Finland Aims to Repatriate ISIS Children from Syria 'as Soon as Possible'

A general view of al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria April 2, 2019. (Reuters)
A general view of al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria April 2, 2019. (Reuters)
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Finland Aims to Repatriate ISIS Children from Syria 'as Soon as Possible'

A general view of al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria April 2, 2019. (Reuters)
A general view of al-Hol displacement camp in Hasaka governorate, Syria April 2, 2019. (Reuters)

Finland will try to repatriate children of Finnish mothers who traveled to Syria to join ISIS “as soon as possible”, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Monday.

Finland is one of a number of European Union member states facing a decision over whether to bring home citizens with ISIS links who are trapped at the al-Hol camp displacement camp controlled by Kurds in northeastern Syria.

More than 30 children born to 11 Finnish women are at al-Hol, according to Finnish media, and the fate of the mothers has caused divisions in Finland’s five-party coalition government that took office last week.

The Center Party, a coalition ally of Marin’s Social Democrats, opposes letting the wives of ISIS fighters back into Finland but supports repatriating their children.

The party is worried by the rise in the polls of the opposition nationalist Finns Party, which says repatriating ISIS detainees could endanger Finland’s security.

Marin said that, in an attempt to resolve the dispute in the coalition, the government had decided each case should be judged on its own merits.

“The aim of the authorities’ actions is to protect the interests of the child in all circumstances,” Marin said, leaving the door open for the repatriation of some of the mothers with their children.

“There is no obligation to assist adults who went to the region of their own accord,” she said.

Repatriating children without their mothers is unlikely to happen as Syrian Kurdish forces, who control the territory that includes al-Hol, oppose separating children from their mothers.

Marin’s government faces questioning on the issue in parliament on Tuesday.



Iranian Capital Builds 'Defensive Tunnel' after Israeli Strikes

People cross an intersection in northern Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People cross an intersection in northern Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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Iranian Capital Builds 'Defensive Tunnel' after Israeli Strikes

People cross an intersection in northern Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People cross an intersection in northern Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran is building a "defensive tunnel" in the capital Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday, following strikes by Israel on targets in the country.
The tunnel, located near the city center, will link a station on the Tehran metro to the Imam Khomeini hospital, thus allowing direct underground access to the medical facility, Reuters said.
"For the first time in the country, a tunnel with defensive applications is being built in Tehran," the head of transport for Tehran City Council told Tasnim.
Last month, Israel carried out its first officially-recognized strikes in Iran, hitting missile factories and other sites near Tehran and in the country's west, as a response to Iran's Oct.1 attack on Israeli territory.