3 Finnish families return from al-Hol camp

Three families, who had escaped from the al-Hol refugee camp in Syria arrived in Finland on Sunday afternoon from Turkey, said a government press release.

The Children and the women of the families had been interned in the al-Hol camp in Syria, which they left in the spring. All the children are less than 10 years old.

The Foreign Ministry has consistently recommended that no one tries to leave the camp in the war zone on their own.

The Finnish authorities take particular caution when dealing with matters concerning minors due to the protection of privacy and security.

The returnees were granted travel documents at the Finnish Embassy in Ankara and their return to Finland has been arranged in cooperation with the Turkish authorities.

A total of 30 Finnish children and 10 Finnish mothers had been held in the al-Hol camp, while a number of children and mothers are still detained there.

The government of Finland on 19 December 2019 issued a resolution on the repatriation of Finnish children from the al-Hol camp.

The planned repatriation, however, was hampered and delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak.