EU Commissioner Julian King (Security Affairs) welcomes the decision of some EU countries to repatriate children of IS fighters to their own countries. In Syria and Iraq, there are more than a thousand small and young children with at least one parent from an EU country. This is a problem that needs to be addressed quickly, said the EU commissioner on Wednesday in Brussels during the presentation of his annual report.
According to the EU commissioner, nearly half of the 1,400 mostly young children are currently in camps or detention, including 90 children with a Dutch background. Recently, the Netherlands, France, and Belgium have repatriated some children, mainly orphans. EU Commissioner King pointed out that repatriation is a national competence. However, the European Union can provide assistance.
The Netherlands says it does not want to bring mothers and children of IS fighters from Syria because it would be too dangerous. Last summer, two young Dutch orphans of a deceased Syria fighter were brought to the Netherlands, but The Hague called that a rare exception.
Moreover, the Netherlands believes that European IS fighters should be tried in Iraq, meaning their children should remain there as well. But there is significant division over this issue within the Dutch parliament and also within Prime Minister Mark Rutte's center-right four-party coalition.
Iraq is not willing to try foreign IS fighters, who are currently imprisoned in detention camps in Syria, in Iraq. Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Alhakim stated this on Tuesday in NRC Handelsblad. “We take responsibility for our Iraqi citizens, their wives and children,” said the minister. He also called on European countries to take responsibility for their own nationals. The minister pointed out that Iraq cannot prosecute foreigners for crimes not committed in Iraq.
If it is established that European IS members have committed crimes in Iraq, they can be tried there, but European countries do not want the death penalty to be applied. Minister Stef Blok (Foreign Affairs) stated that the Netherlands will not cooperate with trials if the death penalty is a possibility. However, Iraq is unwilling to amend the law on this point.
With this stance, Iraq seems to be closing the door on Dutch proposals to establish an international tribunal in Iraq where foreign IS fighters would be tried. The Netherlands hopes to find a solution this way for foreign IS fighters currently imprisoned in camps in northern Syria.
In response, Blok said that trying Dutch nationals in Iraq would not be easy, but he does not abandon the plan. According to the latest figures, 55 adult Dutch jihad fighters are currently imprisoned in prisons formerly guarded by Kurdish forces. After the recent Turkish incursion and the US withdrawal from the area, there is a power vacuum and the fate of imprisoned IS members is uncertain.