Germany, Finland repatriate 23 Daesh relatives from Syria camps

Children line up to take classes inside tents at Reyyan Camp in Kafr Uruq village of Idlib, Syria on November 24, 2020. [Muhammed Abdullah - Anadolu Agency]

December 21, 2020

Germany and Finland have repatriated 23 citizens from camps in northern Syria holding the relatives of suspected Daesh fighters, returning them on humanitarian grounds.

Five women and 18 children were repatriated overall, with three of the women and 12 of the children being flown to the German city of Frankfurt early yesterday morning. The remaining eight returnees were then flown to the Finnish capital Helsinki.

The repatriation was part of a joint operation between the two European countries, and was kept secret until their arrival.

German authorities arrested one of the women upon arrival at the airport, and three of the women – reportedly between the ages of 21 and 38 – have been put under investigation for allegedly having been a part of the Daesh terror group.

Following their arrivals, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas stated: "I am very relieved that we were able to repatriate another 12 children and three mothers from camps in north-east Syria yesterday."

As the children were reportedly ill and the many of them being orphans, Maas said that this repatriation was "particularly necessary and urgent." The women were also "in very poor health," according to AFP which cited Kamal Akif, spokesman for the foreign relations office of the Kurdish administration in north-east Syria.

Isn't it time to revoke Asma Al-Assad's British citizenship?

Finland's Foreign Ministry also commented on the operation, saying: "Under the constitution, Finnish public authorities are obligated to safeguard the basic rights of the Finnish children interned in the camps insofar as this is possible…The basic rights of the children interned in the Al Hol camps can be safeguarded only by repatriating them to Finland."

Thousands of foreigners remain in the camps in north-east Syria, which are run by the Kurdish militias such as the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) since Daesh was militarily defeated two years ago.

Many European citizens went to fight in Syria/Iraq and had children there, now EU countries are facing a decision over whether to bring them home or not – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

Many of those detained in the camps, along with the suspected former fighters held in prisons also run by the Kurdish militias, are foreigners who travelled to Syria to join the group a few years after the Syrian revolution broke out.

Germany and Finland's move comes in opposition to much of Europe's attitude towards repatriating their nationals from Syrian camps. Human rights organisations and the United States have repeatedly called on European countries to proceed with repatriation, but many have refused based on the alleged national security risks that returnees could pose.

It was reported in October that over 600 European child nationals remain in those camps.