France repatriates 47 nationals from northeastern Syria camps
Al JazeeraJan 24, 2023
France has repatriated 47 women and children from prison camps in northeast Syria where families with suspected ties to the Islamic State group (IS) are held.
Fifteen women and 32 children were repatriated. The French Foreign Minister says that the repatriated adults were handed over to the "competent judicial authorities" and that the children were delivered to child assistance services and will undergo appropriate medical and social monitoring.
France is not doing enough to repatriate its citizens languishing in refugee camps in Syria. France is violating the UN Convention Against Torture by refusing to help these women and children suffering from violence and poverty. By being deliberately slow in repatriating its citizens, Paris is condemning thousands of children to a life of trauma and violence, which will only deepen their extremist beliefs.
The repatriated families of IS fighters pose both a physical and ideological threat to the nations they are returned to. While children can be rehabilitated, the women who intentionally brought or raised families in the Islamic State should be held accountable for their actions by their nations of origin and charged with terrorism or other related offenses. While repatriation should happen, this shouldn't be done hastily.