US President Donald Trump's call for European allies to “take back” their jihadists from Syria and bring them to justice has left EU member states divided. Finland is one of the nations that is seemingly more open to the US president's request.
Finland will not block the return of nationals who left the country to fight among the ranks of Daesh*, Finnish Interior Minister Kai Mykkänen told the country's Yle national broadcaster.
According to Mykkänen, a prerequisite for this is having Finnish citizenship and travel documents in order.
“As reprehensible as these peoples' actions were, there were also children born these areas who did not choose their fate. We must be very careful about how we treat their situations,” Mykkänen observed.
Previously, Foreign Minister Timo Soini and Prime Minister Juha Sipilä said that Finland has no interest in taking back its jihadists, often referred to as “foreign fighters”, and doesn't have any sympathy for them.
However, one cannot just shrug off this responsibility, Interior Ministry Development Manager Tarja Mankkinen said, stressing Finland's obligation to take in people with Finnish citizenship.
“According to the law, one cannot prevent a person who has Finnish citizenship from returning to Finland,” Mankkinen told Yle. According to her, it doesn't matter whether the jihadists are guilty of war crimes or not.
Trump's Call to Bring EU Jihadists Home Sows Discord in Scandinavia
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