Finnish woman suspected of grave human trafficking of her own children to ISIS caliphate under investigation

A woman who travelled to the ISIS caliphate is suspected by the Finnish Central Criminal Police (KRP) of grave human trafficking involving her own children. The woman, around 40 years old and previously living in the capital region, took several underage children with her to Syria in 2014. She returned with one of them in late 2021 after Finnish authorities repatriated women and children from the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria.

Only two children have returned, and at different times. Not all the children have returned to Finland. The victims, currently of age, are the plaintiffs in this investigation. The situation of the other children or why the investigation has not been extended to those who have not returned was not commented on by the investigator.

The investigation’s focus is on the suspicion that the woman took her children to conditions violating human dignity. Details about the children’s life in Syria were not disclosed, but the investigation has progressed, and the police have a good idea of the conditions in which the children had to live. The woman and the victims have been interrogated, and the police have a fairly open account of the events from the woman.

No coercive measures, such as seizures or arrests, have been used in the investigation, meaning there is no deadline for possible charges to be filed. The maximum sentence for severe human trafficking is ten years in prison, which means that the right to sue expires in 20 years.

The investigation will be handed over to the prosecutor at the earliest in the fall. Assistance has been provided to the victims who returned to Finland through close cooperation among authorities.

Investigating suspected crimes committed abroad is always difficult, especially in this case where the conflict area did not have a functioning administration at the time of the suspected crimes.

In many other countries, women returning from al-Hol have been suspected and convicted of terrorism-related crimes. However, Finnish legislation does not allow the application of terrorism clauses in such cases.

Since 2019, Finland has repatriated over 30 people from al-Hol, most of them children. There are still about ten Finns in al-Hol. According to human rights organization Amnesty, tens of thousands of people are still detained in camps and detention centers in northeastern Syria over five years after the downfall of the so-called Islamic State.