Source: Yle – Page 2 – Eye on Islamism

Foreign Ministry: Two Finnish kids from Syrian camp headed to Finland Finnish officials are bringing two Finnish children back from a Syrian refugee camp on Saturday night.

December 21, 2019 Unlisted Author

(Yle) Two Finnish children from the al-Hol refugee camp are in the care of Finnish authorities and en route to Finland on Saturday evening, the Foreign Ministry’s Under Secretary of State Pekka Puustinen said at a press conference on Saturday just after […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

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 […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

Helsinki police suspend repatriations to Iraq

November 17, 2019 Unlisted Author

(Yle) Finland will pause asylum seeker repatriations to Iraq following criticism by the European Court of Human Rights. Police tweeted the news on Saturday, saying that the suspension does not cover convicted criminals. Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo immediately took to Twitter, saying […]

Court rules Finland violated human rights of murdered asylum seeker The decision is the first time Finland has been found in breach of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

November 14, 2019 Unlisted Author

(Yle) Finland has been found guilty of violating Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights in the case of Ali, an Iraqi man who was denied asylum in 2017, deported to Iraq and killed a few weeks later. […]

Finns Party MP fined €4K over ethnic agitation conviction The MP says his Facebook updates did not constitute a punishable offence and that he will appeal the verdict.

October 10, 2019 Unlisted Author

(Yle) An Oulu court has slapped Finns Party lawmaker Sebastian Tynkkynen with a 50-day fine after convicting him on charges of ethnic agitation. The total fine amounts to slightly more than 4,000 euros. The conviction came over texts and images Tynkkynen posted […]

Finns Party MP stands trial for ethnic agitation Sebastian Tynkkynen is in court for a second time on charges of agitation against an ethnic group via social media posts.

October 3, 2019 Unlisted Author

(Yle) The trial of Finns Party MP Sebastian Tynkkynen began on Thursday in the Oulu District Court. A lawmaker from the northwest municipality where the proceedings are being held, Tynkkynen is suspected of agitation against an ethnic group in a 2016 Facebook […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

Finnish women in Syrian refugee camp in limbo awaiting return home Just one of six women interviewed said she would prefer life in a Sharia state rather than to return to Finland.

August 31, 2019 Unlisted Author

(Yle) The Finnish government is still to decide on the fate of Finnish women and their children detained at a refugee camp in a Kurdish region in Syria. A dozen or so Finnish women who followed their husbands as the men joined […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

Citizens’ initiative on FGM ban heads to Finnish Parliament The initiative on explicitly banning female genital mutilation received more than 61,000 signatures.

June 3, 2019 Unlisted Author

(Yle) A citizens’ initiative on creating a law to specifically ban the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Finland is headed to the new Parliament for consideration by MPs. The initiative garnered a total of 61,266 signatures by the beginning of […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

MOT: Oulu imam’s son-in-law and business partner died in Isis ranks An Yle investigative report has found alleged links between a Finnish Islamic leader and an Isis combatant.

April 1, 2019 Unlisted Author

(Yle) A man who left Finland to join the terrorist group Isis was the son-in-law and business partner of the imam of the Oulu-based Islamic Society of Northern Finland, Yle’s investigative journalism programme MOT reported on Monday. As part of a programme […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]

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 Unlisted Author

(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 […]