"I would say this was one of the most important days of my life living in Finland," Eugene Ufoka told the crowd of thousands from the steps of Parliament building in Helsinki on Wednesday evening.
Ufoka — a Finnish citizen and immigrant originally from Cameroon — was one of an estimated 5,000 people who protested against what they view as the government's inaction over racism.
The Zero Tolerance (Nollatoleranssi in Finnish) protest started at Finland's House of the Estates around 5pm on Wednesday evening before a procession of activists with signs and banners made their way to Finland's Parliament Building.
The protest making it's way down Aleksanterinkatu.
The protest made its way from the House of the Estates to the Finnish Parliament Building. Image: Matthew Schilke / Yle
As well as calling for the government to take concrete steps towards tackling racism, the protesters also demanded the resignation of Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Riikka Purra (Finns Party) following the revelation that she wrote violent and racist comments on a blog in 2008.
Eugene Ufoka on the steps of Parliament in Helsinki.
Eugene Ufoka was among the speakers at the protest. Image: Matthew Schilke / Yle
"It was the highest confirmation that I can get that I belong here. No matter the fact that I look different from other Finnish people," Ufoka said, speaking on how many people showed up to the protest.
Organic protest
Helsinki police estimates put the crowd size at around 5,000 — which came as a surprise to the event's organisers, who had received 2,200 responses to a Facebook event created for the demonstration. The police noted that the protest was peaceful and there were no reports of counterprotests.
Aside from Ufoka, other speakers described their opposition to what they viewed as the government's weak response to racism — including Khadra Sugu, a nurse with a Somali background, and Naim Panahi, a human rights activist and refugee originally from Afghanistan.
Naim Panahi speaks into a microphone in front of the Parliament Building.
Naim Panahi was among the speakers addressing the massive crowd. Image: Susanna Pesonen / Yle
Outi Aaltonen, one of the organisers, told Yle that the demonstration came together last week as she and some of her friends felt the government needed to do more in its handling of the series of racism scandals over the past few weeks. She said there was no formal organisation behind the protest and that it stemmed from a group of less than 10 of her friends.
Outi Aaltonen shouts into a megaphone on the steps of Parliament Building
Outi Aaltonen, right, was one of the organisers of the protest. Image: Susanna Pesonen / Yle
Aaltonen added that the event was called "zero tolerance" in refefence to a quote by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) about his government views racism. Orpo made the remark during a joint press conference with Purra following the furore over her racist blog comments.
"We wanted to take the word back. We wanted to say that there is actually a word, zero tolerance, that means that when people act racist, say racist things that they actually believe in, then zero tolerance would be to quit that government work with that party and with those people," Aaltonen told Yle News.
The protest was also attended by a number of political parties and associations, including Tiina Sandberg, General Secretary of Finland's Communist Party, who told Yle News she returned from holiday to join the march.
"This is what I do with my free time," she said, "I take part in demonstrations."
Sandberg added that she noticed the protest a week ago and immediately shared it with her circle of activists.
Tiina Sandberg (centre) shows off the signs she brought to the protest.
Tiina Sandberg and her activist friends show off the signs they brought with them to the protest. Image: Matthew Schilke / Yle
For Sandberg, attending the demonstration on Wednesday was not just a political matter, but also a family matter.
"My husband is not from Finland or from the European Union, my kids are also on the target list of Riikka Purra and others," Sandberg said.
Crowd size surprise
A number of the participants interviewed by Yle News expressed their astonishment at the size of the crowd due to the limited news coverage surrounding the demonstration leading up to Wednesday.
"When I saw how many people came to Säätytalo [the House of Estates] I was very surprised," Sandberg emphasised.
Eugene Ufoka echoed these thoughts.
A large group gathered for the protest on 19.07.2023.
Even the organisers were surprised by how many people showed up to the protest. Image: Susanna Pesonen / Yle
"There was a demonstration here in 2020 as part of the Black Lives Matter movement and we had maybe 3,000 people, but they say it's more than that here. It was a very big surprise, but a very strong message of encouragement," Ufoka told Yle News.
Ufoka also noted that this was a positive turn for Finland and that it showed how the country was working to fight racism.
"People are now more and more becoming vocal, and more and more showing their support and solidarity against racism," Ufoka said.
Pressure on Purra
Among the most popular chants echoed throughout the day was, "Riikka [Purra] ulos. Hallitus alas," or "Riikka out, down with the government" in English.
However, protest organiser Outi Aaltonen was quick to point out that Purra's resignation was not the only goal of the protest.
"Of our goals, Purra resigning would be one, but it's only one of them. It's just not Purra. It's the whole party. The whole essence of the party is racist, partly fascist. I think that the human value is the same for every one of us. And what I see from the Finns Party is that they do not agree with me," Aaltonen told Yle News.
Guillermo Villarroel came to support the protest as well, mostly in response to Purra's online comments.
"I think they [Purra's online comments] are not appropriate for someone in the government. Honestly I think we shouldn't accept racism in the government in any form," Villaroel said.
Guillermo Villarreol at the protest in Helsinki on 19.07.2023.
Guillermo Villarroel was among the thousands of protesters that showed up on Wednesday. Image: Matthew Schilke / Yle
Purra has been the subject of intense criticism since her past online posts became public last week. She has since apologised for some of her writings and renounced violence, racism and discrimination.
Last week, the entire opposition demanded the suspension of the parliamentary summer recess so that it could arrange a vote of confidence on Purra. Over the weekend, Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho (Finns) said he would not reconvene Parliament.
