France halts repatriating ISIS family members from NE Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – All French women and children of Islamic State (ISIS) family members who wished to return home from camps in northeast Syria have been repatriated by France, and no further flights will be organized, a diplomatic source said on Friday.
On July 4, France announced the repatriation of 10 women and 25 children of the families of ISIS members who were being held in camps in northeastern Syria, in the fourth repatriation of its citizens from Syria.
“Having repatriated all of the mothers who wanted to leave Syria, there will not be any more of these types of operations,” the source told AFP under the condition of anonymity .
A total of 169 children and 57 women have been brought back to France since ISIS lost all its territory in 2019, according to the source.
ISIS lost its final stronghold in Syria in March 2019. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with the support of the US-led Global Coalition, defeated ISIS after fierce battles in the town of Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria, bringing an end to the so-called caliphate declared by the terrorist ISIS.
After Baghouz, thousands of ISIS fighters were transferred to prisons, while their families were transferred to Hawl and Roj camps in the AANES-held areas.
About 80 women refused the offer of being flown back, the source added.
For a long time, the French government rejected the idea of mass repatriations of children and wives, instead opting to handle each case individually. However, this approach was criticized by human rights organizations for being intentionally slow.