Piilottajan päiväkirja
Encyclopedia
Hiding a Stranger is Professor Juha Suoranta
's non-fiction
on helping a minor asylum seeker in Finland. The book is based on the author's journal and it is a story about his attempt to protect another person, Ashraf Sahil, and to help him from deportation to inhuman conditions.
Sahil, who as a young child had fled with his family from Afghanistan
to Pakistan
in the 1990, was first sent to Iran
from where he was carried to Greece
through Turkey
by human smugglers. From there he traveled across Europe
to Finland
in summer 2008. The Finnish Immigration officials http://www.migri.fi/netcomm/Default.asp?language=EN did not grant him a due asylum
process but instead imposed a deportation
when the author received an e-mail request for help from his sociologist friend in Minneapolis.
Suoranta states that he couldn't tolerate a situation "where a young person was about to be sent into an uncertain, perhaps life-threatening, situation. If it was in my power to do something, I had to do something. (...) Although I did not know what asylum, deportation, irregular immigration
, or the Dublin agreement meant, it was necessary to try to do something, search for help, at least. When I found out that there was no organisation, including the church, which could help, I realised that I had a duty." Thus he hid the youngster to his late grandfather's apartment.
The book has three storyline
s or intertwined layers. In one level it describes in a form of a journal the actual incidents in chronological order, a 5-month period from March to August 2009. In other level it ponders the author's inner feelings and anxieties in a difficult and unprecedented circumstances. And yet in another level the text contains ethical
and moral
reflections pertaining universal questions of helping another human beings referring, among others, to sociologist Zygmunt Bauman
and philosopher Peter Singer
, especially his Practical Ethics
and The Life You Can Save
.
Suoranta's ethics in helping and hiding a stranger is as follows: "Suffering and death because of the lack of basic needs or protection are unnecessary. And if they can be prevented without notable sacrifices, compared to suffering and death, it is wrong not to help."
In Finland the book attracted publicity in newspaper
s, magazine
s and blogosphere
as stories and book reviews; e.g. Helsingin Sanomat
, the largest subscription newspaper in Finland, published a story in its Sunday pages titled "Good Tamperenian" in the pre-day of the book's publication.
Juha Suoranta
Juha Suoranta is a Finnish educational researcher, and public intellectual. He is currently Professor in Adult Education at the University of Tampere. Previously he worked as Professor of Education at the University of Lapland , and Professor of Adult Education at the University of Joensuu...
's non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
on helping a minor asylum seeker in Finland. The book is based on the author's journal and it is a story about his attempt to protect another person, Ashraf Sahil, and to help him from deportation to inhuman conditions.
Sahil, who as a young child had fled with his family from Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
in the 1990, was first sent to Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
from where he was carried to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
through Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
by human smugglers. From there he traveled across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
in summer 2008. The Finnish Immigration officials http://www.migri.fi/netcomm/Default.asp?language=EN did not grant him a due asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
process but instead imposed a deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
when the author received an e-mail request for help from his sociologist friend in Minneapolis.
Suoranta states that he couldn't tolerate a situation "where a young person was about to be sent into an uncertain, perhaps life-threatening, situation. If it was in my power to do something, I had to do something. (...) Although I did not know what asylum, deportation, irregular immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, or the Dublin agreement meant, it was necessary to try to do something, search for help, at least. When I found out that there was no organisation, including the church, which could help, I realised that I had a duty." Thus he hid the youngster to his late grandfather's apartment.
The book has three storyline
Storyline
Storyline may refer to:* The plot or subplot of a story;* The narrative of a work, whether of fictional or nonfictional basis;* The narrative threads experienced by different but specific characters or sets of characters that together form a plot element or subplot in the work of fiction...
s or intertwined layers. In one level it describes in a form of a journal the actual incidents in chronological order, a 5-month period from March to August 2009. In other level it ponders the author's inner feelings and anxieties in a difficult and unprecedented circumstances. And yet in another level the text contains ethical
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
and moral
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
reflections pertaining universal questions of helping another human beings referring, among others, to sociologist Zygmunt Bauman
Zygmunt Bauman
Zygmunt Bauman is a Polish sociologist who, since 1971, has resided in England after being driven out of Poland by an anti-Semitic campaign, engineered by the Communist government which he had previously supported...
and philosopher Peter Singer
Peter Singer
Peter Albert David Singer is an Australian philosopher who is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne...
, especially his Practical Ethics
Practical Ethics
The book Practical Ethics is an introduction to applied ethics written by modern bioethical philosopher Peter Singer. It was originally published in 1979 and has since been translated into a number of languages. The book caused outrage in Germany, Austria and Switzerland...
and The Life You Can Save
The Life You Can Save
The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty is a 2009 non-fiction book written by Australian philosopher Peter Singer. In it, Singer argues that citizens of affluent nations are behaving immorally if they do not act to end the poverty they know to exist in developing nations.The book...
.
Suoranta's ethics in helping and hiding a stranger is as follows: "Suffering and death because of the lack of basic needs or protection are unnecessary. And if they can be prevented without notable sacrifices, compared to suffering and death, it is wrong not to help."
In Finland the book attracted publicity in newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s, magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s and blogosphere
Blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
as stories and book reviews; e.g. Helsingin Sanomat
Helsingin Sanomat
Helsingin Sanomat is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. In 2008, its daily circulation was 412,421 on weekdays and 468,505 on Sundays...
, the largest subscription newspaper in Finland, published a story in its Sunday pages titled "Good Tamperenian" in the pre-day of the book's publication.