Pekka Haavisto – Eye on Islamism

Police suspect woman repatriated from al-Hol of trafficking own children Investigators believe the mother took several of her children to the war-torn region in 2014, but only two have since returned from the al-Hol refugee camp via a repatriation programme.

July 11, 2024 Unlisted Author

(Yle) Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) suspects a Finnish woman of aggravated human trafficking of her own children after she brought them to the ISIS “caliphate” in the region of Syria and northern Iraq in 2014. Detective Inspector Jan Aarnisalo, who […]

Did Russian ties to Koran-burning outside Turkish embassy derail Sweden’s NATO bid?

March 21, 2023 Louise Nordstrom

(France 24) The timing couldn’t have been worse. Turkey had already threatened to derail Sweden’s NATO aspirations when a far-right extremist set fire to a Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. On Friday, Ankara issued its verdict on Sweden and Finland’s […]

Al-Hol relatives may seek compensation from Finnish state Three Finnish children remain at the displacement camp in northern Syria, with a UN committee reprimanding Finland for delaying their repatriation.

October 22, 2022 Unlisted Author

(Yle) Relatives of Finnish children living in the Al-Hol displacement camp in northern Syria are investigating the possibility of receiving compensation from the Finnish government. The move comes after the UN Child Rights Committee (CRC) last week issued a severe reprimand to […]

Finland repatriates eight citizens from Syria The Foreign Ministry on Sunday said it had evacuated six Finnish children and two mothers from northeast Syria.

December 20, 2020 Unlisted Author

(Yle) The Foreign Ministry on Sunday said the mothers were repatriated together with their children and that these eight people were now in the care of Finnish authorities. This is the first time the government repatriated mothers from Syria. The Foreign Ministry […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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, […]

One more mother returns to Finland from al-Hol camp The family left al-Hol without help from the Finnish government.

August 1, 2020 Unlisted Author

(Yle) A Finnish woman has arrived in Finland with her children after fleeing the al-Hol camp in northern Syria. The camp houses women and children who lived in the short-lived ISIS caliphate when it collapsed. The woman had left the camp under […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

Foreign minister wins confidence vote over al-Hol furore Pekka Haavisto received majority support from 110 MPs on Wednesday on the issue of the repatriation of Finns from Syria.

December 18, 2019 Unlisted Author

(Yle) Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto received the support of 110 MPs in a confidence vote held in Parliament on Wednesday concerning the repatriation of Finns living in the al-Hol camp in Syria. Out of 200 MPs, 79 MPs voted against […]

‘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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]