The Associated Press quoted a statement from france's national counterterrorism prosecutor's office that on July 5, local time, French authorities repatriated 51 women and children from areas formerly controlled by the Syrian extremist group "Islamic State", which is the largest repatriation by France from Syrian refugee camps so far.
The women and children stranded in refugee camps in Syria and Iraq are considered suspected members of the Islamic State, and the French government has long been reluctant to admit them.
The issue is extremely sensitive for France, which has been repeatedly attacked by the Islamic State, and the country has yet to recover from the damage of the attacks. On November 13, 2015, shootings and explosions in paris, France, killed more than 130 people and injured hundreds more. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.
But the remaining of these women and children in Syria and Iraq not only faces extremely poor living conditions and an unstable political environment, but also poses a greater security threat — the possibility of their return to islamic State, and yesterday's repatriation could mean that France has taken the first steps towards change in its repatriation policy.
On April 10, 2022, local time, in Aleppo, Syria, a small child stood in front of a tent in a refugee camp. Figure/IC photo
Largest repatriation in France
Last December, a 28-year-old French woman with diabetes died in a Syrian refugee camp, leaving her daughter orphaned. Since 2019, lawyers for their loved ones have been asking the French government to send them back to France.
Although the issue of repatriation has always been sensitive in France, the families concerned have not given up their voices and have formed a "united family collective" to demand the repatriation of women and children stranded in Iraq and Syria.
According to the group's statement, the orphan returned to France on Tuesday. A total of 35 minors, including her, were repatriated to France. They were either taken by their parents to areas controlled by the Islamic State or were born in the midst of years of bloody struggles.
It is reported that most of the minors are placed in child protection services affiliated with the Judicial Court of Versailles, and one of them is detained by the police on suspicion of involvement in terrorist crimes. The statement said the minor will soon turn 18.
In addition, 16 adult women between the ages of 22 and 39 were repatriated, only 2 of whom were not French citizens, but whose children had French citizenship. At present, 8 women are being detained for interrogation and 8 are being detained on the basis of arrest warrants.
According to the Associated Press, this is the first time france has repatriated so many women and children from refugee camps in northeastern Syria since the Islamic State completely collapsed in Syria in March 2019 and lost its last stronghold in Syria. The New York Times noted that the repatriation broke With France's long-standing policy of refusing to repatriate adult women who had joined the Islamic State, the first time a woman had returned to France with children.
It is conceivable that this repatriation has caused some controversy. A spokesman and lawmaker for Le Pen's far-right party, the National Alliance, said on social media: "Bringing them back to France is a crime against the security of our people." ”
The United Family Collective praised this, urging the French government to continue to repatriate children and women, calling their lives trapped in refugee camps "inhumane" and "degrading." The group statement said: "France must repatriate them as soon as possible ... Put an end to this shameful chapter in our history as soon as possible. ”
Living conditions in the camps were poor, and many urged France to repatriate them as soon as possible
In 2014, with the rise of the Islamic State, followers from many countries also reached Iraq and Syria, including France, which is more involved in the group than any other European country.
In December 2017, Iraq announced a historic victory against the Islamic State. After that, many members of the Islamic State fled to Syria, while their wives and children were abandoned, and many ended up in refugee camps in Syria and Iraq.
According to the Washington Post, there are still 43,000 foreigners who were once associated with the Islamic State living in refugee camps in Syria and Iraq.
Al-Hol camp, one of the largest and most crowded refugee camps in Syria, is home to about 60,000 people who have been linked to the Islamic State, according to NPR. According to save the children, an international charity, in September last year, many people here are malnourished and plagued by disease, with an average of about 2 children dying each week.
For years, despite the stagnant front lines of the fight against islamic State, violence continues and millions of people remain displaced in Syria.
According to The New York Times, about 165 French children and 65 women are currently trapped in camps in northeastern Syria.
