France repatriates seven children from northeast Syria
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Seven vulnerable French children who belong to families with alleged ties to the so-called Islamic State in Syria were handed over to a French government delegation, the French foreign ministry confirmed on Wednesday.
#Syrie | La France a procédé ce mercredi 13 janvier au matin au retour de sept jeunes mineurs français qui se trouvaient dans le Nord-Est syrien.
— France Diplomatie🇫🇷 (@francediplo) January 13, 2021
Communiqué → https://t.co/8Iy0x1a7Hb pic.twitter.com/Q1KqjxI7Ww
The vulnerable minors were handed over to France on Tuesday after approval by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). The French delegation arrived on the same day and was headed by Eric Chevallier, Director of Crisis Center of Foreign Ministry of France.
“Upon their arrival in France, they were handed over to the French judicial authorities and are [being] taken care of by social services,” the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The French government thanked the local officials in northeast Syria for their cooperation and support.
During the meeting, the delegation discussed the general situation in Syria and the increasing attacks and threats toward the towns of Ain Issa and Tal Tamr that have seen increased shelling by Turkish-backed groups in the last few months.
Read More: Local military official in north Syria says Turkish-backed attacks continue in Ain Issa
Dr. Abdulkarim Omar, the co-chair of the Foreign Relations Commission of the local authorities, welcomed French support for the Autonomous Administration, “emphasizing the need for continued cooperation and coordination in confronting terrorism and developing political relations.”
Chevallier reportedly said Paris would talk with the Brussels-based European Institute for Peace regarding work at the Al Hol camp, rehabilitation of children and women, reparation for those affected by terrorism, and “to play a positive role in supporting the AANES.”
France will also support the region on several other files, including (now temporarily halted) the intra-Kurdish dialogue and other projects to achieve stability in the region.
This is not the first visit by a French delegation to northeast Syria. In June 2020, a French delegation led by Chevallier also picked up 10 children from the region.
Read More: France picks up 10 French children from northeast Syria
Local Kurdish-led authorities in northern Syria have often urged foreign states to take back their nationals who fought for the Islamic State, including women and their children.
Last year, the Kurdish-led administration said they would prepare trials for foreign members of the terror group who are in northeast Syria because European countries have refused to repatriate all of their nationals.
The Kurdish-led administration has also asked for the creation of an international court in northeast Syria to try suspected Islamic State members.
The AANES and officials from the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) visited Europe in February 2020 but gained limited support for such plans.
Nevertheless, in recent years, more European nations have started repatriating Islamic State-affiliated children and women to their countries.
In December 2020, Germany and Finland successfully returned 18 children and five women from northeast Syria after months of negotiations.
Ambassador Jussi Tanner, the Finnish Foreign Ministry’s special envoy in charge of the repatriation of foreign nationals, previously told Kurdistan 24 that each country has its own legal modalities and political realities.
“The public authorities in Finland have a constitutional obligation to repatriate Finnish children from these camps, insofar as it’s possible, but that applies to Finland only,” he said.
“Is repatriation from [northeast Syria] camps possible? I think it’s safe to say it’s not impossible.”
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany