Belgium repatriates 6 women and 16 children from Syria

“The AANES handed over 6 Belgian women and 16 children of Daesh families to a delegation from the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
The Syrian Kurds handed over Belgian ISIS families to the Belgian government on Monday, June 20, 2022 (Photo: Abdulkarim Omar)
The Syrian Kurds handed over Belgian ISIS families to the Belgian government on Monday, June 20, 2022 (Photo: Abdulkarim Omar)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) handed over six Belgian women suspected of ISIS affiliation along with 16 children to a Belgian government team on Monday.

“Yesterday, 20 June 2022, the AANES handed over 6 Belgian women and 16 children of Daesh (ISIS) families to a delegation from the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after signing the official handover document between both sides,” Dr. Abdulkarim Omar, the co-chair of AANES’ Foreign Relations Department, tweeted on Wednesday.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the civilian AANES in northeast Syria have repeatedly called on Western countries to repatriate their citizens stuck in Syria.

Many have been reluctant to repatriate their citizens due to security risks and public opinion, which is against the repatriation of ISIS suspects.

The Belgian newspaper De Tijd reported that it’s the second time Belgium has repatriated women from Syria.

On July 16, 2012, Belgium repatriated six women. Two of them are in jail, while the other four face trial. 

Last month, a Belgian team visited northeast Syria and questioned Belgian ISIS women in the al-Roj camp.

Read More: Belgian PM defends repatriation of ISIS families from northeast Syria

De Tijd report added that the Belgian government initially only wanted to repatriate children from Syria. 

However, since the AANES refused to separate mothers from their children, the Belgian authorities decided that women would also be repatriated and did so despite objections from Belgian opposition parties.