Finnish Immigration Policy Limits Freedom of Expression

According to the national security review published by the Finnish Security Intelligence Service on Tuesday, homeschooling may, in the long run, increase security threats related to the fragmentation of society. This risk is heightened by the fact that it is extremely difficult for authorities to monitor the teaching that takes place in homeschooling and in informal homeschooling institutions.

The parliamentary parties also share concern about these security threats. Their proposed solutions range from more effective oversight of homeschooling to an unambiguous compulsory school attendance requirement, with exceptions granted only for extremely compelling reasons.

It is therefore likely that the next government programme will include more or less radical restrictions on children’s homeschooling. At the same time, this would reduce people’s freedom of choice regarding the upbringing of their children.

In practice, this change is occurring as a result of the immigration policy pursued in Finland, because it has brought both radical Islamism and—partly as a reaction to it, as well as to other forms of “wokeism”—far-right extremism into our society. According to the head of the Finnish Security Intelligence Service, Juha Martelius, these are precisely the kinds of undesirable phenomena that are increasingly being promoted in homeschooling environments.

It remains to be seen, however, how well the negative impact of immigration on people’s freedom will be recognized in Finnish public debate. That is, on the constitutional right which states that “everyone has the right to life, personal liberty, integrity and security.”

The debate about compulsory schooling described above is, of course, only part of this process. It is also connected to, for example, threats and fears related to safety—especially for women but also for young people—as well as restrictions on freedom of speech in accordance with an Orwellian understanding of language.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Jimmie Åkesson Is Sweden’s Most Widely Accepted Politician
On Freedom, Debate, and the Murder of Charlie Kirk
Finally, Honest Reporting on Immigration and Crime

The original blogpost in Finnish:
Maahanmuuttopolitiikka rajoittaa ihmisten valinnanvapautta

Russia’s Shadow Fleet Exposes Gaps in International Law

A ship that had been dragging its anchor – Fitburg – damaged a cable running along the seabed of the Gulf of Finland yesterday. The Finnish Border Guard acted with its customary efficiency, documented the dangling anchor with photographs, and took the vessel into custody.

The case will next proceed to a more detailed investigation and, in due course, undoubtedly to court. This in itself sounds good, but I would like to draw your attention, dear readers, to what happened last October.

At that time, the Helsinki District Court announced that it would not examine the charges – in a similar case – against the vessel Eagle S, which belongs to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, nor the compensation claims based on those charges. The court held that Finland’s Criminal Code could not be applied to the case.

The matter was commented on at the time by Member of Parliament Jarno Limnéll (National Coalition Party), who stated that “clearer legislation and international agreements are needed that give states the ability to deal with acts of this kind also in exclusive economic zones and international waters.” However, no such measures have emerged during the past couple of months.

For this reason, it seems clear to me that the Fitburg incident – quite evidently a cable sabotage operation ordered by Russia – is, logically speaking, a consequence of the Helsinki District Court’s decision and the shortcomings of international legislation. It is obvious that if breaking cables carries no consequences, Putin’s administration can continue sabotaging them without concern.

It is therefore easy to predict that cables running along the seabed of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea will continue to be damaged – so to speak, “by accident” – in the future. And this will likely continue until the necessary provisions are enacted in international law, despite the expected opposition from Russia and its proxies.

* * *

If one wishes to see something positive in the Fitburg case, it is undoubtedly the efficiency of the actions taken by the Finnish authorities. The cable damage was investigated quickly, and the perpetrator was also stopped.

Because of the legislative problem mentioned above, the only sanction available against the ship’s owner and/or crew will likely be to look for deficiencies in the vessel’s condition, thereby delaying its departure. In this way, the crew would at least be forced to loiter for a while off the coast of Kirkkonummi.

It would be interesting to know whether the shipowner and/or its crew have made an agreement with Vladimir Putin’s administration regarding compensation for those days in rubles or in some stronger currency. The exchange rate of the ruble has recently been in a decline reminiscent of that famous cow’s tail, so the value of days compensated in Russian currency decreases over time.

