European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria Factual Background Dire Living Conditions in the al-Hol and al-Roj Camps In March 2019, the capture of the Syrian village of Baghouz by the USbacked Syrian Defense Forces (“SDF”)—the military arm of the Autonomous Administration of North East Syria (“AANES”)—marked the territorial collapse of ISIS.16 Thousands of ISIS fighters and affiliated members were captured and detained. The majority of women and children captured were indefinitely detained, without charge or trial,17 in the al-Hol and al-Roj camps in northeast Syria, which are de facto detention centers 18 from which they are not allowed to leave.19 These camps have become known as “Europe’s Guantanamo.”20 The conditions in the camps are inhumane and life-threatening.21 The camps are massively over-crowded and under-resourced. There is a severe lack of water, food, electricity, and sanitation facilities. 22 In 2019 alone it was reported that over 370 children died in the camps,23 and in 2020, 157 more 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Al Jazeera, “Hundreds of ISIL Fighters Surrender in Syria’s Baghouz: SDF,” 7 March 2019. France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK, Spain, Italy and Austria are among the major European countries of origin, see: Thomas Renard and Rik Coolsaet, “From Bad to Worse: The Fate of European Foreign Fighters and Families Detained in Syria, One Year After the Turkish Offensive,” 2020, p. 5. RSI, “Europe’s Guantanamo: The Indefinite Detention of European Women and Children in North East Syria,” 2020, para. 27-38. Human Rights Council, “Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic”, A/HRC/37/72, 1 February 2018, Annex III Internally displaced persons, para. 4. Alessandra Spadaro, “Repatriation of Family Members of Foreign Fighters: Individual Right or State Prerogative?,” International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 2020, pp. 251-252; Human Rights Council, “Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic”, A/HRC/37/72, 1 February 2018, Annex III Internally displaced persons, para. 4, 9. See: RSI, “Europe’s Guantanamo: The Indefinite Detention of European Women and Children in North East Syria,” 2020; Thomas Renard and Rik Coolsaet, “From Bad to Worse: The Fate of European Foreign Fighters and Families Detained in Syria, One Year After the Turkish Offensive,” Egmont Institute, No. 13, October 2020, p. 6. Human Rights Watch ( “HRW”), “Syria: Dire Conditions for ISIS Suspects’ Families”, 23 July 2019. Liberation, “En Syrie, le Cimetière des Enfants Perdus du «Califat»,” 4 May 2021. Ibid. See also: Council of Europe ( “CoE”), Parliamentary Assembly, “Resolution 2321 (2020) on International Obligations Concerning the Repatriation of Children from War and Conflict Zones,” 30 January 2020, para. 1. RSI, “Europe’s Guantanamo: The Indefinite Detention of European Women and Children in North East Syria,” 2020, para. 48-49. 10