Since the beginning of the year, European countries outside France have accelerated repatriation, with countries such as Belgium and Germany repatriating more than 90 children and their mothers. But in contrast to other countries, France has not received any citizens from January 2021 to July 4 this year.
The French government has long insisted that all adults, men and women, who have fought with the Islamic State, should be prosecuted in the country where the crime was committed, namely Iraq or Syria. The move proved difficult to implement, the Iraqi government refused to do so, and the Kurdish regime in Syria, which detains French women and children, has not received international recognition.
But the French government still insists on a case-by-case process of repatriation, a complex and lengthy process. According to The New York Times, the procedure only allows the repatriation of orphans or children whose mothers have consented to their departure. Al Jazeera reported that since 2016, before the repatriation event on July 5 this year, a total of 126 French children have been repatriated under this case-by-case repatriation process.
International organizations, including the United Nations, and some lawyers and politicians have been asking France to reconsider the method of repatriation.
In a statement, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child noted that "France has violated the rights of French children who have been detained for many years ... These children live in inhumane sanitation, lack basic necessities including water, food and health care, and face an imminent risk of death".
Refusal to repatriate or pose additional security risks
The Washington Post notes that the repatriation of people and families who have participated in the Islamic State in their home countries has always been an extremely sensitive and complex issue.
Although the governments concerned have multiple legal tools to deal with male members of the country participating in the Islamic State, they have not been aware of how to deal with or help women and children who are not involved in front-line activities. As a result, many countries remain reluctant to repatriate these women and children involved in the relevant conflicts, who have long been in a grey area of the law.
In addition to concerns about security risks, considerations of political consequences may have prevented France from repatriating women and children from the country.
The New York Times noted that given that France has still not recovered from the trauma of extremist groups, Macron appears to have been reluctant to take on the political risks posed by the repatriation of Islamic State-related groups. Last year, macron's government stepped up efforts to combat Islamic extremism as evidence of this position.
On November 13, 2015, local time, paris, France, the 10th arrondissement of Paris was attacked, and the wounded were evacuated. On the same day, shootings and explosions occurred in many places in Paris, France, killing more than 130 people and injuring hundreds of others. The extremist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. Photo/Visual China
In early 2019, France had planned to repatriate 160 French citizens, including adults, but the plan was canceled at the last minute. Officials said the situation in the camps was too volatile, while lawyers and human rights groups said the French government had suspended the plan over concerns about negative political repercussions.
At the same time, some experts have linked the repatriation to Macron's successful re-election, in other words, it is precisely because Macron does not have to worry about the potential impact of the repatriation on the decline in support that the repatriation will be allowed.
Meanwhile, multiple security experts have pointed out that the security risks of leaving European citizens in camps in Syria and Iraq are greater, because staying on the ground makes them more likely to return to or will resurrect is the Islamic State.
In January, the Islamic State attacked prisons in northeastern Syria, which Kurdish officials noted was aimed at freeing jihadist fanatics and continuing attempts to take control of nearby areas, including Al-Hol camps with hundreds of relatives of Islamic State members.
After a 10-day struggle, kurdish-led armed forces regained control of the prison and thwarted the Islamic State's operations, but the attack undoubtedly exacerbated anxiety among the campers about their return to islamic state.
A United Nations report pointed out that after the complete collapse of the Islamic State in Syria for three years, those minors who were brought to Syria and Iraq by their parents are also gradually approaching the legal age of majority. A generation of young people are growing up in these camps, living in an extremely unstable political environment with extremely poor health.
The Washington Post commented that while repatriation is still difficult to make progress, the possibility of foreign families returning to the Islamic State or even reviving the Islamic State is gradually increasing.
Although it is still unknown whether France's repatriation will continue in the future due to political and social factors, The European News Station pointed out that this repatriation may mean that France's policy direction in this regard is changing, and this is only the first step.
Beijing News reporter Hou Wuting
Edited by Chen Jing, proofread by Wu Xingfa