This project started out of the frustration of the silencing and the diminishing of voices of immigrants and those with immigrant backgrounds in Finland.

Finnish society can be hard enough to chisel a place for yourself at the best of times but now, 2023, is not the best of times. The government is leading with an anti-immigration agenda and some of the nationalist Finns Party MPs have been convicted or accused of anti-immigrant hate speech or agitation. This, in turn, has made more space for a lack of tolerance in society to those who are not “obviously” Finns (read: white and speaking Finnish or Swedish) and to more overt discrimination. Currently, the nationalist Finns Party is trying to change the laws so that individuals cannot be prosecuted for “ethnic agitation” on the grounds of slander or labelling ethnic groups. This is a crime that some in their party have already been convicted of.  

Again, I am sorry you had to come to this website. This website is a tool to collect stories from immigrants and those with an immigrant background on what they have been through or continue to go through each day. These needn’t be big or obvious incidents. They can be small incidents that happen even by accident. They may be so normalised that they aren’t noticed or acknowledged by others. 

It can be hard enough to speak out about the big issues when you can have your experiences disbelieved or invalidated. This is what I have seen on social media when immigrants try to speak sometimes about an experience they have had or are experiencing currently (maybe something ongoing with a colleague, etc). 

This website is a place where we can collect these stories and make sure that they are recorded. We always encourage you to contact the police when words aren’t possible and when your feel threatened. It can be difficult to be believed about how difficult it can be to live in the “World’s Happiest Country” and when Finland tops many “Best of…” rankings. 

With regressive and damaging potential policy on the horizon and a more hostile environment being whipped up, it is important to speak truth to power.  It is important that people know what everyday life is like when you don’t “look like a Finn”, “talk like a Finn”, or “act like a Finn”. 

Please tell us your experience, tell your friends to tell us their stories. It is important for these stories to be told, not just so that those in power can see the effects of these experiences, but also so that others can know that they are not alone. 

If you need to get into contact with The Daily Discrimination Project, please email us at hello@dailydiscriminationproject.com.

PLEASE NOTE: Stories provided via this website may be anonymously quoted in various forms of media.