Finland

Government & Politics

Committee rules Foreign Minister Haavisto broke law, but shouldn’t be charged — Greens leave dissenting opinion Haavisto's actions in relation to Finnish citizens at the al-Hol camp in Syria are under the microscope.

December 9, 2020   

(Yle) Parliament’s Constitutional Law Committee says Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) broke the law in his efforts to repatriate Finnish citizens from the al-Hol camp in northern Syria — but he should not be prosecuted. At a press conference on Wednesday evening, […]

Academics & Education

FGM declining in Finland, school health survey suggests Eighty out of over 35,000 girls who responded to the survey said they had been subjected to female genital mutilation.

June 5, 2020   

(Yle) Some 80 girls in Finland reported having undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), according to a school health survey by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, THL. The agency’s 2019 school health survey asked over 35,000 girls in upper secondary and […]

Government & Politics

Finnish police believe asylum seeker staged his own death after returning to Iraq Strasbourg judges ruled against Finland in 2019 for violating the human rights of a refugee who was reportedly killed on returning home.

April 23, 2020   

(Yle) An Iraqi man who was refused asylum in Finland and believed to have been murdered a month after returning to his home country may still in fact be alive, police said on Wednesday, as they launched an investigation on charges of […]

Government & Politics

SUPO: Finland’s main terror threat still comes from lone wolf attacks The new report from Supo outlines the main threats to Finnish security from terrorism, extremist groups, and cyber attacks.

April 2, 2020   

(News Now Finland) The Finnish Security and Intelligence Service Supo published its new year book on Thursday, painting a picture of the threats facing Finland from domestic extremist movements, cyber espionage and terror attacks. Supo says the threat of terrorism in Finland […]

Government & Politics

Prosecutor general aims to charge Finns Party MP for incitement In a speech to parliament last summer MP Juha Mäenpää likened asylum seekers to an invasive species.

January 23, 2020   

(Yle) Finland’s Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen wants to bring charges against Finns Party MP Juha Mäenpää for inciting hatred against an ethnic group. As Mäenpää delivered a speech before the legislature last June, he likened asylum seekers to an invasive species. According […]

Children & Teens

Sanna Marin: ‘It’s not the government’s job to decide individual al-Hol cases’ The new PM told Yle on Saturday she wondered why the conservative NCP decided to take a hard line on Finns at al-Hol.

December 21, 2019   

(Yle) Speaking on Yle’s talk show Ykkösaamu on Saturday, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said she was very pleased with the government’s decision to repatriate Finnish children from the al-Hol refugee camp. “It’s up to ministry officials to determine whether Finland will also […]

Children & Teens

Foreign Ministry: Two children to be repatriated from al-Hol camp The Foreign Ministry said that it will provide an update when the children are safely in the care of Finnish officials.

December 19, 2019   

(Yle) The Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that Finland is preparing to evacuate two Finnish children from the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria, where relatives of Isis combatants are being held. The ministry said that to protect the children’s privacy and ensure […]

Children & Teens

‘Aren’t you ashamed?’ PM Marin stands ground during heated al-Hol debate Opposition parties came together to grill the government over a plan to repatriate Finns from a Syrian refugee camp.

December 17, 2019   

(Yle) Opposition and government MPs clashed during a tense parliamentary debate over the government’s position on repatriating Finnish citizens currently at the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria on Tuesday afternoon. An opposition interpellation tabled last week set its sight on putting the […]

Government & Politics

Is Finland looking to repatriate ‘terrorists’? 5 relevant questions about the security issues around Finns held at al-Hol Finnish citizens in Syria pose a security risk that is not removed by leaving them in a prison camp.

December 15, 2019   

(Yle) Finnish women should not be repatriated from the camp, because they are a security risk. That’s the reasoning of those opposed to bringing back Finnish citizens in the al-Hol camp in northern Syria, which holds refugees from the war in Syria […]

Children & Teens

Yle sources: Foreign Ministry prepped plan for Finns who wanted to leave al-Hol refugee camp Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto continued to deny the existence of a firm plan, saying that several options were explored.

December 11, 2019   

(Yle) The Foreign Ministry took the lead in planning an operation to repatriate Finnish nationals who wanted to return to Finland from the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria, according to official documents seen by Yle. The material indicated that the draft plan […]

Government & Politics

Finland to reconsider 500 asylum decisions after European court ruling Authorities will re-evaluate some cases in light of harsh criticism from the Court of Human Rights.

November 22, 2019   

(Yle) The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) says it will revisit about 500 asylum decisions following a European court ruling critical of a previous deportation. Last week the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found Finnish authorities guilty of violating the European Convention […]

Burkini

More Finnish swimming pools offering women-only hours A number of swimming pools in Finland are introducing shifts or courses geared towards immigrants, especially women.

September 25, 2019   

(Yle) Several public as well as private swimming pools in Finland are taking measures to encourage immigrants, particularly women, to learn how to swim. The Finnish Swimming Teaching and Lifesaving Federation, an organisation dedicated to improving swimming skills and reducing drowning deaths […]

Burkini

Burkinis should be allowed in public pools, non-discrimination ombudsman says The ombudsman said banning the swimsuits is gender- and religion-based discrimination.

