The man was taken to northeastern Syria as a child in 2014. Jussi Tanner, head of consular affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says that the Finnish authorities have known about him for a long time.
16:27•Updated 19:09
Finland has repatriated a man who has lived in the Isis caliphate in Syria for the past ten years, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The unofficial self-government of northeastern Syria, which currently controls the region, mapped the man on May 6.
The man was taken to Syria in 2014 as a child, and now he is an adult. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he is not suspected of crimes in Finland or Syria.
In repatriation, there has been cooperation with allied countries, especially the United States.
The US State Department says to have repatriated eleven US citizens from northeastern Syria.
In connection with the operation, the United States also helped repatriate one Finnish citizen, as well as six Canadian citizens and four Dutch citizens, the US State Department says.
Consular Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland Jussi Tanner confirms that it is a man repatriated to Finland.
Tanner: Finland knew about the man for a long time
According to Tanner, the man was in a detention center for underage boys in Syria.
The deportation intentions came to the attention of the ministry a few weeks ago, when the unofficial administration of northeastern Syria approached the Finnish authorities.
– We don’t know exactly what all that (expulsion) is due to, but presumably it is due to the fact that he has grown out of that institution for underage boys, says Tanner.
Tanner would not comment on who took the child to Syria in 2014 or why he was taken there.
According to Tanner, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has known about the man for a very long time, and the ministry has also met him before in northeastern Syria.
According to Tanner, participating in the US operation was a practical and safe way to carry out the man’s repatriation to Finland.
Based on information from the Finnish authorities, the security risks related to the man’s entry into Finland are minor.
– You can never be completely sure about anyone, but in light of the current best available official information, there is no cause for great concern, says Tanner.
The Islamist terrorist organization Isis ruled parts of Syria and Iraq between 2014 and 2019. It established a caliphate in the region, which also operated in northeastern Syria, where the man was. In 2019, the organization had lost practically all of its territory in Syria.
The northeastern part of Syria is currently ruled by the unofficial Kurdish administration, which came to power in the wake of the civil war that began in 2012.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not normally disclose individual consular cases to the public. According to Tanner, there was an exceptional need to inform about this case, because the matter is related to northeastern Syria and the period after the Isis caliphate, and it is of special interest.
Updated on 7.5. at 17:50 with the information obtained from the interview with the consular chief Jussi Tanner.