I found myself deeply irritated by an opinion piece from Roger Boyes published in The Times over the new year about the New Year’s Eve massacre in Espoo , Finland.
It is the usual liberal guilt trope: Finns are guilty for the murders because despite the fact it gave massive numbers Kosovans refuge and “accepted them generously, gave them benefits, schooling and roofs over their heads”, the Finns “ignored them” and did not do enough to help them with their war traumas so “a significant number are suffering from untreated mental problems”.
There is only one, massive problem with the hypothesis: The killer – Ibrahim Shkupolli – was not a traumatised war refugee. He left Kosovo long before the war started, way back in 1990. He was nothing more than common criminal, probably a psychopath, and his Balkan machismo could not handle being rejected by a mere woman.
Even if it were true that Shkupolli was a mentally disturbed war refugee, would Finnish society really hold some responsibility for his mass murder?
This article also completely ignores the responsibilities and duties of immigrant communities to help themselves and integrate peacefully into their host cultures.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
But behind the horrific crime of an apparently deranged individual there was the deep-rooted problem of social exclusion. The clue is in the name of the suspected gunman: Ibrahim Shkupolli.Finnish sources say he was a Pristina-born Kosovo Albanian, one of the many who have settled in Finland. And therein lies a story.
The Finnish Government was quick to recognise Kosovo as an independent state and has been more ready to shelter Kosovo Albanians than many other states in Europe. Ordinary Finns are less enthusiastic about inviting in people who are largely perceived as economic refugees and the popular prejudice is that these foreigners lead a shadow existence.
One of the first, less charitable, responses to today’s killings was to lament a human tragedy but to point out that this time at least it was not a Finn who had pulled the trigger.
Yet there is some degree of social responsibility and the Finns will have to face up to it. A study of the mental health of mass evacuated Kosovo Albanians, conducted by Goeran Roth of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, revealed serious psychological problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder and clinical depression, and a greater sense of displacement than other migrant communities. The study was conducted in Sweden but tallies with results from many societies that took in war-scarred Bosnians or Kosovars.
Finland accepted them generously, gave them benefits, schooling and roofs over their heads – and then ignored them. As a result the Balkan refugees often inhabit a parallel universe made up of internet cafes, betting syndicates, casual work.
It surprised few in Finland to hear that Shkupolli did not have a weapons licence for his handgun; rightly or wrongly, it has been assumed for years that the sale of illegal guns and a chunk of the drugs trade was in the control of Balkan gangs.
…Now Finland has to use a similar creativity in dealing with immigrants and refugees: a significant number are suffering from untreated mental problems.
Shkupolli had been on the police register since at least 2003, when he was first convicted of illegal gun possession; the restraining order on visiting his ex-girlfriend showed that the courts considered him unpredictable and violent. Why was action not taken? Why was he not referred for psychiatric treatment?
If you are going to have a Nordic nanny state then it has to work for everybody, not just the native-born Finns.
Comment: Ibrahim Shkupolli, the killer form Kosovo, was left in the cold – Times Online
One of the early commentators had it dead right:
“If I understand Mr Boyes correctly, Finland is to blame for this shooting, because: “Finland accepted [refugees] generously, gave them benefits, schooling and roofs over their heads – and then ignored them.”
This particular killer had arrived in Finland 19 years ago.
In Mr Boyes’ mind, Finland, and not the shooter, is to blame for the killings, because Finland expected refugees, at some point, to assume responsibility of their own lives.
It would be interesting to learn from Mr Boyd just how long Finland should continue granting its “generous support” for refugees, instead of expecting them to behave as adults like anyone else.
After the London Tube terrorist attacks, there was much analysis in the Finnish press about why those attacks had occurred. Most of this analysis squarely identified the problem as militant extremism, and it did not blame the government of the UK for the deeds of deluded few.”
Another writes:
We WESTERN Europeans have had to the suffer the social experimentation of the left wing mediocracy for thirty years. it has been an unmitigated social disaster and we have more than had enough of the 20 years of apologist nonsense. Condemned with your own words Mr Boyles-
“Finland accepted them generously, gave them benefits, schooling and roofs over their heads…”
This is not a trivial point you can qualify with the claim that we ignored them.
