Were yesterday’s [Saturday’s] spot checks [at Puhos] necessary? Were they implemented with respect or to humiliate them?
Abdi Muhis
Migrant Tales visited Sunday the Puhos shopping center of Eastern Helsinki and asked people, and business establishments after the police, National Border Guards, Regional Administrative Agencies (AVI), Customs, Rescue Department, and the City of Helsinki health inspectors carried out spot checks the previous day.
The spot checks didn’t involve all business establishments at the Puhos shopping center but some.
A Somali called Appa, alleges and was surprised that the police with dogs tried to go to the mosque.
The police carrying out spot checks in a coffee shop next to the mosque.
“There were about 15 police and three dogs and we said they could not go to the mosque with dogs and shoes,” said Appa. “The police were disrespectful. I asked one policeman what he’s doing and he responded that ‘this is our country and can ask for your identification.'”
Appa said that everyone who came or went to the mosque was registered by the police.
The Puhos shopping center located in Eastern Helsinki. Photo: Muhammed Shire.
“Some, who didn’t have any identification were taken away by the police,” Appa continued.
Another Somali, who called himself “No Name,” said that the spot checks on Saturday, which took place between 3 and 9 pm at the mosque, were meant “to make us feel inferior and that we are second-class citizens.”
At another store, the Somali owner didn’t want to talk about the spot checks and asked us to leave. Another one, we spoke to said that “it’s normal,” suggesting that black people get regularly stopped in Finland by the police.
One manager of a large ethnic store blamed the spot checks on “too many foreigners.” She admitted that such spot checks aren’t good because they scare away customers.
At a Kurdish restaurant, a worker admitted that the police acted with disrespect. They asked the customers who were at the restaurant for their identification.
“The police was disrespectful,” the employee, who is a Finnish citizen, said. “The customers were all surprised and they asked us what’s happening.”
Some people we approached did not want to talk to us even if we told them that we’re doing a story for Migrant Tales. We concluded that they may fear reprisals from the authorities if they did.
A baker who got spot checked said that everything went well and that these types of spot checks “were normal.”
They have no right to attack muslims, religion does not make a human bad or good ! but okay yes, here is Finland and everything can happens to you, you dont know what will happen to you when you leave home in the morning.
Everything is normal here , oh yes, just for you, because you are a foreigner.
You are guilty, why are you a foreigner ?
If you are a foreigner, then police can do whatever they want against you.
Is that
Modern slavery system? oh no, not modern , at least not, but completely wild slavery system. racist slavery system.
Insult people because they are african, they are muslim, they are Arab, they have black hair, they say NO, they are intelligent and they can see the truth, … they can see your real face, they are aware …
It is a civil war, a real war, its not joking, it is a terror, polices are terrorist, real terrorist, they are looking for terrorist but better they go and look at the mirror, so they can find real terrorists .
What they want of some poor people who go to mosque for peace, for contact with eachother, for a hello and how are you???
You dont accept them in this social, so they have one place to go, and thats a mosque, and again you atack them in mosque? shame on you !
Checking people in restaurant? people go to restaurant for eating, what hungy people can do with bread and food and dish against this country ?
Why they dont let kurdish people and other foreigners work in peace and comfort?
Finnish police is a real virus, big virus in this social.
And who will judge them?
Yes
Who will judge polices?
Oh sorry, what a wrong question, they are perfect and yes judge is just for us !
But migrant, muslims, asylum seekers, africans are guilty.
Finland has no problem at all inside its social and government and economic and parliament and president, the only problem is us, foreigner !