Finland has repatriated nearly 30 ISIS-linked nationals so far: envoy

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Finland has repatriated about 30 of its Islamic State (ISIS) affiliated nationals from northeast Syria (Rojava) and Turkey, including a woman and her children who were returned on Friday, a special envoy from the Finnish foreign ministry told Rudaw English on Saturday.  

“Finland has so far repatriated ca. 30 individuals that were kept in al-Hol camp: 10 children and 3 mothers were handed over by NES authorities,” said Jussi Tanner said, referring to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES). 

The others were brought back via Turkey: “approximately one dozen children and 4 mothers first escaped al-Hol in 2019-2020 and were repatriated by the foreign service of Finland via Turkey,” he added.

Tanner refused to provide the exact number of those repatriated “in order to protect the privacy of the children.” 

He led a Finnish delegation that arrived in Rojava on Wednesday and returned to Finland on Friday, taking with them an ISIS-affiliated Finnish woman and her two children who had been held at Roj camp, according to Kurdish authorities and a Finnish statement. 

“The mother of the two children was also repatriated. It was not possible to repatriate only the children. In all official activities, priority has been given to the best interests of the child,” Helsinki stated on Friday, adding it plans to bring home the remaining children still held in Rojava camps “as soon as possible.”

Kurdish and US officials have made repeated calls on the international community to repatriate their nationals from over-crowded camps where children are exposed to ISIS ideology. But only a few countries have responded positively, most are worried about security concerns and are generally limiting repatriations to children.

ISIS took control of swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014. Kurdish forces arrested tens of thousands of ISIS fighters and their family members when they took control of the last bastion of ISIS in Syria in March 2019. The al-Hol and Roj camps together hold more than 60,000 people. 

Rojava authorities handed over 10 Belgian children and six women, who were their mothers, to Brussels on Thursday.

According to Helsinki, there are still nearly 900 European citizens – 600 children and 300 women – in Rojava’s camps, including several Finns.