In any case, any deficiencies found on the vessel must be investigated before it is allowed to leave Finnish territorial waters. And, of course, even the smallest faults discovered on the ship should be required to be carefully repaired before departure clearance is granted – to the vessel and its crew alike.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Is Cable Cutting a Crime Without Punishment?
Sabotage in the Baltic Sea Sparks Calls for New Maritime Borders
Finland Detains Russia-Linked Ship Suspected of Cable Damage

The original blogpost in Finnish:
Kansainvälinen lainsäädäntö kannusti Fitburgin kaapelisabotaasiin

Two Recent Life-Threatening Crimes in Finland

A recent news report stated that a 15-year-old student at a Finnish school had stabbed another student of the same age. According to the police, the perpetrator is currently at large, but his identity is known.

No description of the attacker has been released in the news reports, so I looked into what kind of school the incident took place in. The school is located in Lahti, a city of about 120,000 residents roughly an hour’s drive from Helsinki.

According to an education website, the school serves not only degree-preparatory students but also lower secondary students in grades 7–9, students in flexible basic education, and those in preparatory education for immigrants. The school has a total of about 660 students and offers specialized instruction in sports and STEM subjects.

Salpausselkä Comprehensive School was founded in 1957, and an extensive renovation was completed in 2017. The facilities are modern and multipurpose. There are about 60 teachers, teaching assistants, and other staff members in total. The school engages in international cooperation with partner schools abroad and maintains broad partnerships with local companies.

The aforementioned degree-preparatory program is intended for learners who do not yet have a secondary qualification and who, for one reason or another, need preparatory training — in practice, this means immigrants or Finnish students who have dropped out of school.

It remains to be seen when the police will apprehend the attacker — and what information about them will eventually be made public.

* * *

The school stabbing in Lahti is not the only recent act of violence making headlines. Yesterday, in Helsinki, a 20-year-old young man reportedly attempted to shoot a 16-year-old boy he knew.

According to a police spokesperson, “extensive investigative measures have been carried out, through which we have been able to clarify further details about the course of events. Based on this information, I consider that the suspected act meets the criteria for attempted murder.”

It thus appears that Finland may be rapidly following what is often referred to as “the Swedish path” — marked by a sharp increase in violent crimes connected to the country’s demographic changes in recent decades, something Swedish authorities have been warning their Finnish counterparts about for years.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Attitudes Toward Immigrants Are a Problem in Schools
678 Bomb Attacks in Six Months: Netherlands Faces Alarming Trend
Burning a Man Alive Led to Life Imprisonment

Attempted Homicides in Finland Reach Highest Level of the 2000s

In January–June, Finnish authorities became aware of a total of 48 homicides, which is four more than during the same period last year. Last year as well, the number of homicides increased compared to previous years.

In Finland, as many as 48 homicides were committed in the first half of this year. This is the highest number recorded for the first half of a year since 2014.

The change in the number of homicides has been rapid, as in 2023 the total was only 57. Last year, the number rose to 89, and this year—if the pace of the first half continues—it could approach one hundred.

Whether one hundred homicides is a lot or a little is not a straightforward question. One only needs to look back one generation, to the 1990s, when an average of about 140 homicides were committed annually—nearly half more than in the first half of this year.

On the other hand, there has also been an increase in attempted homicides in the first half of the year, with as many as 209 cases reported to the police during the first six months. This means that the number of attempted homicides in Finland was the highest in the entire 2000s.

Naturally, one might wonder whether something unusual lies behind the rise in homicides. So, I ran a Google search with the word “murhasi” (meaning “murdered”) to find a few random cases to examine.

In the first case, a 60-year-old man—apparently of Roma background based on his name—was reported to have been convicted in court of murdering his partner with a knife. In the second case, a 30-year-old man is suspected of murdering his mother, also with a bladed weapon. In the third case, a man in his thirties killed his parents, both over 70, with a pocketknife when they came to his apartment.

Based on these examples, the use of knives continues to be a recurring feature in Finnish homicides, meaning that in this sense nothing particularly unusual has occurred. Thus, at least for now, the share of immigrants in Finnish homicides is not emphasized in the same way as, for example, in Sweden, where by 2017 their share had already risen to 72 percent.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
A Sudanese Man Killed His Wife – So What?
The Finnish Stabber Has a Long Track Record of Violence
The root causes of racist violence

Finland Detains Russia-Linked Ship Suspected of Cable Damage

Finnish authorities have detained a ship Eagle S registered in the Cook Islands, suspected of damaging the cable between Finland and Estonia. The vessel was found to be carrying approximately 35,000 tons of unleaded gasoline imported from Russia, suggesting an attempt to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia.

