For a more comprehensive view of the report click here.
In Finland, it revealed that one in three Somali men and women in the Greater Helsinki area stated that they were victims of racially motived crimes during the past 12 months.
Writes Helsingin Sanomat: “When it comes to treatment at a bank or a shop, Finland’s Somalis emerged among the groups most discriminated against. However, compared with other countries’ minorities the Finnish Somalis were more informed of competent authorities who could give them support or advice. Yet some 69% of the interviewed Finnish Somalis said that they did not know of any organization that could offer them support services to victims of discrimination.”
The FRA survey, which is the first of its kind, is long-overdue and welcome. It is a wake up call for policy makers and for those who think that racism is a minor problem in Finland. It is, I believe, a much bigger problem that some would want to admit.
Why is racism an issue? Because it is a slap in the face to our values and society.
If one looks at some of the classics of sociological thought such as the work of the master, Emile Durkheim, defining society is no easy task. On the surface the word is simple and obvious to many, but if we study it closer, we note that it comprises of values and morals that give our existence as a group meaning.
Durkheim said that the love for one’s society and the ideal it represents is so powerful that one would rather see society disappear as a material entity than give up the ideal it represents.
Those who are suspicious of immigrants are fearful because they incorrectly believe that building a culturally diverse society will undermine that ideal, or spiritual fuel, that gives them a reason for being.
It should be pointed out that no society is perfect, but the biggest danger to our values and morals are if we send a message to immigrants and minorities that they cannot share our way of life, morals and values.
The worst way of accomplishing this noble goal is through suspicion and racism, which are an affront to our way of life. The most effective way, I believe, is that everyone who lives in Finland must be given the opportunity to take part in this society. Is the magic word, the Finnish dream?
Above all, the Finnish dream is a sense of deep belonging, accomplishment, even if some believe it to mean buying a house in the center of town next to a lake. In order to afford that home, you must feel that you are part of this society.
There are a lot of good values that can inspire others to be part of our society. Four of the most important are equality, fairness, opportunity and the acceptance of diversity.
If we want more immigrants to move to Finland, and if we want them to contribute and become members of our society, we must offer them the Finnish dream (equality, fairness, opportunity and acceptance) as a door and life’s goal.
The cost of failure is too high. If we do not offer anything else but suspicion and exclusion because they can never become Finns, we will have already built before they arrive those feared ghettos inhabited failed human beings.
The Migrant Tales blog gets a lot of posts and sometimes emails from people who speak with hand on heart about the challenges they face in Finnish society. Here is one of these that was sent to me a while back. The real name of the person has been changed.
The underlying problem in Finland is that they can never fully understand what racism is if they have never played that role of being a minority. They can fill all the facts and knowledge of the books in their head but still can never understand the true meaning behind it. And there is no arguing with them because they already know all the facts and figures.
I guess what I am trying to say is that I can’t change people’s mind about certain things. They have their own mindset of things. Hell, it took me pretty long time to re-wire my brain to think differently after all that brainwashing in Finland. Imagine, I used to have prejudice against Chinese myself. It would take a lot more for Finns to think more open-mindedly.
I spent almost all my whole adult life finding acceptance and proving myself that I was one of them with the expense of my own identity. Well, now I am just tired. I am who I am and I don’t need their acceptance. I don’t need to be one of them. And I am happy that I have found a country where difference is cherished and celebrated and where I don’t need to hide or be ashamed of being Chinese. Finland can never be my home because I can never feel comfortable enough to be myself there. And they will never see me as one of them either. So, that’s that.
Si pueden respirar una trago de odio en su forma más cruda, podríamos hacer una visita a los años de la guerra sucia (1976-1983). Te pido que estés a mi lado y que escuches a un capitán del ejército, Ernesto W, quien esta sentado en este momento detrás de su amplio escritorio.
Algunas imágenes escalofriantes cuando el silencio de los muertos descendió sobre la Argentina durante del golpe de estado del 24 de marzo de 1976.
“¡Ellos son una raza despreciable!” dice el capitán con rabia refinada que alimenta sus emociones más bestias. “¡Tengo menos respeto a los judíos que a los subervsivos! Por lo menos ellos luchan por lo que creen, a pesar de que están equivocados.”
En este momento, entre esas palabras lleno de odio, podés sentirte vulnerable y débil. Pero es importante que sigas escuchando para que puedas ver con tus propios ojos y sentir el odio que dejo a tantos en la incomprensión.
