France repatriates 55 nationals from camps in Syria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - France on Thursday repatriated 40 children and 15 women with suspected links to the Islamic State (ISIS) from the notorious al-Hol camp in northeast Syria’s (Rojava), the French foreign ministry said on Thursday. 

This marked the largest such transfer since July when France, following pressure from campaigners, returned 35 children and 16 mothers from the Syrian camps, according to AFP.

The children were handed over to child protection services and will have medical as well as social care follow-ups, according to the foreign ministry statement, while the women were handed over to the authorities. 

Last month the European Court of Human Rights condemned France for refusing to repatriate two of its citizens from Syria who traveled to the war-torn country to join their husbands who were Islamic State (ISIS) members.

The French government has been criticized by rights groups for its slow process of repatriating its citizens from camps in Syria, usually repatriating them in small numbers. 

The refusal of the repatriation of the two French citizens by authorities was carried out  “without any formal decision or judicial review ensuring lack of arbitrariness,” the France-based court stated, further calling on authorities to review the request of the women’s parents to repatriate their children.

While France has not yet assessed the repatriation request, the EU court has ordered the French government to pay 18,000 euros and 13,200 euros to each of the two parents of the women respectively.

Kurdish and US authorities have repeatedly called on the international community to repatriate their citizens from the camps however the international community has long avoided returning their citizens from Syria, citing security concerns.

In February, the UN said that France has “violated the rights of French children” detained in Syrian camps by “failing to repatriate them.”

Al-Hol camp is located in Hasaka province and is home to around 56,000 people - mostly women and children of different nationalities that have links to ISIS. Numerous ISIS fighters were taken to the camp by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after the Kurdish-led force overran the terror group's last stronghold in Syria in 2019.

Thousands of children of foreign nationals with suspected links to ISIS live in difficult conditions at the Roj and al-Hol detention camps in Rojava. Human rights groups have called camp conditions “filthy,” “often inhuman,” and “life-threatening.”

The sprawling facility has infamously been branded a breeding ground for terrorism, with authorities describing it as a "ticking time bomb," saying the situation in the camp is "very dangerous" with ISIS sleeper cells active.