Thursday

28th Sep 2023

Up to 750 European children trapped in north-east Syria

  • War in Syria has affected five million children throughout the country (Photo: Chaoyue 超越 PAN 潘)

Up to 750 children of foreign fighters who are EU nationals are stuck in camps in north-east Syria, with many under the age of six.

"Among them, the largest group of children in the range of 300, is reported to be French," Dominique Parent from the UN Human Rights Regional Office told MEPs on Thursday (6 November).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Another 200 are from the Netherlands, 160 from Belgium, and 60 are UK nationals.

The largest camp is known as Al-Hol and controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Some 70,000 people, the vast majority women and children, are trapped in the camp and forced to live in terrible conditions exasperated by the recent Turkish invasion.

Fears are now mounting that the window of opportunity for repatriating the children is closing as EU states grapple with the politics that underpin the actions of their parents.

Victims themselves, the children appear increasingly caught in a political tug-of-war between competing political interests of member states.

"If a child is a member state citizen, then their protection should prevail over any political concerns," said Belgium centre-left MEP Maria Arena, who chairs the European Parliament's sub-committee on human rights.

Politics aside, the numbers are significant. An estimated 28,000 children from more than 60 different countries remain trapped in north-east Syria.

Of those, less than 20 percent are 12 years or older, and half of them are under the age of five. Some 20,000 are Iraqis. The remaining 8,000 come from other countries of which up to 750 are from EU member states.

Bringing them home is rendered all the more difficult given the SDF forces won't allow the children to be repatriated without their mothers, who are often die hard Islamic State sympathisers.

It means governments are more likely to take in only orphaned children, a move so far made by only a handful of EU states.

Belgium over the summer took home six children, bringing its total to 30.

"The biggest threat for Europe is the threat coming from lone actors, those who were not there but lone actors who are here," pointed out Belgium's deputy attorney general Paul van Tigchelt, who also heads a Belgian threat analysis unit.

Commission stymied

The European Commission is pressing EU states to step up the repatriations but its role is limited given the national security prerogatives of EU states.

Instead, it is financing projects worth some €68m to help get food and shelter to people displaced by Turkey's military invasion into the territory.

"These projects are still underway despite the combat situation," said Michael Koehler, a senior European Commission official.

Similar comments were made by Christiane Hoehn from the EU's counter-terrorism coordinator's office.

"There is no EU policy on the repatriation of foreign terrorist fighters and family members in Syria and Iraq. The member states regard this as a national security issue," she said.

Other EU states are pressing to get their citizens tried in Iraq but critics say this will lead to unfair judgments and death sentences.

Seven EU states are discussing the possibility of a hybrid tribunal with Iraq, said Hoehn.

"The younger the children get repatriated, the better, the easy and the more likelier it is to have rehabilitate these traumatised children. The older these children get, the greater the risk they radicalise, the more difficult it will be reintegrate them," she said.

Opinion

'Repatriation' of Syrians in Turkey needs EU action

We interviewed 18 Syrian refugees in Turkey by phone. They all said Turkish authorities had arbitrarily detained them in immigration removal centres and forced them to sign forms they were not allowed to read but believed were voluntary repatriation forms.

EU powerless in new Syrian mayhem

EU foreign ministers are meeting to find a common position on the Turkish invasion in Syria. However, events are evolving quickly, as Kurdish forces asked the Syrian army to protect them.

Turkish attack on Syria might revive Isis

The EU has told Turkey to stop its attack on Syria, but Trump seems to be less worried about the 12,000 Isis fighters walking free, saying "they will be escaping to Europe".

EU’s €500m gender violence plan falls short, say auditors

The 'Spotlight Initiative' was launched in 2017 with a budget of €500 million to end all forms of violence or harmful practices against women and girls in partner countries, but so far it has had "little impact", say EU auditors.

Latest News

  1. Germany tightens police checks on Czech and Polish border
  2. EU Ombudsman warns of 'new normal' of crisis decision-making
  3. How do you make embarrassing EU documents 'disappear'?
  4. Resurgent Fico hopes for Slovak comeback at Saturday's election
  5. EU and US urge Azerbijan to allow aid access to Armenians
  6. EU warns of Russian 'mass manipulation' as elections loom
  7. Blocking minority of EU states risks derailing asylum overhaul
  8. Will Poles vote for the end of democracy?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us