Finland Repatriates Daesh Mothers With Children From Syria to Prevent Radicalisation
Despite concerns that the returnees may pose a security threat to Finland, the Foreign Ministry emphasised that the decision to evacuate former Daesh women and their children was based on data from the National Bureau of Investigation and the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service.
Finland has evacuated six Finnish children and two mothers from the al-Hol displacement camp in northeast Syria, the newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet reported.
This marks the first time that Finland has repatriated so-called Daesh* mothers, as other Finns fleeing from the camp in northeastern Syria have made their way back to Finland on their own. The Foreign Ministry had previously fetched only two orphaned children. The current operation was conducted together with German authorities, which also repatriated German children and mothers from al-Hol.
Finland's Foreign Ministry explained that this is in the best interests of the children. The longer the children remain in the camps, without proper protection and education, the more difficult it will be to counter radical extremism, the ministry said.
“It is not possible to repatriate only the children. In all actions, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration,” the ministry said in a statement, noting that the basic rights of the children interned in the al-Hol camps can be safeguarded “only by repatriating them to Finland”.
Foreign Ministry special representative Jussi Tanner said it was important to return the displaced children to Finland sooner rather than later. According to him, in another scenario, they will return five to fifteen years from now.
“Finnish citizens will in any event have the possibility of returning to Finland. Coming back to Finland would in any event happen when they’re able to leave the camp,” he said during a press conference, reiterating the authorities' legal obligation to bring children home from the camp as Finland couldn't guarantee that their basic rights were being met in the camp.
Tarja Mankkinen of the Interior Ministry’s anti-radicalisation unit, said officials would investigate if there is reason to suspect complicity in crimes by the returnees.
While National Coalition Party Chairman Petteri Orpo suggested that the returnees posed a security threat to Finland, the Foreign Ministry said it was unaware of such information, emphasising that the assessment was based on data from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo).
Around 15 Finnish children and five mothers are still interned at the camp in northeast Syria, according to the Finnish authorities, down from some 30 children and about a dozen mothers.
Last week, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto of the Green Party survived a confidence vote over his actions in sidelining a civil servant who voiced disagreement over repatriating Finnish children from the camp.
Last year, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said it was up to ministry officials to determine whether Finland would extend help to mothers interned at al-Hol.
* Daesh (ISIS/ISIL/"Islamic State") is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia and others
- Source : Igor Kuznetsov
