About 7,000 foreign children of suspected jihadists remain detained in camps in northeastern Syria and are at risk of attacks and violence, the NGO Save the Children warned on Wednesday, December 21, calling for their repatriation.
“
A record number of 517 women and children have been repatriated this year from camps in northeast Syria
,” Save the Children said in a statement, deploring however that “
7,000 children of foreign nationalities remain trapped and are at risk of 'attacks and violence
'.
Read alsoThe State is accelerating repatriations from Syria
While the NGO welcomes an increase in the number of repatriations of women and children from the Al-Hol and Roj camps to 60% in 2022, compared to the previous year, it calls for "
more be made for their repatriation
".
74 children died in the camps
Since the territorial defeat of the Islamic State group in 2019, around 56,000 relatives of jihadists have been detained in the al-Hol and Roj camps, controlled by the Kurds and where violence is endemic and deprivation numerous.
Among them are more than 10,000 foreigners from around 60 countries, including French and other Europeans, housed separately in a part of the camp called
the “Annex
”.
"
Efforts must be strengthened to help children living in the camps
," said the NGO, stressing that the year 2021 was the most violent in Al-Hol.
During the same year, 74 children died there, eight of whom were killed, according to the NGO.
In November, the UN condemned the "
brutal murder
" of two Egyptian girls whose bodies were found in the sewers of Al-Hol.
Read alsoSpain to repatriate women and children from jihadist prison camps in Syria
"
These children are trapped in deplorable conditions and put in danger on a daily basis, there is no time to lose
," said the NGO's director of operations, Matt Sugrue.
“
At the pace adopted by foreign governments, we will see some children grow into adults before they can leave these camps and return home
,” he continues.
Drip repatriations
The NGO reports the testimony of Mariam, a 32-year-old Tunisian and mother of five who has lived in
the "Annex
" of Al-Hol for four years.
"
It breaks my heart to see my children growing up in this place, deprived of an education (...)
", she confided.
“
What stands between these children and a normal and safe life is the will of their governments
,” concludes Matt Sugrue.
Read alsoDenmark wants to deprive children of jihadists of nationality
Despite repeated exhortations from the Kurdish administration, most Western countries refuse to repatriate their citizens from these camps, contenting themselves with repatriations in dribs and drabs for fear of possible terrorist acts on their soil.
In March, Save the Children warned that repatriating children from camps in the northeast would take 30 years at the current rate.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/7C3LUM4R75AU5MMLTKFXM4GDUA.jpg)
