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Finnish media debates on welfare enjoyed by pro-IS fighters' families

Xinhua, August 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Residents of Finland are eligible for Finnish social security services even if they have left the country to help the Islamic State (IS) militant group in the Middle East.

Finnish media took up the matter on Saturday following reports by news magazine Suomen Kuvalehti that the Finnish maternity package - with useful materials for taking care of a newborn - cannot be delivered to some pro-IS fighters' families in Syria, but they can get a tax-free compensation instead.

Centrist Member of Parliament Mikko Karna said he will demand that the Security Police be given the right to suspend social security for those who are suspected of participating in terrorism.

Henna Huhtamaki, a lawyer for the National Social Security System, told the magazine that social benefits cannot be withdrawn on the basis of doing something that could be criminal.

Some of those who have gone to Syria to help IS have taken their families with them. Finnish residency-based social security services continue in most cases for one year after departure from Finland to a non-EU country.

The alleged fighters and their families retain rights for pensions and services such as medical cost reimbursements and various family benefits. Some payments are paid depending on assessment of need by Finnish officials.

Media reports have said that some 70 Finnish nationals have gone to Syria to fight on the side of the IS, and two thirds of them are Finnish residents. Endit