How must the Federal Government deal with mothers who fought for the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS) in Syria and are now imprisoned there? And what about the children of these women? The Higher Administrative Court (OVG) Berlin-Brandenburg has now made a decision to the information of SPIEGEL.
So far, the Federal Foreign Office has brought only three orphans and a seriously ill girl from Syrian camps to Germany. In the case of imprisoned IS mothers, Berlin has so far refused to allow her return to Germany. Among other things, the reason given was the danger that could emanate from former IS fighters in Germany. According to the resolution of the OVG, the Foreign Office must revise this position. The decision is not contestable.
"In all cases involving women and their children in Syrian camps, the federal government must now act without delay and bring them back," says lawyer Dirk Schoenian. The lawyer from Hanover represents several families who complain before the Administrative Court of Berlin on "issuing a preliminary injunction".
In the case of the 37-year-old Wolfsburg woman and her three children, the Schoenian administrative court had followed suit and issued a "temporary injunction" against the German government, requiring them to issue "suitable travel documents" and "return them immediately to Germany". By contrast, the Foreign Office has filed a complaint with the OVG - and has now failed.
US and Turkey put pressure on the federal government
About 120 Germans are currently held in Kurdish camps and prisons. The US government vehemently demands that Berlin bring IS fighters and their families back to Germany. Turkey, which invaded northern Syria, is also putting pressure. At least for the approximately 80 German women and more than a hundred children, Berlin must now act through the OVG resolution. Despite all security concerns.
The federal prosecutor's office is conducting a preliminary investigation into "membership of a terrorist organization abroad" against the Wolfsburg woman involved in the case. In 2014, she went to Syria with her husband and two children to the IS, where in 2017 the third child was born. Meanwhile, Kurds are detaining them in a separate secure area of the Al-Haul camp. Her husband is in a prison for IS fighters. Even if you are threatened with imprisonment in Germany, the Wolfsburg woman wants to return with her children.
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Whether the OVG decision, however, immediately leads to an exit of this and other IS families, is questionable. The Federal Foreign Office points out that Germany has no diplomatic relations with Syria, therefore consular assistance is impossible. Also at children of IS fighters the procedure is protracted. First, according to the previous viewpoint in Berlin, their identity must be clearly demonstrated by DNA testing. For this one relies on the support of aid organizations. However, they had withdrawn from the guarded by Kurds camps last.
