European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria discriminatory, European States must be transparent about their decisionmaking criteria and explain how these measures achieve a legitimate aim and how they meet the human rights criteria of necessity, appropriateness, and proportionality in relation to that legitimate aim. While European States may have legitimate national security concerns regarding the repatriation of a certain group of children, their selective repatriation will likely fail to meet the proportionality test. The rationale behind the policies favoring the repatriation of young children, mainly those who are orphans or otherwise unaccompanied, seems to be based on the assumptions that they are more “vulnerable” because they are left without a guardian or less “threatening” and more open to reintegration because they were probably subjected to less ISIS indoctrination and probably did not engage in ISIS activities. Nevertheless, the inhumane and life-threating conditions in the camps pose a critical threat to all children’s right to life, security, and development. In addition, from a security perspective, it is widely acknowledged that regardless of children’s age, commitment to ISIS ideology and/or engagement in ISIS activities, failure to repatriate creates a higher security risk than not repatriating, especially where appropriate measures can be taken to facilitate rehabilitation and reintegration. 174 Furthermore, international law stresses that children located in conflictaffected areas who are not associated with any armed groups should not be at a disadvantage vis-à-vis those who have been associated with such groups, as they should all be considered victims (see Section II.J. on the Right of Child Victims of Armed Conflict to Reintegration and Recovery).175 Thus, policies favoring the repatriation of children who appear to be the “most helpless and unthreatening” arguably establish an “arbitrary hierarchy of victimhood,”176 does not seem to demonstrate a reasonable 174 Both the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism and the UNSC Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict urged States to extend their repatriation policies to all children, i.e. all those under 18 years of age. The UN Special Rapporteur emphasized this to be in the interest of the children affected and in the long-term security interests of (the Belgian society and) the international community, see: UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, “Visit to Belgium”, A/HRC/40/52/Add.5, May 2019, para. 84; UNSC, “Eighth Report of the Secretary-General on the Threat Posed by ISIL (Da’esh) to International Peace and Security and the Range of United Nations Efforts in Support of Member States in Countering the Threat”, S/2019/103, 1 February 2019, para. 63. 175 UNICEF, “The Paris Principles. Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups”, 2007, para. 3(1)-3(3). 176 Joana Cook and Gina Vale, “From Daesh to 'Diaspora' II: The Challenges Posed by Women and Minors After the Fall of the Caliphate”, 2019, p. 32. 33