Representations of Unwelcomed Children – Public Discussion in Helsingin Sanomat Newspaper about Finnish Children Living in Camp of al-Hol in Eastern Syria in 2019

Abstract

In this article, we examine the representations of Finnish children living in the al-Hol refugee camp in Eastern Syria. Our data consists of materials published in 2019 in the Helsingin Sanomat, the largest subscription-based newspaper in Finland, which we analyzed using discourse analysis. As a result of our analysis, we identified and named three discourses representing children in al-Hol from different perspectives. These discourses are the victim and threat discourse, the legal discourse, and the problem discourse. In the victim and threat discourse, children were portrayed as both in need of assistance and as a potential security threat in the future both if brought to Finland, but also if they remained in the camp. In the legal discourse, bringing children to Finland was justified as a legal obligation, leaving aside other perspectives related to helping children. In the problem discourse, bringing children to Finland was described as highly problematic. Across all discourses, children were represented as unwelcome. This representation was strengthened by describing children through their mothers, justifying assistance as a necessary evil, and highlighting children’s connections to Isis.