Pysäytetyt I The Stopped I Research Project on Ethnic Profiling at the University of Helsinki

SOCIETAL SIGNIFICANCE

Final report:“”Stopped - ethnic profiling in Finland” Project researcher Markus Himanen has written several academic articles on the topic and is currently writing his phD thesis on ethnic profiling.

SECURITY GUARDS AND BORDER GUARDS

A POLICE OFFICER stops a group of twenty-something men on the street on a summer evening, and asks them for IDs. A supermarket security guard follows a woman dressed in traditional Roma clothing, shopping with her small child. A guard removes a woman dressed in a long skirt and a colorful scarf as soon as she enters a train station. In the ferry terminal, a brown-skinned man is asked to show his passport, but his white wife is not.

Kati Pietarinen: Satunnaistarkastus - (Random stop) (Long Play, 3.6.2017)

Kati Pietarinen: Rasismi rehottaa poliisin salaisessa Facebook-ryhmässä - (Rampant racism in secret police Facebook group) (Long Play, 3.6.2017)

ON 23 MARCH 2017, Aminkeng Atabong Alemanji, an educational scientist working as a researcher for the Stopped project, was stopped in front of the Helsinki airport. Alemanji was at the airport to pick up a friend. The border guard who stopped Alemanji’s car justified the stop by saying that Alemanji had been driving weirdly in the area. Alemanji taped part of the conversation. The border guard asked both Alemanji and the friend sitting next to him in the car to show identification documents and Finnish residence permits. “The border guard said he stopped me because I was driving weirdly. Why did he ask my friend for ID, when he wasn’t driving at all?” Alemanji wonders. “My friend is a Finnish citizen, even though he is black. Why was he asked to show a residence permit?” According to Marko Aheristo, Assistant Commander of the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard District responsible for the airport area, the border guard who stopped Alemanji does not want to comment on the case. Aheristo also declined to comment on Alemanji’s case. In general, Aheristo says border guards are entitled to stop cars in the airport area for reasons including checking that the car is in suitable driving condition, preventing threats to public order and safety, and immigration control. Immigration control cannot be based primarily or only on the person’s ethnicity, Aheristo emphasised.

Ethnic profiling means the perceived ethnicity, religion or language of a person is the main or only reason for stopping or other actions. Ethnic profiling can be perpetrated by police, security guards, salespeople in shops, customs officers and border guards. The ethnically-profiled person is suspected of breaking a law or rule, or to be likely to cause trouble, due to their perceived ethnicity or religion. Ethnic profiling is illegal, because it is discriminatory. Profiling creates experiences of inequality and non-belonging. and can undermine trust in public authorities. Ethnic profiling has also been a background factor behind riots around Europe.

Kati Pietarinen ja Laura Böök: 98 x poliisi & vartijat - (98 x police and the security guards) (Iso Numero 7.12.2016)

THE TEAM WORKING in the Helsinki University Stopped research project interviewed 145 people from minority backgrounds about their experiences of ethnic profiling, including both Finnish citizens and foreigners living or staying in Finland. A clear majority of the interviewees were born in Finland or had lived there for at least several years. In addition to these interviews, the topic was discussed with 26 police officers and 14 experts on the subject. The Stopped project also commissioned a survey among young adults on ethnic profiling.

YOUR PASSPORT?

Aino Sutinen’s comic reportage about ethnic profiling is based on material collected in the Stopped research project. Navigation by swiping or by clicking with the mouse.

[English / Finnish]

“Papereita voi kysyä, jos on epäilys, että ajoneuvossa on ulkomaalainen”

Researcher Aminkeng Atabong Alemanji of the Stopped research project was himself stopped during the project. In the video he discusses the effects of these types of experiences.

Singer Hilja Grönfors encourages people to stand up for their rights. She does not remain silent when security guards follow her in shops.

#pysäytetyt #thestopped

I was taken really far, we travelled on the ring road and the highway.

We quickly collected our things and left. We were afraid.

Then they said ‘Go’ and started to put on black gloves.

“I was with my wife and son, sitting and eating at Kansalaistori square .

Ethnic profiling is illegal, but it is still continuously conducted in Finland. The University of Helsinki’s Stopped project researched the topic for three years.

I don’t think this is normal. We were just sitting and eating.”