Finland has seized the oil, ensuring it will not reach the global market or contribute to funding Putin's war in Ukraine. This is, of course, an excellent outcome.

Finnish authorities have also gathered evidence indicating that the vessel was responsible for the cable damage. One piece of evidence is visible even from outside the ship: one of its anchors is missing, a clear sign that it was lost during the incident.

The police have already identified several members of the crew as suspects in the criminal acts. These include citizens of Georgia and India, who are being investigated for aggravated property destruction and serious violations of sanctions. Furthermore, additional evidence linking the ship to the cable damage has been uncovered, and more is likely to emerge.

The case is undoubtedly a major embarrassment for Vladimir Putin and his administration. For this reason, it was amusing to note Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov's claim that the actions of Finnish authorities have no connection to Russia. His response is reminiscent of a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar—his frustration is, to say the least, palpable.

It remains to be seen how the issue will ultimately be resolved. However, it is already clear that international law and regulations need updating to rein in rogue states like Russia on the high seas. Unfortunately, the interests of a few other countries, in addition to Russia, are likely to block such progress, making meaningful change highly improbable.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
The Downing of the Azerbaijani Plane Is a War Crime That Must Be Condemned
Western Nations Should Act Decisively On Two Fronts Against Russia
Western Countries Must Stay United Against the Russian Threat

The UK Prime Minister Took a One-Sided Stance on the Country's Protests

A knife attack by an immigrant-background individual at a children's dance event has led to escalating protests in the UK. You can get a fairly comprehensive picture of these protests from this social media thread.

According to the thread, violence has been committed by anti-immigration protesters—some of whom are far-right extremists—as well as Muslim immigrants. Additionally, it appears that "woke" leftists have also been involved in the violence.

However, this does not change the fact that the majority of protesters have not engaged in any violence but have simply wanted to express their dissatisfaction with the immigration policies being practiced in their country. These people are most likely ordinary Britons.

* * *

A separate issue involves the attacks on two hotels housing asylum seekers. In Tamworth, a town with a population of about 80,000, there have been incidents of rape, some of which were committed by individuals with immigrant backgrounds, though not all.

Rotherham is a slightly larger town, known for a child abuse ring that operated for about 30 years, during which Pakistani men sexually abused around 1,400 girls and women.

Authorities have been aware of this situation since at least 1990, but the operation was not shut down until 23 years later. This delay was due to a combination of factors, including race, class, religion, and gender.

There was fear that the ethnicity of the perpetrators would lead to accusations of racism, as well as contemptuous and sexist attitudes toward the primarily working-class victims. Additionally, authorities were concerned with protecting the town’s reputation, their training was inadequate, and they struggled to find the resources to investigate the matter.

Therefore, it is extremely interesting that Rotherham has now come to the forefront of these events, with an attack on a hotel doing business with migrants from developing countries. And I can fully understand the reasons why the town does not welcome immigrants who come solely for the high social welfare in the UK.

* * *

The UK's newly appointed Labour Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, has naturally commented on the events. According to him, people in UK have the right to feel safe, and yet we have seen Muslim communities being targeted, mosques attacked, other minority communities persecuted, Nazi salutes made on the streets, police officers attacked, and baseless violence used alongside racist rhetoric. So, he has no hesitation in calling that as far-right hooliganism.

However, referring back to the social media thread I linked at the beginning, it would have generally been better if the Prime Minister had not taken sides at this point, but rather condemned all forms of violence. This is true even though the violence was undoubtedly initiated by anti-immigration young men, whom Starmer likely meant by the term "far-right."

A more neutral stance has indeed been taken by some. For example, Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones, who is also a Conservative politician, condemned the rioters but also criticized the Prime Minister’s actions.

According to Jones, Starmer’s actions have led to accusations of two-tier policing, which has incited protesters who claim to be fighting for Britain’s sovereignty, identity, and to stop illegal immigration. She also mentioned having spoken to people on both sides and called on the government to recognize the underlying causes of the unrest so that it can be stopped.

It remains to be seen what political solutions the UK will ultimately adopt and whether these will lead to changes in the country’s immigration policies or even serve as the building blocks for future—and possibly even more severe—social crises driven by changes in the demographic structure.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Why Were Violent Protests Acceptable for George Floyd but Not for the UK Child Murders?
Elections in the UK: A Shift Toward Hand-Waving Politics?
A white family does not represent real Londoners