Tougher punishment on immigrant sex offenders

Interior Minister Kai Mykkänen on Saturday repeated his call for tougher punishment on sex offenders who are immigrants or asylum seekers, after police uncovered four new cases of suspected sexual assault against minors in Oulu, northern Finland.

Mykkänen reiterated his position that dual citizens who are found guilty of aggravated sexual offenses should have their Finnish citizenship deprived.

"If someone violates one of our basic values, the physical integrity of another individual, I consider that a national threat," said the minister in the morning program of national broadcaster Yle.

He pointed out that it is unacceptable that someone who comes to Finland in search of safety only creates more insecurity, emphasizing that these crimes have no ground in Finland.

The Oulu Police Department said on Friday that they launched a preliminary investigation into four new cases of suspected sexual abuse of girls under the age of 15. The announcement followed a previous round of investigations on similar offenses in November last year.

After the first series of sexual crimes revealed last November, Mykkänen made similar suggestions, saying that immigrants and asylum seekers who commit sexual crimes should be deported or have their citizenship revoked.

According to Mykkänen, the suspects in the latest cases came to Finland from North Africa and the Middle East. Some of them were Finnish citizens and some were waiting for asylum decisions.