anonymous

/ Race, At work, In public, Immigrant, At school/uni, Near home

As a middle eastern, I have been living in Finland, around Uusima, for about two years now. At first, I thought I was just being paranoid. After all, I hadn’t done anything wrong or illegal, so why were people staring at me? Then it escalated to them even taking pictures. I started to wonder if I was dressing inappropriately, but having lived in many countries before, I knew my style wasn’t unusual. It was only after reading stories about even Finns who “stick out” in any way and face similar treatment that I realized this wasn’t just me.
Another problem arose at work: I was being excluded and disrespected. Suddenly, my boss accused me of being hostile. These things happened simultaneously, making me question my own sanity. The only reason I knew I wasn’t losing my mind was because I found others with similar stories. If you stand out, the collective society can be hostile. This is deeply troubling.

Someone

/ Race, At work, In business, In public, Near home

Older women especially in my experience, almost most of the Tokmani shopping centers that I go to buy my daily groceries the older ladies who work in the counter look at us in a very exaggerated way. Narrowing their eyes and behaving in a sense that we are a piece of extra thing at the counter. But immediately after they do our job. They laugh smile and say with open face hello to the Finnish costumers. This feeling in a daily regular basis is so hard. I wonder if the managers of these big companies even pay attention to these things.

Traveler

/ In public, On public transport

An old and drunk Finnish man sat down infront of me on the bus, asked me if I was from Iraq. I said no, and said I was from Colombia. Then he proceeded to insult me the whole bus ride from the city centre to Koskela, saying I and my country was a disgrace to society. Nobody on the bus said anything to defend me. I didn’t move from my seat, I wasn’t going to show fear. But I was so disappointed nobody defended me .

anonymous

/ In public, Near home

Last summer, I started farming on a piece of land that I lease. It’s my first time doing this, and it’s been a rewarding experience. In the evenings, after working on my field, I enjoy walking through the community garden. It’s inspiring to see others cultivating different crops and vegetables, and it often gives me new ideas. I’m also amazed by how people turn their small plots of land into their personal amusement parks, with flowers, BBQ tables, and kids’ playgrounds.

One evening, I invited a friend to visit my garden, and we were simply taking a walk through the garden. We stayed on the small walkway beside the plots, being mindful not to intrude on anyone’s personal space. I also gave my friend some onions from my own garden. Out of nowhere, a middle-aged woman started shouting at us in Finnish, accusing us of stealing. She called us thieves, which was completely unfounded. I was so embarrassed, especially in front of my friend. The woman didn’t even take the time to listen when I tried to explain that I have my own plot there and that I was growing my own vegetables.

It was such a hurtful experience. The whole situation was uncomfortable for both of us. Gardening and farming are supposed to be enjoyable, peaceful activities, but how am I supposed to feel when my neighbors verbally attack me like that?

Thomas

/ Gender, Race, Sexual identity, In public

Finland is praised as the happiest country, and while it has given me good opportunities, I’ve never felt a true sense of belonging. This isn’t about race—I have white skin—yet I’ve noticed a lack of openness toward immigrants. Many Finns carry a quiet superiority, a passive-aggressive attitude that says, I am better than you.

One night, while waiting for a bus near a nightclub, every Finnish man who passed made rude comments to me in Finnish. Then, a drunk man got so close that cameras couldn’t capture him. Thinking he wanted to say something normal, I smiled. Instead, he whispered:

“You piece of worthless human, go back to your land. Don’t even think about hitting on a Finnish woman. They are not yours.”

Then, he punched me in the stomach—deliberately, knowing what he was doing. That night I went to the police man who was 5 meters from
This incident he didn’t even recognize or pay attention to me. I am sure if I was Finnish and that guy was immigrant he would have deported and ended up jail.

Another matter is that during the day when I randomly pass over teenagers they keep telling bad Finnish slang to me and laugh. At that time I was thinking ok this is teenage hood but it clearly reveals what they parents are saying to them about immigrants

Finland is calm safe with high quality of education but during my time I could never feel home or sense of community and belonging.

RP

/ In public, Immigrant, Near home

I used to live in Kalasatama. One day I went looking for a specific tea from the local K-market right after work and on my way to home. I quickly scanned the tea section and couldn’t spot it so I started leaving the shop. The owner of the shop briskly stopped the queue at the counter and rushed to me to frisk my handbag. This was around 2018-19 or so. I feel there were very few immigrants in that neighbourhood and feel I was stopped because of distrust in my immigrant background / looks?

anonymous

/ Race, In public, Immigrant

Actually I’m not so sure if it’s discrimination or I’m just too sensetive, maybe it’s like microdiscrimination.
One day, I went to Kontti in Lappeenranta, when I was about to pay, the casher guy suddenly put away his smile and didn’t say “moi” to me. I still said “moi” “kiitos” and “moi moi” to him but he didn’t have any response – just gave me the receipt. But he chatted in smile with the last customer 🙁

Anonymous

/ In public, Immigrant, Language

I was visiting the eye department of the Helsinki Hospital (HUS) for an eye examination.

I kindly asked the nurse if we can speak English. She immediately showed me that she was not happy with this and she said “If you cannot speak Finnish, you can go back to your country.”.

I stayed silent and calm because I had to get the eye examination done. It was a very uncomfortable 30 minutes. I tried to talk as little as possible and I was afraid that she would make other racist comments.

I felt very sad.

I reported this incidence to HUS but I did not hear back.

Anonymous

/ At work, In public, Immigrant, Uncategorized

I was recently attending an informal dinner before a seminar meant for about 30-40 people. During the dinner, a colleague that I have known for several years suddenly threw a very irrelevant question at me: “What is your socioeconomic status in your home country?”. I am the kind of person that wants to be approachable to my colleagues. So, keeping that in mind, I started explaining and even over explaining myself. Since the question from my Finnish colleague caught me off guard, l don’t know if I was able to give a satisfactory answer. Now, here’s my concern. Was this question asked just out of curiosity? Was it asked because this person thinks I am escaping my socioeconomic situation from my home country? Does this person somehow think lowly about me already?

After that day, I have been feeling very insecure in general. Of course, this incident wasn’t the only one I have faced in Finland. I’m still working out the best response to such questions in the future. Although, what worries me is that if I am too outspoken and straight with my replies, would that seem overly repulsive? Will my colleague think that I am being rude?

At this point, I am sick to my stomach trying to figure out how to process this. If my ethnicity, skin colour and pre-conceived notions about my socioeconomic status precedes me, then, will I ever feel fully accepted in this country?

Anonymous

/ Race, In public, Immigrant, Language, Government agency

When I gave birth (almost 10 years ago), we weren’t given a private room as requested. I had to share a room and my husband (Finnish) was only allowed to stay during visiting hours which was just a few hours per day. I basically had to fend for myself in a hospital where most of the nurses didn’t speak (or refused to speak) English. I wasn’t told that there were snacks available for new moms to help replenish the energy spent from breastfeeding. I was also never told how to check if my child was able to get milk from me.
A starving newborn and half starved new mother should never happen in a hospital.
Fortunately, towards the end of our 2nd day a nurse who spoke English was horrified when she checked in on me and the baby and gave us the nourishment we were badly needing.
Giving birth is already a traumatising experience. Recovery shouldn’t have these extra stress and discrimination.