tunnel would be removed. Congratulations! This is worthy of an update on the blog. Don’t you think?

He is absolutely right.  We wrote about the matter on Migrant Tales but nothing about how the second graffiti was removed. The fate of the second spray-painting in Mikkeli in eastern Finland was reported by Kansainvälinen Mikkeli (International Mikkeli) on Facebook on November 2.

This wall had sprayed blacks out while the other one on a school wall read “White power.” Both were painted over by city employees in early November and early October, respectively. This shows what a group of determined people can do to make Mikkeli a more pleasant place to live.

Ridding the graffiti was not only a victory for Kansainvälinen Mikkeli but for all the people of the city. It is a clear message that we take a very tough view of racism.

I was surprised, however, that even if a teacher had seen the “White power” graffiti on the wall he had done nothing about it after he had noticed it in spring.

When I approached the teacher about the matter in September, he considered it more important to tell me that whenever anti-immigration parties like the True Finns and Muutos 2011 are labelled racists whenever they criticize foreigners.

Was this the reason why he preferred to do nothing for so many months and in the process put in question the values of our world-class educational system?

Racists out of the Finnish closet

Posted on by Migrant Tales

If I had to ask a question about racism in Finland today, I would try to understand its extent and how it manifests itself. Why has racism raised its head today in Finland? Should we thank those that have exposed this murky side of ourselves?

It was easy in the past for some Finns to be racist because they did not have to acknowledge it as a problem. Since it was rarely identified if ever debated for as long and passionately as today it was therefore not seen as an issue.

Those that insult other immigrants with their populist statements commit a grave blunder: They believe racism and exclusion are normal and a part of our heritage (sic!).

What makes their platform even more suspect is that they take such stands for the purpose of getting elected never mind offer any effective solution on how to build good ethnic relations in Finland.

Whom am I speaking of? Those that use funny arguments like “freedom of expression” to justify their far-right nationalistic agendas. Even so, it is a good matter that they have come out of the closet in droves in Finland.

Coming out has given sensible Finns the opportunity to address effectively once and for all this social ill. If it is a small or big problem is not the issue. The most important matter is that it is out in the open for all of us to see.

We can now address this issue more effectively than ever before. Finland has all the resources and good will to do so.

Polls are polls in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The recent rise of the anti-immigration True Finns in the polls should be taken with a generous dose of salt. Does it represent the will of the people and how much of it will translate into MPs for the True Finns in the April 2011 elections is another story.

What is interesting, however, is how the other parties are reacting to the poll results.

In many respects the polls have helped a lot of extremist views to get out of the closet. Such people mistakenly believe that it is now normal to have far-right views on matters such as immigration since the “polls tell us that we are no longer a small minority.”

Some members of the left are labelling the True Finns a fascist party while those in the right like to call them populists.  What about if we called them an anti-immigration party that does not like anything foreign? By foreign I mean the EU, immigrants, diversity etc. Is that the type of Finland Finns want to build in the future? I doubt it.

There are many reasons why the True Finns have fared well in the polls. The recession is a key factor as well as the scandals that have ridden Finland’s ruling political parties.

Should we be worried about the rise of xenophobia in Finland? Certainly yes. Is it a problem? Not really but could become one if we continue to give it more attention than is necessary. In every society there will be extremists. The best defense against these radical groups is our democratic liberal system that permits freedom of speech no matter how outrageous their message is.

A lot of things can happen until the April elections. One matter is for certain: The extremists of the True Finns party are a minority in every sense of the word.

Their dubious success does not depend on their message but on our reaction to it.

Keep a cool head, Finland.

Freedom of expression and religion

Posted on by Migrant Tales

What does freedom of expression mean? For me it represents a Montesquieuian framework of society where all the parts watch over the other. These checks and balances are crucial to ensure that basic civil liberties enshrined in documents such as the UN Declaration of Human Rights are vigorously defended and encouraged.

Even though the law is pretty clear what ethnic incitement is, it is an important safeguard that won’t allow certain groups to go on a vigilante rampage against certain minorities.

Freedom of speech works in the same way in the United States but with a very big difference. US’ mosaic society, which comprises of many ethnicities, has learned to live in relative peace after the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Europe is still light years away from the United States never mind Canada. All we have to do is open our history books and read about the horrors that took place in the former Yugoslavia, the racism that groups like the Roma suffer, and the Nazi Germany regime that over-dosed on its own madness.

Some Europeans still live so far back in time that they believe that diversity and innovation are threats.

The aforementioned are stark reminders of how Europe is still having a difficult time coexisting with minorities. That is one reason why the rise of far-right groups in Europe are a cause for concern.

Motives are another aspect that puts into question those ultra-right nationalistic groups. Are they really interested in defending everyone’s civil liberties if the first thing they would do if in power would be to put minority rights in cold storage? Can you trust a group that claims to defend civil rights with one hand and bashes certain minorities with another?

Do you set a good example for others to embrace your culture if the first thing that you show them is your loathing?

Any sensible person with a strong sense of justice and equality would not go around insulting and inciting other ethnic groups because they are different.

There are certain practical rules of conduct on how you behave when with members of the same groups or with those belonging to another culture. These rules only require common sense and are there because they facilitate peaceful coexistence.

Rule of thumb number one: Treat others like you would treat people in your own culture.

I personally believe that as our societies become more diverse we will find the right balance between what is appropriate and inappropriate. Such a balance will help us understand what the real meaning of freedom of expression means.

Two questionable eras in Europe with the same message

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Two posters (apologies for the offensive content) from different eras: One that is anti-semitic from Germany in 1940* and the other from a referendum in Switzerland in 2009 on a ban of building minarets on mosques.  Even though these posters were printed in different periods, the message is the same: barbarization of a group.

*The first source I used claimed the film was released in 1937. It was released in 1940. If you wish to see this horrible film, click here. Note the claims that the German narrator makes: “Jews are lazy, criminals and incompatible with our Aryan way of life.”  Sounds familiar, no?

If you still disagree, go to about 18 minutes of the film and pay close attention to these claims:

The parasite nation of Judah is responsible for a large part of international crime.

In 1932 the Jews, who made up only 1% of the world’s population, accounted for 34% of the world’s dope peddlers, 46% of robberies, 47% of crooked games of chance, 82% of international crime organizations, and 98% of dealers of prostitution. The most common expressions from the jargon of international gangsters and criminals… stem from Hebrew and Yiddish words.

At the end of the film the narrators affirms:  Keeping one’s race pure is one of the legacies of the National Socialist movement leaves to the German nation forever. In the spirit the unified German people march on into the future.