THE RESEARCHERS and journalists working in the Stopped project interviewed 23 Romanian and Bulgarian street-based workers in June 2016. The majority of them identified as Roma. They recounted a total of 66 separate incidents involving police or security guards, and 23 experiences of repeated encounters, many of which had taken place either in or around Kamppi Shopping Centre in central Helsinki, or at the Helsinki Railway Station. The photographs in the grid above are taken on locations where people said they have been stopped or where they testified having been forcibly removed. Nearly all of the experiences were very negative. The interviewees spoke about being asked for ID; being forcibly removed from indoor spaces, parks or sleeping spaces; being detained; being picked up by authorities and driven to a different part of the city; and spending nights in police stations. According to those interviewed, the background for being detained was that the police had confused them with other Eastern Europeans dwelling on the street. In some cases they were given no explanation for being detained. The detained persons were not given the possibility to contact their families. Both Heli Vainio, Kamppi Shopping Centre Manager, and Pekka Ahola, Head of Security at the state railway company VR, denied inappropriate treatment of foreign Roma, and so did the Helsinki police. Chief Inspector Kari Niinimäki did admit that the reason for detention is not always translated to the detained person, and that a detained person with no Finnish language skills has practically no means to demand their legal right to contact a family member.

The police came and demanded our passports.

Valeriu, 43, from Romania

It is important that the people experiencing ethnic profiling file complaints, so that authorities become aware of the scope of the phenomenon

“Kaverini on suomalainen, vaikka hän on musta. Miksi häneltä kysyttiin paperit?” - Amin Atabong, tutkija -

“I bought some potatoes and the cashier noticed the price was wrong. I had a few extra potatoes.

I was crying, I tried to say ‘do not leave me here’. But they just left.”

"I DON’T THINK one single month goes by without me being followed by a guard in the supermarket” says Hilja Grönfors, award-winning singer. Grönfors dresses in the traditional clothes of Finnish Roma women. Grönfors encourages people to intervene when they are being discriminated against, and to file complaints about the cases. She has won a court case against a shop owner who did not want to let Roma women dressed in traditional clothing into his shop, suggesting that they should change clothes. Grönfors says discrimination from both authorities and shop personnel is common. Both foreign Roma and Finnish Roma interviewed for the Stopped research project had repeatedly experienced being followed by security guards in shops. Similar experiences were also common among youth from other minority groups. The survey showed that youth from a Somali background were nine times more likely to be harrassed by guards or shop personnel than youth from the majority Finnish population. For Arabic and Kurdish speaking youth, the risk was six times higher.

YOU CAN COMPLAIN about ethnic profiling by filing a crime report on discrimination or by filing a complaint with the Parliamentary Ombudsman, for example. Victim Support Finland (www.riku.fi/en) offers support in complaining about discrimination. The Stopped project website (profiling.fi) compares different complaint methods and provides links to all available complaint mechanisms. It is important that the people experiencing ethnic profiling file complaints, so that authorities become aware of the scope of the phenomenon. In order to eradicate ethnic profiling, the final report of the Stopped research project lists several recommendations for authorities and lawmakers. These include prohibiting immigration controls based on random checks in public spaces, and for it to be mandatory for police officers to always note the reason for stopping a person. However, the first step is to acknowledge that ethnic profiling is a problem in Finnish society.

The cashier called the police. They wrote a fine and put me in the back of their van.

Crina, 24, from Romania

The Stopped research project

They stopped on a forest path, went to pee and let me out.

Uyi Osazee: The Reality of Ethnic and Racial Profiling in Finland

The University of Helsinki’s Stopped research and journalism project (2015-2018) was the first study into ethnic profiling in Finland (until 2017 autumn the project was coordinated by the University of Turku). The project was funded by Kone Foundation’s program, Is Finland becoming polarised? Academic publications and journalism by the Stopped project: :

WHAT IS ETHNIC PROFILING?

What to do if you suspect you are encountering ethnic profiling? The video gives practical tips for both victims and bystanders.

