EU MP during NE Syria visit: ISIS militants, families need international solution

Hannah Neumann, European Parliament member, meets Abdulkarim Omar, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department
Hannah Neumann, European Parliament member, meets Abdulkarim Omar, Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Department

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The problem of ISIS militants and their families in northeastern Syria is an international one and should not be left unresolved, European Parliament member Hannah Neumann said on Thursday.

This statement came during Neumann’s meeting with North Press after arriving at the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Relations in the city of Qamishli.

Hannah Neumann is a German politician from the center-left Alliance 90/The Greens, who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019.

Neumann added that many ISIS militants and their families in Hawl Camp came from the EU, UK, and other countries, so the problem is not limited to Syria or Iraq, but a global problem.

Neumann said she believes it is the EU’s responsibility to ensure a fair trial for ISIS militants.

“Not all families of ISIS militants can be left together in the camps, because this will lead to further extremism, as experience has shown before,” Neumann said.

Neumann serves on the EU’s Subcommittee on Human Rights and Defense Subcommittee, and heads the parliamentary delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula.

The purpose of her visit was to “see the situation in the region after the recent Turkish invasion and the conditions of the Hawl and Roj Camps, where the families of ISIS militants are located.”

In her meeting with officials from the Department of Foreign Relations, she discussed Turkey’s role in the region, the humanitarian situation, the assistance it receives and the problem of ISIS militants.

She added that shared responsibilities of men and women as well as the participation of different ethnic groups in governance provide a good example for the region.

The European Parliament had been very frank from the outset about the Turkish invasion of North East Syria, describing it as aggression and a flagrant violation of human rights, according to Neumann.

The parliamentarian noted that the European Union has called on all European countries to stop selling arms to Turkey due to violations of international human rights law.

“As a member of the European Parliament, we cannot make decisions for others to implement, but we need to continue to talk about Turkish violations to make sure the issue is not forgotten,” she said, adding that such discussions could lead to a change in the political setting in the region and may even lead to some form of punishment for Turkey.

Neumann pointed out that the UN Security Council Resolution 2504 to close the Tel Kocher/Yaroubiya border crossing in January 2020 has made it incredibly difficult to get aid to the northeastern regions of Syria, despite massive efforts on the EU’s part to encourage all countries to pledge aid to all parts of the country.

She explained that the EU is in ongoing talks with Russia, Turkey, and even the Assad regime to attempt to ensure the entry of humanitarian aid. “But we don’t have a magic wand, and sometimes we’re stuck,” Neumann concluded.