Finland PM apologises after Miss Finland & lawmakers criticised for racist ‘slant-eye’ gestures
Finland’s prime minister has issued a public apology after several lawmakers shared photos of themselves making racist “slant-eye” gestures in apparent solidarity with Miss Finland.
The controversy began last month when Sarah Dzafce posted a photo of herself pulling the corners of her eyes, captioned “eating with a Chinese person”.
Source: @thektea on Instagram
The 22-year-old beauty queen was met with swift and widespread backlash online.
Her post was condemned by several Asian governments for being discriminatory towards Asians, but despite the criticism, Ms Dzafce initially dismissed the accusations.
She claimed she had been massaging her temples due to a severe headache, and said the caption had been written by a friend without her consent.
At one point, she also posted a video responding to the outrage, saying: “People are hating on me, but I’m flying Finnair business class.”
Source: @sarahdzafce on Instagram
On 8 Dec, Ms Dzafce apologised on Instagram in a post written entirely in Finnish, admitting that her actions had hurt many people and pledging to be more mindful in the future.
Upon her return to Finland, the Miss Finland Organising Committee stripped her of her title.
Lawmakers criticised for repeating gesture
The situation escalated when several Finnish lawmakers posted photos of themselves making similar “slant-eye” gestures online in support of Ms Dzafce.
Finnish MP Juho Eerola shared an image of himself pulling the corners of his eyes and adding buck teeth, accompanied by the caption “I am Sarah” in French. As of writing, the post remains online.
Source: Juho Eerola on Facebook
European Parliament member Sebastian Tynkkynen also posted a photo making the gesture on Facebook, where it received more than 7,400 likes.
Source: Sebastian Tynkkynen on Facebook
Both politicians argued that the punishment imposed on Ms Dzafce was excessive, but their posts drew heavy criticism online.
Another Finnish MP, Teemu Keskisarja, questioned whether an apology was even necessary, comparing the backlash to a separate incident involving a Chinese vessel accused of damaging Finnish cables, for which no apology had been issued.
Prime minister issues apology, reaffirms Finland’s values
The mounting backlash prompted Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo to issue a formal apology through Finland’s embassies on Wednesday (17 Dec), with statements published in each country’s national language, including Japanese and Korean.
Source: Petteri Orpo on Facebook
In the posts, Mr Orpo apologised for the conduct of individual lawmakers, stressing that their social media posts did not reflect Finland’s values of equality and inclusion.
“I sincerely apologise for the recent insulting social media posts made by individual Members of Parliament,” he wrote.
Across both statements, Mr Orpo made clear that racism and all forms of discrimination have no place in Finnish society, and assured audiences at home and abroad that the government takes the issue seriously and is committed to combating it.
He also emphasised that politicians have a responsibility to set an example, adding that leaders of the coalition parties had discussed the incident and jointly condemned the lawmakers’ actions as insulting and inappropriate.
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Featured image adapted from @thektea on Instagram and Juho Eerola on Facebook.
