The lives of many Muslims living in Finland have changed considerably since September 11.

   

"Visits to mosques and clubs, and to women’s meetings have decreased because people are afraid to move around outside in the evenings", says Batulo Essak, last year’s winner of the title of refugee woman of the year.

   

"A few women have also stopped wearing scarves and other clothing that are part of their culture, and some Muslims have changed the names on their front doors. Finding an apartment and a job have become more difficult", Essak said.

   

Essak was speaking at a round-table discussion on racism and xenophobia held in Espoo on Monday.

At the seminar

an extensive array of influential figures in Finnish society discussed the effect that the terrorist attacks in the United States have had on legislation and the human rights of minorities. Also taking part in the event, arranged by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, was Beate Winkler, head of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC).

   

The participants all agreed that Finnish society needs to struggle to prevent an atmosphere of xenophobia from taking hold.

   

"Racist behaviour is recognised in Finland as undesirable. However, people in this country are not very eager to intervene in everyday expressions of racism", said Finland’s Minister of Labour Tarja Filatov (Soc. Dem.).

   

"We absolutely need to strengthen understanding and mutual respect among people", said Kaarina Suonio, chairwoman of Finland’s delegation against racism.

The media became the target

of much criticism as the participants started defining the causes of widespread racist and xenophobic attitudes.

   

"Islam is portrayed in the media as a monolithic religion, and the media turns all Muslims into Islamist extremists. This gives birth to Islamophobia", said Professor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila.

   

Hämeen-Anttila called on the media to present a more diverse image of the culture of Islam. He pointed out that the fundamentalists are only a minority within a minority.

   

"They want to portray themselves as a mouthpiece for all Muslims, but the Muslims are divided into different groups in many different ways", Hämeen-Anttila pointed out.

   

Maila-Katriina Tuominen, a human rights journalist for the newspaper Aamulehti, welcomed stories in the Finnish media that have given faces to the Afghans living in Finland in recent months. However, she asked how long the media can afford to let the war against terrorism overshadow the rest of the world.

   

"There is more to the world than this news event. When one minority group becomes the focus of media attention, the rest are left in the shadow", Tuominen pointed out.

Finnish Prime Minister

Paavo Lipponen (Soc. Dem.) said in his presentation that Finland has been active in the European Union in promoting anti-racist activities.

   

Both Lipponen and the EUMC leader Beate Winkler expressed satisfaction at the fact that all Parliamentary parties in Finland have committed themselves not to try to take advantage of negative attitudes toward ethnic minorities as a way of winning political support.

   

Still, much remains to be done in Finland. For instance, Kaarina Suonio asked Prime Minister Lipponen why more Finnish-language education was not made available to immigrants. The Prime Minister promised that the Government would look into the question.

   

"Labour policy considerations are getting us on the move. In the coming years we will need workers who can speak Finnish. Knowledge of the language also prevents marginalisation", Prime Minister Lipponen pointed out.