5 more Finns return from al-Hol camp

Four Finnish children and their mother were repatriated from al-Hol refugee campin northeast Syria on Friday, said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a press release.

They are now in the care of competent Finnish authorities.

Finnish authorities have a constitutional obligation to safeguard the fundamental rights of the Finnish children held in the camps as far as possible. The only way to safeguard the fundamental rights of children held in northeast Syria is to bring them to Finland.

The repatriated persons are members of the same family. One of the children has reached adulthood, the youngest is under five years of age.

All five have previously been in the al-Hol camp. The family was repatriated from Syria via Turkey in cooperation with the Turkish authorities.

It was not possible to repatriate only the children. In all official activities, priority has been given to the best interests of the child.

Since 2019, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has repatriated a total of 35 Finns, 26 children and nine adults, who were held in the al-Hol camp. A dozen Finns are still in the Syrian camps.

The camps in northeast Syria constitute a serious, long-term security risk.

The longer the children are kept in the camps without protection and education, the harder it will be to fight violent extremism and radicalisation.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs intends, as possible, to repatriate the Finnish children still detained in the camps.