A 2011 poll showed that 66% of Finnish respondents considered

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

to be a racist country but only 14% admitted to being racist themselves. Minority groups facing the most negative attitudes were Finnish Kale, Somalis, and ethnic groups mostly consisting of Muslims. In December 2012, the Finnish Police reported an increase in cases of racism and related physical abuse. In February 2013, researchers of racism and multiculturalism reported an increase in the number of threats and abuse. In January 2013,

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

reported that immigrant children were facing an increasing amount of racist abuse. In June 2011, a researcher reported an increase in the amount of racist violence targeting children and teenagers. According to the

European Commission against Racism and Intolerance European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) is the Council of Europe’s independent human rights monitoring body specialised in combating antisemitism, discrimination, racism, religious intolerance, and xenophobia. It publishes perio ...

(ECRI) of the Council of Europe, neither Finland's Non-Discrimination Ombudsman nor its advisory board for Non-Discrimination have the financial and human resources to effectively perform according to their mandates. There is a National Discrimination Tribunal, but it cannot order compensation for victims of racial discrimination. The legal provisions of Finland's Aliens' Act are discriminatory and subject ethnic minorities to

racial profiling Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involv ...

by the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

. According to ECRI, the majority of people in Finland don't know enough about the

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

people (an indigenous ethnic minority in Finland) and are not taught enough about Sami people and culture in school. ECRI has criticized Finland for not having ratified the ILO-convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. The

Somali community in Finland Somalis in Finland are residents and citizens of Finland of Somali ancestry. Overview The first Somali immigrants came to Finland in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1990, 44 Somali students studying in the Soviet Union immigrated to Finland. ...

as well as the Finnish Roma face discrimination and racism.

Russians in Finland Russians in Finland or Russian Finns constitute a linguistic and ethnic minority in Finland. About 30,000 people have citizenship of the Russian Federation,

are discriminated against in employment.

Helsinki Regional Transport Authority case

According to a report from '' Iltalehti'', an alleged incident of racism and police brutality occurred on the evening of 4 July 2020 at the Central Railway Station of

Helsinki Metro The Helsinki Metro ( fi, Helsingin metro, sv, Helsingfors metro) is a rapid transit system serving Greater Helsinki, Finland. It is the world's northernmost metro system. It was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of p ...

. The incident centers on two youths, one white male and one black male, who were apprehended together for not having a valid ticket. According to eyewitness accounts and unverified footage of the incident that was circulating on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

, the white youth was calmly spoken to by the police before being allowed to leave, however, the black teenager was allegedly thrown down onto the floor by security staff and placed in handcuffs. One security staff member was allegedly seen pressing his knee down on the teenager's neck, at which point the victim could be seen yelling out "I can't breathe" in English, which has clearly evoked images on social media in the case of George Floyd in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

.Helsinki Times: HSL faces accusations of racism amid alleged incident on Helsinki Metro
/ref>Law enforcement officers pressed a dark-skinned boy to the ground and a storm began, in which celebrities also took part - HSL sees no racism in action: "The young man was completely uncooperative
MTV Uutiset: Järjestyksenvalvojat painoivat tummaihoisen pojan maahan ja alkoi somemyrsky, johon osallistuivat julkkiksetkin – HSL ei näe toiminnassa rasismia: "Nuori oli täysin yhteistyökyvytön"
(in Finnish) According to security staff and HSL department chief Janne Solala the white youth was cooperative, provided his ID when asked and didn't try to resist so force wasn't needed. Meanwhile, after getting caught, the black teenager refused to provide his ID or any other information about himself and tried to flee from the scene. Finnish ticket inspectors have a right written in law to prevent a suspect from leaving if caught travelling without a valid ticket, and by the same law a person travelling without a ticket is required to provide their ID to the ticket inspector. According to Solala, this situation had nothing to do with racism, race or gender because security staff will use similar force on anyone who is resisting and noncooperative, native Finns included. Also, written statements and security camera footages indicated that excessive force was not used in this situation by the security staff.

References

Works cited

* {{Europe topic, Racism in

Racism in Europe

Helsinki Regional Transport Authority case

See also

References

Works cited