Helsinki Police holds a seminar on Shia–Sunni relations

The Helsinki Police Department will today host a seminar for representatives of local Muslim communities in an attempt determine whether concerns over the relations between Shia and Sunni communities are warranted and to identify means to prevent Muslims from leaving Helsinki to fight for militant groups in the Middle East.

Altogether, 50–70 representatives of Muslim communities are expected to participate in the event, says inspector Jari Taponen, the head of the crime prevention unit of the Helsinki Police Department.

In addition, representatives of the City of Helsinki will take part in what Taponen says is the first seminar of such scope organised for local Muslim communities by the Helsinki Police Department.

The initiative for the seminar came from local Muslim elders, who are concerned that the civil war in Syria has put a strain on relations between Shia and Sunni communities in the Finnish capital, adds Taponen. The growing presence of the Islamic State (IS) may similarly have its ramifications for the communities.

Paula Kemell, the chairperson at the Resalat Islamic Society, believes the event to be important. “There is demand for the seminar. I’m concerned about our mosque and hope that concrete measures to prevent the deterioration of relations between Muslim communities can be found in the event,” she says.

Rather than focusing solely on the problems between various Muslim communities and mosques, the seminar must also address the attempts of certain extremists to incite disharmony between Shias and Sunnis, underlines Kemell.

“What’s new is that hard-line groups have started to operate like this in Finland. It’s vital that the communities address it together. We can’t simply turn a blind eye if young people are being recruited off the streets of Finland to kill Shias,” she says.

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