HRW seeks repatriate 90 ISIS of TT nationals held in Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on the Government of Trinidad and Tobago (TT) to repatriate 90 of its nationals, including 56 children, who are detained in camps for Islamic State (ISIS) family members, in northeast Syria.
The HRW called on the government of TT to repatriate its nationals for rehabilitation, reintegration, and prosecutions of adults as appropriate.
The organization noted that the government of TT did not take any steps to repatriate its nationals, even as dozens of countries including the US and Barbados repatriated some or many of their nationals.
In August 2018, the TT government set up a team, the Nightingale Team, to deal with the possible repatriation and reintegration of those citizens in Syria and Iraq, but no action has been taken by the team until now.
Following the capture of the last territorial pocket of ISIS by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the town of Baghouz, east of Deir ez-Zor Governorate in 2019, many of their militants were arrested and captured in detention centers run by the SDF.
In addition, tens of thousands of women and children of ISIS families, from about 60 countries, are still detained in two camps in northeast Syria, Hawl and Roj, which are held by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
The AANES continues calling for the countries to repatriate their nationals and establish an international tribunals for the ISIS members because they pose a significant risk to the civilians in the region and the entire world.
Since the beginning of 2023, the AANES has handed over 127 foreign ISIS children and women to the governments of their countries, according to North Press Monitoring and Documentation Department.