Syria
Members of Kurdish security forces accompany ISIS-linked Dutch nationals in Qamishlo on June 5, 2021. Photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Netherlands repatriated four of its nationals back from Roj camp in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Saturday, officials have confirmed, months after a Dutch appeals court ruled against repatriating against a woman affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS).
“I have to stress this point; this is a very specific consulate legal mission, which my government has decided to undertake, because the Dutch court of law issued rulings in these specific cases,” Emiel De Bont, the Dutch Special Envoy to Syria, said in a press conference on Saturday.
One woman and her two children were repatriated, along with another child who was handed over "after written approval from her mother to the Dutch government,” according to Abdulkarim Omar, who co-chairs Rojava’s foreign relations department and met with the Dutch delegation on Saturday.
Rojava authorities have repeatedly called on governments to take responsibility for their citizens, but most Western nations are reluctant to repatriate nationals who may be a security risk due to their links with ISIS. Most countries repatriate on a case-by-case basis, prioritizing children.
Rojava authorities arrange the repatriations with visiting foreign delegations, but ISIS fighters and women who have committed crimes will not be handed over, and children will not be allowed to leave without the consent of their mothers, Omar told Rudaw English last month. Those who have committed crimes “should be tried here,” in northeast Syria where the crimes were committed, he said.
In March, a top appeals court in the Netherlands ruled against bringing an ISIS-linked Dutch national home from al-Hol camp, citing security concerns over repatriations.
There have been 660 repatriations from Rojava camps so far this year, Rojava Information Center (RIC) said on Saturday, adding that the numbers are “set to surpass any other year since 2017.”
There are currently 120 Dutch nationals in Rojava camps, according to data from the Dutch interior ministry.
The United Nations and human rights organisations have condemned governments for failing to repatriate the 43,000 foreign nationals "unlawfully held" in northeast Syria.
Kurdish authorities in Rojava have struggled to manage tens of thousands of suspected ISIS fighters and their families, held in several camps since the terror group was militarily defeated in 2019.
The largest camp, al-Hol, houses more than 59,220 people from dozens of countries, most of them family members of ISIS fighters. More than 8,500 of them are third-country nationals, RIC said on Saturday.
Iraq recently took back some five hundred people back from al-Hol camp, which was greeted with mixed reception.
The Uzbek government repatriated nearly 92 of its citizens – 68 women and 24 children - with alleged ISIS links in late April.
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