Comment: I just love whenever I read that the police is “surprised” by the rise of racist attitudes in Finland. In an interview given to YLE, Etelä-Karjala region police chief Jyrki Wasastjernan said it was a surprise that such attitudes are rising even though the number of hate crimes reported to the authorities continue to be small.
Migrant Tales has assisted some immigrants in reporting hate crimes to the police. Reporting such a crime is easier said than done.
A serious journalist should do a bit more digging and find out why so few hate crimes are reported to the police and why racist attitudes towards Russians are gaining strength in cities like Imatra. Probably one answer is that the police and authorities don’t want to admit that hate crimes are a major problem facing our society and therefore rely too much on statistics for the truth.
I am certain that a hand-on-heart chat with some random Russian residents of Imatra could reveal a lot more than statistical information.
Just because hate crimes against immigrants in Etelä-Karjala is small could reveal just the opposite: racism, which undermines trust and credibility, is seen as such a big problem by some immigrants that they don’t bother to report it. It’s a bit like living in a dictatorship. You don’t report human rights violations because you fear you could become a victim.
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Poliisin näkökulmasta rasististen asenteiden kasvaminen Etelä-Karjalassa on yllätys. Rasistisia piirteitä sisältäneitä rikoksia on kuitenkin tullut esiin vain muutamia vuosittain.