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Finland (HAN) December 10, 2024 - AFAIK the grown up Somalians started patrolling the streets and parks during weekend nights after there were many incidents of teenage Somali gangs mugging and robbering Finnish teenagers. Their message was that the gangs make all Somalians look bad and the incidents should stop.

So IMO the giving the image that the orange coats are protecting Somali youth from racist Finnish police or Finland in general is quite wrong.


The Finnish police have often proved to be racist and incompetent, not addressing the needs of immigrants - So a new kind of �voluntary police� have taken the streets of Helsinki, particularly protecting the Somali youth of Finland. They are known as the �Kanava Nuoriso�, they remind of the �Guardian Angels� crime prevention organization in the U.S.

In the inner cities of the states, you�ll often see these men dressed in uniform, marching around the city. They vow to take back the streets of America, you�ll often find them in neighborhoods that police don�t dare to enter.

A group of a dozen orange-coated Somali men patrol the station area every Friday and Saturday night, a stone�s throw away from the taxi queue. They keep an eye on Somali youths and try to prevent fights, if necessary. They are volunteers, working for an organisation called Kanava Nuoriso (�Channel Youth�)

[�]The first round of the Channel Patrol begins at the corner of the Sokos department store at 10.30 P.M.. The orange-clad men walk unhurriedly across the station into the Kaisaniemi park, where young people often congregate. Right now, however, there is not a soul in the park. The patrol stays in the empty park for a while, shivering. A police car passes. The most dangerous place in the city centre does not seem that dangerous tonight.

However the Helsingin Sanomat article suggests that one of their jobs is to keep the Somali women at home�

It seems like the presence of the patrol on the streets upholds the social system of the immigrant community more than anything else. This may also be behind the fact that there no Somali girls to be seen. �We have no trouble with the girls,� says Musse over some coffee. �We do not run into girls often this late. It would be shameful for them to run into us in the street. They do not want to lose face in front of their community.�

One of the reasons why Finland needs these alternative police�

Ali Abukar digs out his cell phone and shows us his list of recent calls to support his argument. There was some sort of trouble in his apartment building in S�rn�inen, and he called the police. Nobody came, but an hour and a half later someone called back. He attributes the delay to racism.

I applaud their movement if their goal is to protect the Somali people in Finland. However, it�s a different story if their motives are to keep Somali women in the houses, and act as some sort of �religious police� like found in Saudi Arabia.

protecting the Somali youth of Finland�

How well can they keep the girls at home? I suppose they cant know every girl by name and who their parents are. I think its a great idea, in general for people to try to �take back the streets�. However, I think that outside Rautatientorin metroasema and the areas very close to it, Helsinki is pretty peaceful.

Would be great if something like this could be done outside religion, tho.

I wonder, how much can these people do, anyway? They dont have the legal right to stop anyone before they break anything, nor detain them. For rebelling teenager, this makes very easy to disregard them.


Source: HAN