23 German and Finnish nationals have been repatriated from war-torn Syria
Germany and Finland have together repatriated 23 of their nationals from war-torn Syria, which includes children and women, some of whom were under criminal investigation for alleged connection with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or ISIS group.
The repatriated people include 5 women and 18 children. Of this, 3 women and 12 children are German and 2 women with 6 children are Finnish. The recent repatriations were done on humanitarian cases and primarily covered orphans and children who were ill. Since it’s not legally possible to repatriate small children without their mothers, the German and Finnish authorities had to repatriate the mothers also.
Hundreds of Europeans who joined ISIS are in Kurdish-run camps in Northern Syria. They were moved there along with thousands of others who were displaced after ISIS was declared territorially defeated in Syria and Iraq in March 2019. Many of them are suspected wives and children of ISIS members or sympathisers of the jihadist group.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany – Heiko Maas said, “I am very relieved that we were able to repatriate another 12 children and three mothers from camps in North Eastern Syria yesterday.”
The women repatriated to Germany are aged between 21 to 38 years and the children are aged between 2 to 12 years. These women were wives of ISIL members are were in very poor health.
Under the Finnish constitution, the Finnish public authorities are obligated to safeguard the basic rights of the Finnish children interned in the camps insofar as this is possible. Finland believes that the basic rights of the children interned in the al-Hol camps can be safeguarded only by repatriating them to Finland.
Taking it to twitter, the Official twitter handle of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland tweeted (translated from Finnish), “On Saturday, Finland and Germany jointly repatriated 18 children and 5 adult mothers from al-Hol and Roji camps in northeastern Syria. We thank the local authorities for their cooperation.” Original tweet in Finnish:
Suomi ja Saksa kotiuttivat lauantaina yhdessä 18 lasta ja 5 aikuista äitiä al-Holin ja Rojin leireiltä Koillis-Syyriasta. Kiitämme paikallisia viranomaisia yhteistyöstä. https://t.co/63XBVrXibk
— Ulkoministeriö (@Ulkoministerio) December 20, 2020
More than 9,000 foreign women and children are still being held in the al-Hol and Roj camps in North Eastern Syria. Of this 2/3rd are children.
A lot of European nations are reluctant in repatriating their own citizens as they fear threat to their security. The Kurds, backed heavily by a United States (U.S.) led coalition in the fight against ISIS, have repeatedly demanded that countries of origin repatriate foreign fighters and their families.
