Finn says sorry after polling on Isil brides and their children

FINLAND’S new prime minister made headlines last week after becoming the world’s youngest head of state at just 34 years old.

But her coalition is already in trouble after a 32-year-old new minister posted a poll on social media asking whether Finland should take back the wives of the so-called Islamic State (Isil) fighters or just take their children and leave the women in Syria.

Katri Kulmuni, the finance minister, apologised for the Instagram poll which asked her followers for their views on the fate of 10 Finnish women and 30 children who are in the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp in northeast Syria. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are insisting European governments take both the mothers and the children but many states are wary of bringing home any adult members of Isil.

Ms Kulmuni, the leader of the Centre Party, posted a photo of herself smiling at the camera alongside a poll asking if Finland should bring home “just children” or “children and mothers”.

She deleted the post and apologised after it came in for widespread criticism online. “I wanted to discuss this complex and difficult issue on social media. It failed and I apologise for it,” she said.

Andrew Stroehlein, of Human Rights Watch, was among the critics. “A state should respect the rights of its citizens in all cases, not put life-and-death decisions about those citizens to a public referendum on social media,” Mr Stroehlein wrote on Twitter.

“What’s next, public hangings based on the volume of stadium cheers?”

All five of the parties in Finland’s new coalition government are led by women. Four of the party leaders, including the prime minister, are under the age of 35.

Ireland recently repatriated Isil bride Lisa Smith and her two-year-old daughter. She is being held on remand, while her daughter is being cared for by relatives.