France repatriates 35 women and children from Syrian jihadist camps

Ten women and 25 children held prisoner in camps in north eastern Syria have been brought back to France in the fourth such repatriation of the families of jihadists.

A woman and her children at the al-Hol camp for displaced people in northeastern Syria in February 2019. © Bulent Kilic/AFP

The French foreign ministry announced Tuesday that it participated in an operation to bring back from Syria “children and mothers”, who will be handed over to authorities in France.

Children will be taken in by social services for medical treatment, and the adults will be handed over to relevant judicial authorities.

France received help from the local administration in north-east Syria, according to the Foreign Ministry.

After the fall of the Islamic State armed group’s caliphate in Syria in 2019, western governments were concerned about the return of family members who might have become radicalised, warning of a security threat to France.

• French woman 'obsessed' with joining Islamic State in Syria jailed for 12 years

France at first insisted that women who joined the Islamic State should face justice in the countries where they were, and children should be returned on a case-by-case basis.

After facing criticism from rights groups and the United Nations, France changed course last year, and started repatriating women and children.

Tuesday’s group is the fourth to be brought back to France, with the last group of 32 children and 15 women arriving in January.

Last July it was believed some 200 French children still in Syria, either brought there by their parents who had joined the Islamic State or who were born there. Since then, some 100 have been brought back to France.

(with newswires)