“¡Los judíos son una manga de débiles!” continúa. “Ellos nunca levantaron un dedo cuando los estaban exterminado. El error que hicieron los nazis era no exterminarlos a todos.”
Capitán EW dice que muchos jóvenes oficiales en el Ejército Argentino piensan como él. “Ya existe un grupo que se va a hacer frente a este problema (de echar a todos los judíos de la Argentina),” concluye. “Vamos a aterrorizarlos a tal punto que no tendrán otra opción que irse del país.”
Cuando yo vivía en Buenos Aires brevemente en 1977-78, escuché y sentí tanta violencia y odio que había perdido momentáneamente como escribir. Durante muchas noches en mi casa, sentado solo delante de mi máquina de escribir, trataba de escribir lo que escuché y vi. A veces tuve suerte y pude escribir un par de oraciones, como este poema que tardó más de tres décadas para despertarse:
La lucha contra la subversión
Si pudiera emplear el silencio
Incluso dar brevemente trabajo a los ecos
Bajo la inmensa noche estrellada
El rocío pondrá a los adoquines de las calles a dormir.
Las teclas de mi máquina de escribir están al rojo vivo
se sienten como una Gillette cortando mis dedos
hacen un viaje fugaz al infierno y vuelvenal mismo lugar;
es demasiado rápido para que pueda escribir todo lo que veo.
A medianoche la noche llega a un punto muerto,
los reflectores alumbran el estado de sitio
Sirenas aullando en la distancia llevando a las víctimas de la guerra.
Fuertes golpes en mi puerta y fácilmente me acorralan:
¿¡Cómo se atreven?!
¡Es la guerra contra el terrorismo!
Y otra víctima desaparece esposado y encapuchado
en medio de las sirenas que intentan abrirse paso por la barrera del silencio.
I just read an interesting post in Svenskafinland in English that talks about how Timo Soini, the head of the populist True Finns (PS), declined to sign a statement on zero tolerance towards racism.
Writes Jonas:
Today, leaders of the political parties represented in the Finnish parliament signed a statement against racism and committing their respective parties to fight racism wherever it occurs and to have a zero tolerance attitude towards any instance of racism. The leaders of all the parties committed themselves to this initiative, which originated from the Swedish People’s Party (SFP). All the leaders, except Timo Soini of the so-called ‘True Finns’ party (Perusuomalaiset).
This rather confirms that the ‘True Finns’ are quite happy, even proud, to have openly racist candidates and opinions within their party, which is a sad development for Finnish politics. There again, perhaps one should have not expected anything else from this particular party. Where questions absolutely must be asked, however, is to the Christian Democrats. The Christian Democrats have entered into an electoral alliance with the ‘True Finns’ for June’s European parliamentary election. This effectively means that a vote for the Christian Democrats is a vote for the ‘True Finns’…
PS head Timo Soini speaking at the Eduskunta (parliament).
This is indeed a sad development. Since immigrant-bashing is sexy for some populist right-wing parties such as the PS, it is a short-sighted path that will make them look like a bunch of political buffoons in the eyes of history, and/or create a lot of unwanted strife between immigrants and PS.
The PS, in my opinion, and the sometimes incomprehensible reticent attitude of some Finns to immigrants, is a bit what some have called the East Germany effect. One of the things that happened after the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the irreversible demise of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) shortly thereafter, was high unemployment and a heavy dose of racism as Messaged from the Outhouse writes in her blog still exists.
The New York Times wrote about the matter in a story published in 1990 the reasons behind the racism found in the former Communist state that was supposed to be a bastion of anti-fascism:
German political commentators seem to be at a loss to explain the new phenomenon, although there is general agreement that it represents at least partly a reaction to the years of strict punishments meted out to right-wing radicals under the Communist Government. Some of the skinheads have told journalists that their fathers had served in the Communist secret police, suggesting that joining the far right was their way of challenging parental authority.
A bit of the East German effect has rubbed off on Finland as well. Our country was pretty isolated during the Cold War era, the right-wing Kokoomus Party was forced to be in the opposition for about 20 years, it was politically incorrect to question Finland’s foreign policy never mind the Soviet Union’s, nationalism was suppressed because Finland lost two wars with its eastern neighbor… The rise of the PS could be explained in these terms as well, together with a dose of political opportunism.
If you are willing to inhale a whiff of hatred in its rawest form, I would take you to the dirty war years (1976-83) of Argentina. I would ask you to stand by my side and hear an army captain called Ernesto W, who is now seated behind a spacious desk.
Some horrifying images when cemetery silence descended over Argentina on March 24, 1976.
“They are a despicable race!” he’d say with refined rage fueling his emotions. “I have less respect for the Jews than the terrorists. At least they fight for what they believe in, even though they are misguided souls.”
At this point you may feel vulnerable and weak, but listen to him so you can see and feel what raw hatred racism is. “The Jews are weak!” he continues. “Did they ever lift a finger when they were being exterminated? The Nazis made one mistake – they didn’t exterminate all of them.”
Captain EW said that many young officers loathed Jews as much as he did. “There is already a group that is going to deal with this problem (of kicking out the Jews from Argentina),” he concludes. “We will terrorize them to the point that they will have no other choice but to leave the country.”
When I lived in Buenos Aires briefly in 1977-78, I heard and saw so much violence and hatred that I lost momentarily the ability to write. On many evenings in my home, I would sit alone in front of a typewriter and try to write down what I heard and saw. I sometimes succeeded at writing a few sentences, like the poem below that took over three decades to fruit:
The Fight Against Terrorism
If I could employ silence
Even give brief work to echoes
Under the vast starry-peppered night
Dew would put the cobblestones streets to sleep.
The keys of my typewriter are red-hot
razor-sharp to the touch;
pressed, they make a speedy journey to hell and back
too quick for me to type what I see.
At midnight the new-born morning comes to a standstill,
searchlights are combing the state of siege
high-pitched sirens howling in the distance
carrying the casualties of the war.
Strong bangs on my door
and I am easily cornered:
What’s the big idea?!
It is the war against terrorism!
And another victim vanishes handcuffed and gagged
amid sirens that attempt to tear through the silence.
Pure love and suspicion cannot dwell together: at the door where the latter enters, the former makes its exist.
French writer Alexander Dumas Père (1802-70)
Why are some Finns slow and reluctant to accept immigrants? The latest study by Magdalena Jaakkola on Finnish attitudes of foreigners shows some progress in this respect. However, we are now entering a recession and that may mean one step forward and two back.
There are many answers that may shed light to this important question. One of these can be probably found in our history. Since 1917, when Finns gained their cherished independence, this country has forged a strong national identity. Whenever we define ourselves in near-absolute terms, we end up excluding others.
Compared with other European countries such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Finland is still a young nation.
The Winter (1939-40) and Continuation War (1941-44) against the USSR took place a relatively short time ago from a historic standpoint. There was also the short and painful Civil War of 1918, when the Reds and Whites fought for power in the newly independent Finland.
If we go back even further in history, to the 19th century, when Finland was a Grand Duchy (1809-1917) of the Russian Empire, Johan Vilhem Snellman was instrumental in getting the Finnish language recognized and used at government offices and schools.
If we look at Finnish 19th and 20th century history, we see a nation of people who have had to fight tooth and nail to get their language recognized and later on win and defend their independence in three costly wars.
Even though many of us are content that the Finnish language, alongside Swedish, flourishes in this part of Europe inside the borders of an independent nation, how long will our fear and suspicion of outsiders continue to grip us? How long will history fuel our fear of national groups such as the Russians?
Why do you think that some Finns are reticent to accept immigrants? Why is cultural diversity still seen by some in this country as something negative?
How long will it take for our suspicions of outsiders to die?
It was not too long ago when immigrants were a rare sight in Finland. At the end of 2007, there were a total of 132,632 foreigners living permanently in this country. The majority of them were Russians (26,205), followed by Estonians (19,965), Swedes (8,398), Somalis (4,831), Chinese (3,886), Thais (3,465) and other nationalities. Since foreign group classified by nationality does not include naturalized Finns, it is important to look at what language they claim to speak at home in order to get a better picture of how many immigrants live in Finland.
After Finland’s two official languages, Finnish and Swedish, the biggest language groups are: Russians (45,224), Estonian (19,812), English (10,589), Somali (9,810) and Arabic (8,119).*
Even though these people represent many cultural backgrounds, they are bonded by the fact that they are immigrants who have moved to a new country. They hope to forge a better life in their new homeland.
