Foreign-born citizens in the northern Finnish city of Oulu said they felt unsafe after police suspected two stabbings may have been racially motivated.
The attack took place over the course of a week at Oulu’s main shopping mall.
On June 13, a 33-year-old local man – a former member of the banned neo-Nazi group Nordic Resistance – allegedly attacked a 12-year-old boy of foreign origin. He is also accused of attempting to assault a 14-year-old.
The young child is currently being treated in hospital with serious injuries.
A second attack took place at the same location on June 18, when a man of foreign background was allegedly stabbed by a 15-year-old teenager.
Oulu police said preliminary information suggested the attack was also racially motivated and a copycat of the first stabbing. The victim was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries to his upper body, a statement added.
The attacks sent shockwaves across Finland and prompted widespread condemnation from politicians.
President Alexander Stubb posted on the X website that “there is no place in Finland for racism or racist violence.” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo called the attacks and their “possible “Racist motives” and “disgusting.”
The opposition Social Democrats have proposed holding an emergency debate in Finland’s parliament to discuss far-right violence.
All parliamentary parties except the far-right Finns Party support the initiative.
Oulu, with a population of just over 200,000, is a technology center located 170 kilometers (100 miles) south of the Arctic Circle.
Although the number of hate crimes recorded in Finland has increased in recent years, violent attacks are extremely rare.
Ari Alatossava, the mayor of Oulu, told the BBC: “These cases are horrific. They happened in public places and in broad daylight, which is a new situation for us.”
Samina Kazi-Prat, 29, a PhD student at the University of Oulu, moved to Finland from India in 2018. One of the main reasons.
“I would be walking alone at night without fear of getting hurt. And then all of a sudden there were two stabbings in the city center,” she said. “Now I’m thinking: I have to be careful and aware of my surroundings.
Ms. Kazi-Pratt said she had not encountered racism personally in her daily life in Oulu, but had noticed it had become more common on social media in the past two years.
“Hate has become more common and expressed more openly,” she said.
A young woman who moved to Oulu from the Middle East and wishes to remain anonymous said she has been the target of racist comments on social media. The stabbing frightened her.
“I now start checking who is walking behind me on the street,” she said.
“Oulu is not safe right now, especially for us foreigners.”
Mayor Alatosava said police presence in the city center has been increased and the city has stepped up outreach services to citizens with immigrant backgrounds.
