Government to Look into Forced Repatriation of Immigrant Kids
Some immigrant children are being educated back home.
Image: YLE
The Finnish League for Human Rights is looking into the phenomenon of immigrant parents sending their children back to their homeland in order to de-westernise them. They want to make sure that the children's rights are not violated in the process.
The League intends to interview non-government organisations, Islamic groups in Finland as well as educational and social welfare organisations in larger cities.
"This study is necessary. At the moment we only have guesses and rumours about how widespread of a phenomena this might be in Finland," says Justice Minister Tuija Brax. "The rest of Europe has already woken up to this fact and considers it a significant problem."
The Justice Ministry, with Brax's urging, decided to launch the study on Wednesday.
The Secretary General for the League for Human Rights, Kristiina Kouros, notes that not all cases are equal - their job is to separate benign cases from those in which a child's rights are violated.
"I think it's fundamental to research this phenomenon from a clean slate," she says. "We know that these forced moves stem from very different circumstances. Some situations are bleak while others aren't all that dramatic."
The study is due out next April.
YLE