STOPS ON THE STREET

ROMA EXPERIENCES

- TEXT: Kati Pietarinen - PHOTOGRAPHY / VIDEO: Laura Böök - ILLUSTRATIONS: Aino Sutinen - UX: Kari Kuukka -

• • • • •

The project was conducted by a group of researchers, journalists and artists, and headed by Professor Suvi Keskinen from the University of Helsinki. Journalist Kati Pietarinen was responsible for the media output of the project. The other members of the media group are photographer/videographer Laura Böök, multimedia producer Kari Kuukka, comic artist Aino Sutinen, and writer Maryan Abdulkarim.

IMMIGRATION CONTROL

SOCIETAL SIGNIFICANCE

SECURITY GUARDS AND BORDER GUARDS

I was taken really far, we travelled on the ring road and the highway.

TEXT: Kati Pietarinen - PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEO: Laura Böök - ILLUSTRATIONS: Aino Sutinen - UX: Kari Kuukka

“I was with my wife and son, sitting and eating at Kansalaistori square.

hen they said ‘Go’ and started to put on black gloves.

Researcher Aminkeng Atabong Alemanji of the Stopped research project was himself stopped during the project. In the video he discusses the effects of these types of experiences.

ON MARCH 23 2017, Aminkeng Atabong Alemanji, an educational scientist working as a researcher for the Stopped project, was stopped in front of the Helsinki airport. Alemanji was at the airport to pick up a friend. The border guard who stopped Alemanji’s car justified the stop by saying that Alemanji had been driving weirdly in the area. Alemanji taped part of the conversation. The border guard asked both Alemanji and the friend sitting next to him in the car to show identification documents and Finnish residence permits. “The border guard said he stopped me because I was driving weirdly. Why did he ask my friend for ID, when he wasn’t driving at all?” Alemanji wonders. “My friend is a Finnish citizen, even though he is black. Why was he asked to show a residence permit?” According to Marko Aheristo, Assistant Commander of the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard District responsible for the airport area, the border guard who stopped Alemanji does not want to comment on the case. Aheristo also declined to comment on Alemanji’s case. In general, Aheristo says border guards are entitled to stop cars in the airport area for reasons including checking that the car is in suitable driving condition, preventing threats to public order and safety, and immigration control. Immigration control cannot be based primarily or only on the person’s ethnicity, Aheristo emphasised.

“I don’t think one single month goes by without me being followed by a guard in the supermarket” says Hilja Grönfors, award-winning singer. Grönfors dresses in the traditional clothes of Finnish Roma women. Grönfors encourages people to intervene when they are being discriminated against, and to file complaints about the cases. She has won a court case against a shop owner who did not want to let Roma women dressed in traditional clothing into his shop, suggesting that they should change clothes. Grönfors says discrimination from both authorities and shop personnel is common. Both foreign Roma and Finnish Roma interviewed for the Stopped research project had repeatedly experienced being followed by security guards in shops. Similar experiences were also common among youth from other minority groups. The survey showed that youth from a Somali background were nine times more likely to be harrassed by guards or shop personnel than youth from the majority Finnish population. For Arabic and Kurdish speaking youth, the risk was six times higher.

Final report:“”Stopped - ethnic profiling in Finland” Project researcher Markus Himanen has written several academic articles on the topic (forthcoming) and is currently writing his phD thesis on ethnic profiling.

They stopped on a forest path, went to pee and let me out.

On tärkeää, että etnistä profilointia kohtaavat valittavat asiasta, jotta ilmiön laajuus tulee viranomaisten tietoon.

WHAT IS ETHNIC PROFILING

• • • • •

Pysäytetyt-tutkimushanke

IMMIGRATION CONTROL

WHAT IS ETHNIC PROFILING?

STOPS ON THE STREET

“I DON’T THINK one single month goes by without me being followed by a guard in the supermarket” says Hilja Grönfors, award-winning singer. Grönfors dresses in the traditional clothes of Finnish Roma women. Grönfors encourages people to intervene when they are being discriminated against, and to file complaints about the cases. She has won a court case against a shop owner who did not want to let Roma women dressed in traditional clothing into his shop, suggesting that they should change clothes. Grönfors says discrimination from both authorities and shop personnel is common. Both foreign Roma and Finnish Roma interviewed for the Stopped research project had repeatedly experienced being followed by security guards in shops. Similar experiences were also common among youth from other minority groups. The survey showed that youth from a Somali background were nine times more likely to be harrassed by guards or shop personnel than youth from the majority Finnish population. For Arabic and Kurdish speaking youth, the risk was six times higher.