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| Kulttuurituottaja Oge Eneh, kesk. Jorge Sampaio, oik. Ritva Viljanen |
Suomen maahanmuutto-ongelmiin otti kantaa kulttuurikeskus Caisan kulttuurituottaja Oge Eneh ilmaisten huolensa maahanmuuttajanaisten äänestämiskäyttäytymisestä.
Suomen kaltaisessa tasa-arvoisessa maassa naiset ovat tasavertaisia äänestäjiä, mutta tämä on monille maahanmuuttajanaisille uusi tapa astua esiin. Eneh käytti itseään esimerkkinä kertoessaan, ettei äänestäminen ollut mahdollista naisille. Ainoastaan miesten ajateltiin olevan tarpeeksi vahvoja tekemään poliittisia päätöksiä.
"Poliittinen osallistuminen pitäisi tuoda lähemmäs maahanmuuttajanaisia" Eneh totesi ja esitti demokratian tutustuttamista maahanmuuttajanaisille opetuksen muodossa.
Hän otti myös kantaa ilmaiseen koulutusjärjestelmään ja sen mukana tuomiin haasteisiin työllistymisestä tutkinnon suorittamisen jälkeen. Maahanmuuttajat kohtaavat kielimuurin ja syrjintää työmarkkinoilla aksentin tai vääränlaisen sukunimen takia. Toisen sukupolven maahanmuuttajat kohtaavat myös samoja ongelmia hyvästä kielitaidosta huolimatta, he eivät pärjää ensimmäistä sukupolvea paremmin.
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| Editor-in-chief of Helsinki Times Alexis Kouros |
According to Iranian-Finnish writer Alexis Kouros the fears of society are "dangerous and we shouldn't let fear lead".
As one of the panelist of the Culture Centre Caisa's event about immigration and ethic relationships, he pointed out just how the world is changing: "Everything can move across borders freely except people."
Unfortunately Islam often comes up with immigration talks and Islamophobia often overshadows discussions about immigration.
As for the root of the problem, Kouros emphasized that its not the movement of people or diversity which causes xenophobia but changes in attitudes and restrictive identity. As a case study Kouros mentioned the tragic event of Bosnia. There was no recent movement of people there before the conflict.
People who are ethnically the same and speak the same language, turned against their neighbours and killed each other. What has changed was that their common “Yugoslav” Identity was taken away and they had retreated to an older identity, which provoked conflict.
He also mentioned the Persian Gulf countries as an example, that numbers do not matter either. In County’s like United Arab Emirates or Qatar, the majority of population is immigrants, but there are no conflicts with the local people. The problem in the EU is that Europe promises equality, but can not deliver. All the Gulf countries promise is a job and they do deliver. Expectations are met.
He finished his speech with pointing out that we need to step towards acquiring a global identity which is beyond nationality and religion, ethnicity or language, and the EU is a good step to that direction. “To achieve that, we should have an agenda and a leadership when it comes to immigration in Finland.” He added.
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| Key speaker Jorge Sampaio. |
Key speaker Jorge Sampaio.
The High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations Jorge Sampaio emphasized all the levels of fear and crisis in Europe.
Diversity brings growing tensions and unease, it's a time bomb in Europe. "Let's face challenges together", Sampaio began his speech at the Cultural center Caisa in Helsinki.
Muslim minorities feel anxious about difficult relations and the identity issue is the key factor. Undoubtedly there is a clash between Islam and Western ways, they are religious rivals. It is created from ignorance, misunderstandings, and world politics and of different values and customs. We should see "the religion as a new and important challenge to tackle, because religious movements are thriving".
There should be a dialogue between different religious views and cross cultural cooperation. We have the tools to use and need to reflect to religious pluralism. But as the former president of Portugal Mr.Sampaio pointed out "We have no ready-made answers".
The national and local agenda should be polarization and finding new strategies to promote dialogue. It must be constructive and meaningful dialogue.
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