Children's Ombudsman Elina Pekkarinen told Yle she is outraged that Finnish society has failed to protect children and young people from being sent abroad to so-called disciplinary institutions in East Africa, where some are chained and abused.
"I think it is horrific, and it makes me angry," she told Yle, referring to a recent investigation by investigative programme MOT.
The investigation found that some Somali parents living in Finland have sent their children to disciplinary institutions in Somalia.
Concerns about the practice are, however, not new. Already in 2010, the Finnish League for Human Rights published a report warning that children were being sent to such facilities. The issue was raised again in 2017 by Pekkarinen's predecessor, Tuomas Kurttila.
"Last summer, the foreign ministry also organised a roundtable discussion on this subject," Pekkarinen noted.
At the same time, however, the education ministry said it was unaware of the phenomenon.
"We know that children are taken abroad for disciplinary purposes, but we were not aware of such institutions," said Education Minister Anders Adlercreutz (SPP).
The minister's response surprised Pekkarinen, who said the practice has been known for more than 20 years, adding that "we haven't done enough for these children."
Schools identify risks
Schools are usually the first to raise the alarm when a child goes missing, particularly in larger cities.
The City of Helsinki has developed specific guidelines to help prevent such cases and to support professionals in responding when a child is at risk. According to Janina Himberg, who helped draft the guidance, teachers have reported pupils disappearing or failing to show up when moving on to the next level of education.
Adlercreutz said schools need more information to help them identify at-risk kids. At the moment, there are no figures on how many Finnish children have been sent to institutions of this kind.