The biggest challenge that immigrants face in Finland is high unemployment. Around 20% of them are jobless compared with about 7% nationally.
The aim of the photo exhibition is to convey, with the help of seven pictures, the hopes and dreams that these immigrants and refugees have in their new homeland. They would like to live a better life. They are still faraway hopes, nearby.
* Väestökirjahallinnon taskutieto 2008
Picture 1: Sara from Afghanistan – I would like to become a pediatrician.
Picture 2: Dut from Sudan – I hope I will be able to find a place in Finnish society. I would like to study in a university. Note: Dut is holding a Bible in the Arabic language.
Picture 3: Khin Khin, Aung and Mimi from Myanmar – I hope that our child will find a good future in Finland.
Picture 4: Enrique Tessieri’s photo exhibition of immigrants.
Like the famous TV series MythBusters, Migrant Tales will start to publish its own mythbuster series. Since there is so much disinformation out there about immigrants and refugees, Migrant Tales will research and test if these myths are true.
Migrant Tales Mythbuster test 1:
Konni Ziliacus (1855-1924) was a writer and well-known champion of Finnish independence from the Russian Empire. Publisher Herman Gummerus wrote in Konni Zilliacus – Suomen itsenäisyden esitaistelija (1933) that Zilliacus claimed indirectly that blacks in Costa Rica had thicker bones than white men.
He states that Zilliacus had written to him about a Finn that had stepped in to prevent a fight on payday at a railroad camp, when the workers were partying and getting drunk. He claimed that the Finns were not getting drunk (sic?). He wrote that a Finn called Taivalmaa waved a machete at a black person’s shinbone but did not dare throw a punch at his skull because it “was thicker than normal.”
Test: Irrespective of a person’s ethnic background, there is no empirical evidence that shows that blacks have thicker skulls than other ethnic groups. The thickness of a person’s bones hinges on genetic and environmental factors. However, to claim that a black man’s skull is so thick that it could break one’s fist is preposterous.
Ei ole kulunut vielä kovinkaan paljon aikaa siitä, kun maahanmuuttajat olivat harvinainen näky maassamme. Suomessa asui vuoden 2007 lopulla vakinaisesti 132 632 ulkomaalaista. Suurin ulkomaalaisryhmä koostuu venäläisistä (26 205) toiseksi suurin ryhmä ovat virolaiset (19 965). Seuraavina tulevat ruotsalaiset (8 398), somalit (4 831), kiinalaiset (3 886), thaimaalaiset (3 465) ja muut kansallisuudet. Kansalaisuusryhmiin vaikuttaa suoraan Suomen kansalaisuuden saaneiden määrä. Lukuun ottamatta suomen ja ruotsin kieliä, seuraavat suurimmat kieliryhmät ovat: Venäjä (45 224), Viro (19 812), Englanti (10 589), Somali (9 810) ja Arabia (8 119).*
Vaikka nämä ihmiset tulevat monista eri kulttuurisista taustoista, erot heidän välillään madaltuvat, kun he muuttavat uuteen maahan. Heillä kaikilla on toivo paremmasta elämästä.
Suurimpia haasteita, mitä he kokevat, on korkea työttömyys. Noin 20% heistä on vailla työtä, kun taas suomalaisten keskuudessa työttömyys on noin 7%.
Kuvanäyttelyn tarkoituksena on pyrkiä tuomaan näiden seitsemän kuvan kautta katsaus siihen, mitä unelmia ja toiveita heillä on tulevaisuudestaan uudessa maassaan. He haluaisivat elää parempaa elämää. Toiveeni – niin kaukana, niin lähellä.
* Väestökirjahallinnon taskutieto 2008
Kuva 1: Sara, Afganistan: haluaisin opiskella lastenlääkäriksi.
Kuva 2: Dut, Sudan: Haluan löytää paikkani suomalaisessa yhteiskunnassa ja päästä opiskelemaan yliopistoon.
Kuva 3: Khin Khin, Aung ja Mimi, Myanmar: Toivon, että lapseni saisi hyvän tulevaisuuden Suomessa.
Kuva 4: Enrique Tessierin kuvanäyttely maahanmuutajista.
Posted by Enrique 
Posted by Enrique 
Posted by Enrique 
PS head Timo Soini speaking at the Eduskunta (parliament). 
