Treatment of ISIS children divides opinions in Finland

The future of Finnish women and their children associated with the Islamic State (ISIS) has become controversial in Finland.

Kai Mykkänen, the interior minister of the current caretaker cabinet, confirmed on Friday the media reports that there are 33 children and 11 women of Finnish extraction in the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria.

Mykkänen said on national broadcaster Yle that Finland is investigating the possibilities of bringing the children to Finland. Mykkänen described "many of the women" as being deeply radicalized.

"If adult Finnish nationals try to return to Finland, they will be arrested and investigations into criminality start," he said.

Ilona Pekkarinen, the Finnish national ombudsman for children, has criticized the plans. She said on Friday that the separation of children and mothers is against a United Nations agreement on children's rights.

"Each case should be investigated separately," she said, noting that such a separation is allowed only in an extreme case, under the UN rules.

The Finnish security police on Friday said that ISIS also urged women to take part in combat. Pekka Hiltunen, a special investigator with the security police, told Yle that much depends on the motivation of those returning.

Hiltunen said there is a difference between a return as the only remaining alternative or a situation where the decision to return is based on a longer mental process to disengage.

Magnus Ranstorp, a researcher at the Swedish Military Academy, told Yle that the spouses of IS fighters should not be brought back without legislation that covers the situation.

Ranstorp said the problem is being discussed also in Sweden and Norway. He underlined that men and women who had fought for ISIS must not be brought back if legislation does not exist for charging them. Legislation varies in the Nordic countries.