September 4, 2019   

(Yle) Kirsi Pimiä, the non-discrimination ombudsman, has recommended that Finland’s public swimming pools should permit the use of burkinis, the body-covering bathing suits sometimes used by Muslim women. Pimiä said she became aware of cases of burkini-wearing women having been turned away […]

Academics & Education

Helsinki preps schools, NGOs to spot FGM, forced marriage trips A working group survey revealed that at least 10 children had 'disappeared' from Helsinki primary schools in 2017.

August 20, 2019   

(Yle) The city of Helsinki has announced a programme to help schools and children’s NGOs better recognise situations where planned trips by migrant-background families might endanger children’s safety. According to a report by tabloid daily Ilta-Sanomat, the guidelines will advise adults working […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Court: Helsinki breaks contract talks with Muslim recruit who wanted prayer breaks Three city officials face labour discrimination charges after ending contract talks with a new hire over prayer breaks.

June 14, 2019   

(Yle) Three civil servants with Helsinki City’s Urban Environment Division face labour discrimination and dereliction of duty charges in Helsinki District Court after failing to finalise an employment contract with a new hire after he said he was a practicing Muslim and […]

Government & Politics

SDP: Authenticity of MP Hussein al-Taee’s social media posts ‘news’ to us SDP says the party did not know that antisemitic, homophobic and other comments made by MP Hussein al-Taee on social media were authentic.

April 29, 2019   

(Yle) Following news about alleged antisemitic, homophobic and racist Facebook comments made by Social Democrat MP Hussein al-Taee, al-Taee admitted in his blog on Monday that they were authentic and he was the author. Previously, he had questioned whether they were written […]

Government & Politics

Finnish MP under fire for comparing Israel to ISIS Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the head of the Jerusalem office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told the Jerusalem Post on Sunday: 'This guy [Hussein al-Taee] is obviously an antisemite.'

April 28, 2019   

(Jerusalem Post) The newly elected Finnish MP Hussein al-Taee of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) is facing a wave of criticism this week for comparing Israel to the Islamic State, antisemitic rants against Jews and pro-Iranian regime advocacy. The Finnish-Kurdish […]

Government & Politics

New SDP MP under scrutiny over contentious Facebook posts The MP’s employer, Martti Ahtisaari’s Crisis Management Initiative, says it stands behind Hussein al-Taee.

April 21, 2019   

(Yle) Fledgling politician Hussein al-Taee, who was recently elected to parliament on a Social Democratic Party ticket, has come under intense scrutiny over old Facebook posts about the situation in the Middle East. Among other things, the new MP from Vantaa appeared […]

News: Europe

Finnish woman wants to return from IS stronghold: international media International news media reported encountering a woman who claimed to be Finnish and living in an Islamic State-controlled area

March 6, 2019   

(Yle) A journalist writing on Twitter on Wednesday said that he had encountered a Finnish woman living in an area in Syria controlled by the extremist organisation Islamic State. Kurdish affairs analyst and journalist Mutlu Civiroglu tweeted that the woman came to […]

Children & Teens

THL: 10,000 girls and women in Finland have undergone FGM Finland’s public health watchdog THL says 3,000 girls risk undergoing the procedure, which involves removal of all or some of the external female genitalia.

November 23, 2018   

(Yle) There are currently as many as 3,000 girls in Finland who face the risk of being subjected to female genital mutilation or FGM, according to an analysis released by the National Institute for Health and Welfare on Friday. The THL data […]

Children & Teens

Finnish hospitals see more babies born to mothers with FGM Leading Finnish obstetricians are calling on doctors to become more knowledgeable of female genital mutilation, as more circumcised women give birth in Finland.

October 14, 2018   

(Yle) Finland has started tallying births by circumcised mothers as the medical community is increasingly dealing with delivery complications caused by female genital mutilation, FGM. Päivi Polo, who heads the women’s clinic at Turku University Hospital, told Yle she sees 1-2 circumcised […]

Government & Politics

Supo: 200 imprisoned terrorists to be freed in Western Europe soon The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) says there are more potential 'mentors' who may radicalise individuals to carry out terrorist acts.

September 27, 2018   

(Yle) The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo) warns that more than 200 convicts jailed for terrorism crimes will be freed from Western European prisons within the next few years. “While in prison, these people may not necessarily have changed the way they […]

Crime

Citizens’ initiative to ban FGM set for parliamentary consideration A citizens' initiative demanding a law to ban female genital mutilation in Finland has gained 50,000 signatures, meaning Parliament must now consider the motion.

August 18, 2018   

(Yle) A citizens’ initiative demanding that lawmakers draw up a specific law to outlaw FGM in Finland has attracted over 50,000 signatures. This means it has met the threshold enacted in a 2012 Finnish law, and the Finnish Parliament must now put […]