A photo of Miss Finland sparks racist accusations and furor across Asia

HELSINKI, Finland (AP) — Finland’s government is facing heavy pressure and accusations of racism from several Asian countries after its representative to the 2025 Miss Universe pageant was seen pulling the corners of her eyes in a photo -- and some Finnish politicians posted their own photos repeating the gesture.

Sarah Dzafce lost her Miss Finland crown last week after a photo of Dzafce pulling the skin at the corners of her eyes posted on social media went viral late last month. The photo, and its caption reading “eating with a Chinese,” was decried by governments and commentators across Finland and Asia as discrimination against Asians.

Dzafce, who won Miss Finland in September, has told Finnish media that she was trying to alleviate a headache. The Helsinki Times reported that she said a friend had shared the private image and wrote the caption without her input. Dzafce did not respond to The Associated Press's request for comment Thursday.

Dzafce posted an apology to social media on Dec. 8 and said it was never her intention to hurt anyone.

“The Miss Finland title is not just a crown for me, but also a responsibility. A responsibility for how I speak, how I act, and how my actions can affect people,” she wrote in Finnish.

She added: “I take responsibility for my actions and will learn from this.”

Days later, the Miss Finland Organization revoked her status as Miss Finland 2025 — known as Miss Suomi in Finnish.

“The events of recent days have caused deep hurt, disappointment, and concern both in Finland and internationally — fully understandably,” the organization wrote on social media. “We are deeply sorry for the harm these events have caused. Especially to the Asian community, but also to everyone affected. Racism is never acceptable in any form.”

The controversy snowballed when several far-right Finnish politicians rallied around Dzafce after she lost her crown. Members of the parliament who are part of the ruling coalition posted their own photos of them pulling the skin around their eyes.

The furor has spread throughout Asia, prompting Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo to issue an apology to several countries, including Japan and South Korea, through statements in their languages posted to Finnish embassy social media accounts.

“These posts do not reflect Finland’s values of equality and inclusion,” Orpo's statement said. "Racism and discrimination have no place in Finnish society. Our message in Finland and to all our friends abroad is that the Government takes racism seriously and is committed to combat the issue. Finland always aims to do better. Politicians have a responsibility to serve as examples in this respect.”

Japan’s government has reached out to the Finnish embassy in Tokyo expressing its concerns.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, the government's top spokesperson, said Japan hopes to maintain close communication with Helsinki.

“I understand that Finnish Prime Minister issued a statement expressing his deepest apology for the recent insulting posts made on social media by some parliamentarians,” Kihara said. “As the Japanese government, we have conveyed via the local embassy our concern about the case and expectations for an appropriate response.”

Finland is a major tourist destination for visitors from Asia, and some users on social platform X have called for a boycott of travel to Finland and of Finnair, the country's largest airline.

Päivyt Tallqvist, the airline’s senior vice president of communications, told Finnish broadcaster Yle that the scandal has hurt the company's international operations without providing details.

FILE - New Miss Finland Tara Lehtonen, left, and Sarah Dzafce attend a press conference in Helsinki, Finland Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Emmi Korhonen/Lehtikuva via AP, File)

FILE - Former Miss Finland Sarah Dzafce attends a press conference in Helsinki, Finland, Thursday Dec 11, 2025. (Emmi Korhonen/Lehtikuva via AP, File)

FILE - Former Miss Finland Sarah Dzafce attends a press conference in Helsinki, Finland, Thursday Dec 11, 2025. (Emmi Korhonen/Lehtikuva via AP, File)

SAN BARTOLO MORELOS, Mexico (AP) — For 32 years, Cruz Monroy has walked the streets of a small town on the fringes of Mexico's capital with a tower of small cages filled with a rainbow of birds.

The melodies of red cardinals, green and blue parakeets and multicolored finches fill the days of “pajareros,” or street bird vendors, like him.

The act of selling birds in stacks of cages — sometimes far taller than the men who carry them — goes back generations. They've long been a fixture in Mexican markets and are among 1.5 million street vendors that work on the streets of Mexico.

“Hearing their songs, it brings people joy,” Monroy said, the sounds of dozens of birdsongs echoing over him from his home in his small town outside Mexico's capital, where he cares for and raises the birds. “This is our tradition, my father was also a bird-seller.”

During the Catholic holiday of Palm Sunday, hundreds of pajareros from across the country flock to Mexico City and decorate 10-foot-tall stacks of cages, adorning them with bright flowers, tinsel and images of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico’s patron saint.

They walk miles through the streets of the capital with their birds and their families to the city's iconic basilica.

But pajareros have slowly disappeared from the streets in recent years in the face of mounting restrictions by authorities and sharp criticisms by animal rights groups, who call the practice an act of animal abuse and trafficking.

Monroy and others say they don't capture birds like parrots and others prohibited by Mexican authorities — which say tropical species are “wild birds, not pets” — often breed the birds they own themselves and take good care of their animals. Despite that, Monroy said in his family, the tradition is dying out.

In the face of harassment by authorities and mounting criticisms, he said he wants his own sons to find more stable work.

"Because of the restrictions, harassment by certain authorities, many friends have left selling birds behind," Monroy said. “For my children, it's not stable work anymore. We have to look for other alternatives.”

People walk with decorated bird cages during an annual pilgrimage of bird vendors to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Bird sellers with his decorated cages enter the Basilica of Guadalupe during their annual pilgrimage in Mexico City, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Humberto Lopez prepares a cage with birds to sell in Toluca, Mexico, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A decorated cage sits on a street during an annual pilgrimage of bird vendors to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

People walk with decorated bird cages during an annual pilgrimage of bird vendors to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A vendor prepares a cage containing his birds before an annual pilgrimage of bird vendors to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)