The Netherlands to repatriate 41 Dutch ISIS women, children from Syria
QMIAHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Netherlands is working on repatriating 41 ISIS women and children from northern Syria, the Dutch RTL News reported on September 28.
It added that the ministries of Justice and Security, Foreign Affairs and Defense have been preparing for that for several months.
The women hold Dutch nationality and are in special camps in northern Syria with their children.
They are a total of 12 women and 29 children, and they are distributed in both Hawl and Roj camps in northeast Syria.
Both camps are run by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) which was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the SDF defeated ISIS militarily there.
In May, the Dutch judge ruled: if the women are not repatriated, the criminal cases against them will be stopped. The judge gave the cabinet four months.
Upon arrival in the Netherlands, each woman is detained in a special “terrorist” ward in the prison, pending a trial.
The children are placed under supervision and are placed in foster care. A plan is available for each child, drawn up by the Child Protection Board.
On June 5, the 28-year-old, identified only as Ilham B. received a three-and-a-half-year prison term for joining ISIS.
Ilham B. was repatriated in 2021 from the Roj camp in northeast Syria after she joined ISIS with her husband in 2013.
Some 300 Dutch jihadists travelled to join fighters of the now defunct Islamic Caliphate during the height of the Syrian civil war, according to Dutch government figures.