Fear and paranoia lead Finns to form vigilante groups that ‘protect women’ from asylum seekers
Members of a group called the Soldiers canada goose black friday sale of Odin walk the streets Jan. 16 near a refugee center in suburban Tampere, Finland. After some reported cases of harassment against women, allegedly by migrants, the Soldiers of Odin decided to start patrolling in the evenings. (Alessandro Rampazzo/For The Washington Post)
TAMPERE, Finland On a frigid night in this industrial city, three local men pulled up to a curb in a beat up van sporting the stars and bars of the American Confederacy (because, they said, they just liked the look of it). Soon, they joined a dozen other beefy vigilantes gathering on a sidewalk for their first patrol to keep “our women” safe.
cheap Canada Goose These are the Soldiers of Odin, a new far right citizens group sprouting chapters across Finland. They have quickly altered the debate over a record wave of asylum seekers arriving in Europe from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Fresh barriers to new migrants are going up from Sweden to Greece. cheap Canada Goose
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Canada Goose Parka Citing sexual harassment of women, some public pools and nightclubs in Germany have begun banning men who live in asylum shelters. buy canada goose jacket cheap Vigilante groups are taking to the streets. And Europeans buy canada goose jacket are fretting https://www.canadagoosejacketonlines.ca on social media about an unfolding culture clash with the newcomers. Suddenly, many are asking an uncomfortable question: Do asylum seekers more specifically, some of the men from conservative Muslim nations pose an inherent threat to liberated and casually dressed Western women? Canada Goose Parka
canada goose black friday sale “These refugees Canada Goose Outlet do not respect our women,” said Ilkka, a 33 year old sprinkler installer who would give only his first name. “I have four daughters, and they used to be safe in Finland. We need to do something about it.” canada goose black friday sale
canadian goose jacket Critics canada goose deals say the danger is vastly exaggerated, and they denounce the attacks as the work of a few bad characters. Yet even asylum seekers concede that some in their ranks have a steep learning curve to accept progressive Western European norms, especially regarding women. New reports of sex crimes suspected to have been committed by asylum seekers are now emerging in Finland, including several alleged rapes that predate the New Year’s Eve crime wave. Her death sparked a fresh debate about the security threat posed by the newcomers, who include large numbers of young men traumatized by war. canadian goose jacket
Inside a refugee center in Tampere. More than 4,000 asylum seekers, mostly from Iraq, have arrived in the city over the past six months. (Alessandro Rampazzo/For The Washington Post)
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Just as worrying is a spate of hate crimes against asylum seekers, illustrating the new social tensions in European communities like Tampere. A city in south central Finland bordered by miles of Christmas tree forests, Canada Goose Jackets Tampere saw more than 4,000 asylum seekers, mostly from war torn Iraq, arrive over the past six months.
In that time, there have been at least 50 incidents involving asylum seekers as either suspects or victims including the alleged rape of a Finnish woman and the alleged stalking of a local teenage girl. Even foreign born residents who have lived here for years say they have noticed a disturbing change. Abbas al Arja a 25 year old former Iraqi boxer who moved to Finland in 2010 said he intervened in the town center last month to stop two young Iraqi asylum seekers who were pushing themselves onto a Finnish canada goose store woman who was “clearly uncomfortable.”
Canada Goose sale “Some of them coming now have a lot to learn,” he said. “They do not understand a woman dressed like that.” Canada Goose sale
From left, Mahmoud Machaal, Abbas al Arja and Anwar Hassan. Arja, 25, who moved from Iraq to Finland in 2010, said he recently intervened when he saw two young Iraqi men bothering a Finnish woman. “They do not understand a woman dressed like that,” he said. (Alessandro Rampazzo/For The Washington Post)
cheap canada goose uk Yet after the recent stabbing of an asylum seeker by a group of Finnish men and a suspicious arson at a refugee center near Tampere, the newcomers are also more fearful. The new patrols by the Soldiers of Odin, Arja said, have only made the situation worse. cheap canada goose uk
canada goose store “Now Muslim women are afraid to go in the streets because of the Soldiers of Odin,” Arja said. “What have we achieved? We are afraid of them, and they are afraid of us.” canada goose store
canada goose coats on sale The concerns aren’t limited to Tampere. In recent weeks, sales of pepper spray have gone through the roof across Finland and Germany. New self defense classes are popping up. canada goose clearance In some German communities, sales of fake weapons are soaring. canada goose coats on sale
In several German cities, including Bornheim, men from asylum shelters were banned last week from using public pools after female swimmers complained about harassment. In the city of Zwickau, asylum seekers allegedly ejaculated and defecated in a public pool, canada goose coats sparking a firestorm on social media. In addition to Denmark and Switzerland, two German states Bavaria and Baden Wrttemberg say they are now reserving the right to seize cash and valuables from asylum seekers worth more than 750 euros ($818) to help defray the cost of care and benefits.
On Wednesday, the European Commission warned Greece that it could face suspension from the region’s passport free travel zone meaning possible checks on flights and ships arriving from the Mediterranean nation if it does not do more to control and properly process migrants on the front lines of the refugee cheap Canada Goose crisis. France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Austria have imposed some new border checks, putting the future of Europe’s open borders at risk as nations seek ways to curb the flow of migrants.
Canada Goose Online “We want to have a society again in which women and elderly people can move safely and freely in our streets,” the leader of Austria’s right wing Freedom Party, Heinz Christian Strache, said in January. “The misogyny and contempt we have seen unfortunately has Islamist canada goose outlet roots.. because it is directed against ‘infidel’ women who are often insulted as whores for not wearing a headscarf and a veil.” Canada Goose Online
buy canada goose jacket cheap A snowy street in Tampere. Alleged sex crimes committed by migrants in Finland and Germany have changed the tenor of the debate over the refugee crisis in Europe. (Alessandro Rampazzo/For The Washington Post) buy canada goose jacket cheap
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In Helsinki, large numbers of male asylum seekers were hanging out one recent day at the central train station, the site of many of the New Year’s Eve incidents. Satu Eklund, a 28 year old hairdresser who looked flustered before her commute home, said that one young man “who looked like a refugee” had grabbed her rear end and offered her a salacious grin only moments Canada Goose Parka before.
canada goose coats “No, I’m not scared, but I am mad,” she said. “I don’t have anything against the refugees, but we should be able to live in peace.” canada goose coats
Canada Goose Jackets Helsinki police say there was an increase in rapes in the latter half of 2015, coinciding with a canada goose clearance sale surge of 32,000 asylum seekers arriving canadian goose jacket in Finland. But the increase 196 rapes in 2015, compared with 179 in 2014 is statistically small. Officials, while declining to offer more details, said asylum seekers or refugees are suspects in at least three rapes. But they added that it is too early to say whether the numbers constitute a trend. Canada Goose Jackets
“We still need more specific information and analysis before we can say that there is a connection between the increase in rapes and sexual harassment cases and the increase in the number of refugees,” Helsinki Police Chief Lasse Aapio said. “But we need to be alert, and of course we are worried, because it’s obvious that we’re facing some changes in our society right Canada Goose sale now.”.