HELSINKI, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The town of Forssa, in southwestern Finland, has become a showcase of increasing tension between the local Finns and asylum
seekers.
A mass fight erupted outside a reception centre in the town leading to casualties on Tuesday. Police said dozens of people were involved and most of
the locals ran away when the police showed up.
There were no fire arms, but baseball bats and iron bars were used, the police said. Two locals were detained later.
Police Inspector Tomi Repo said the scene resembled "village fights" seen centuries ago in rural societies.
"In such a fight, all sides feel provocated and violence does not come from one side only," Repo told the local newspaper Forssan Lehti.
Repo reminded that violence against another person is always prohibited in Finland.
The events on Tuesday had been preceded by milder confrontations in shops and malls.
Tero Seppanen, assistant chief of the police of the Hame District told Forssan Lehti that fights between locals and asylum seekers have increased in
the whole area towards the end of the summer.
Seppanen believed the reason to be the worsened atmosphere in the reception centres. The situation has been accentuated by the lengthy waiting time and an
increase in the number of rejections of applications.
Another violent incident happened in a centre in Kotka, southeastern Finland earlier this month. A man of Iraqi background stabbed two fellow inmates and
held a knife on the neck of a third, but no fatalities were reported. No local
citizens were involved in the incident.
Finland has tightened the criteria of issuing residence permits for asylum seekers. The ratio of rejection has been about 77 percent since June, but the
number used to be less than one third in the beginning of this year.
It is reported that the mood may become bitter when several negative decisions reach a centre at the same time.
Sami Sulkko, the Forssa City Director dismissed the view that the town is racist. He claimed the situation rather reflects the overall tension in Finland.
The city has now assigned a multi-discipline task force to analyse and improve the situation.
Forssa was in spotlight in the spring of 2015 when the local City Board first voted against allowing a reception center in the town. It later changed its mind
and a center opened.
Regulations were even changed later and local councils could no longer block the establishment of refugee centres.
Forssa has less than 20,000 inhabitants. The town used to be a textile industry center, but is known today mainly for the food industries.
A group calling itself "Finland First" is planning a demonstration in Forssa on Thursday. It demands that asylum seekers from "safe countries" be transferred
to guarded camps in Northern Finland close to the land border with Sweden.
BERLIN nike air force 270 gold standard for sale , March 25 (Xinhua) -- Bayern Munich claimed the German league title with seven games to go as the German
giants beat Hertha Berlin 3-1 Tuesday.
Bayern set the previous record last season when they won the title six rounds in advance.
This is the 24th league title for Bayern, which won their 19th consecutive Bundesliga game on Tuesday. The game was never in doubt as Bayern ran into a 2-0
lead with just 15 minutes into the game.
They collected 77 points with a record of 25 wins, two draws and none loss. The closest opponents Borussia Dortmund have 52 points while the third-placed
Schalke 04 having 51.
By Robert Manyara
NANYUKI nike air force 270 mens black hyper jade for sale , Kenya, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Cricketers from across theworld will join Kenya's Maasai Cricket
Warriors and Obuya Academyfor a two-day tournament in one of Africa's greatest
wildlifeconservation areas to raise awareness of the plight of the nearextinct
northern white rhinos, organizers said Tuesday.
The Last Male Standing Rhino Cup will see 12 teams play a totalof 22 short format matches over two days in June on a groundsurrounded by wildlife and
shadowed by the snow-capped Mount Kenyato support the Ol Pejeta Conservancy and
rhino protection campaignsglobally.
Tournament Director and founder of the Rhino Cup nike air force 270 hyper jade for sale , Rob Stevensonsaid the conservation event backed by the East Africa's largestblack rhino sanctuary is
also a showcase for the global reach ofcricket and the wider benefits that sport
can bring.
"There has been a dramatic escalation in rhino poaching inrecent years with over 6,000 rhinos killed since 2008 across Africaand shockingly there are only
three northern white rhinos left onthe planet," Stevenson said in a statement.
He said the Cup is about drawing on the global love for the gameof cricket to help combat poaching of the rhino and help raise muchneeded funds for Ol
Pejeta's work to pursue Assisted ReproductiveTechniques (ART) to save the
northern white rhino.
The event organisers are hoping to raise more than 10 nike air force 270 red white for sale ,000million U.S. dollars from this year's tournament to support OlPejeta and The East Africa Cricket &
Education Foundation,which helps transforms the lives of thousands of
disadvantagedyoung Africans through sport and education.
All money raised from the event including player entry fees andpublic donations will be shared between the two organisations.
In addition to the Maasai and the two-time winners of the Cup,the Obuya Academy (led by Kenyan cricket legend David Obuya) nike air force 270 ream red for sale , thetournament will see teams from Kenya, the British Army TrainingUnit Kenya (BATUK), the Australian High
Commission and a number ofinternational teams made up of players from cricket
clubs fromEngland nike air force 270 black purple for sale , South Africa, Australia compete, all supported by theAustralian High Commission.
The CEO of Ol Pejeta Conservancy nike air force 270 carnivore for sale , Richard Vigne, said hewelcomed seeing cricketers from all corners of the world take overan area usually
frequented by wildlife for a weekend to shine aspotlight on the conse.
