European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria documents, return to their countries, or contest the arbitrary detention, inhuman and degrading treatment, and other human rights violations they are being subjected to. Legal challenges are now being filed in various fora in response to the failure of European governments to repatriate their child nationals together with their primary caregivers. This legal briefing paper is intended to assist litigators and other advocates in advancing creative approaches to address this seemingly intractable problem. This paper seeks to provide an overview of the main European and international legal standards that can be invoked by litigators and advocates to argue for the proactive repatriation of the children detained in camps in northeast Syria. The paper employs, primarily, a child’s rights perspective and sets out the legal arguments that can be invoked for the children’s repatriation, together with their primary caregivers. The arguments put forward in this briefing paper start with three overarching human rights considerations: the extraterritorial application of European States’ human rights obligations in relation to the child nationals detained in northeast Syria, the best interests of the child, and the right to be free from discrimination. Following this, the briefing paper examines several key substantive human rights arguments regarding: the right to nationality, the right to access consular assistance, the right to enter one’s own country, the right to life, the right to be free from torture and ill-treatment, the right to liberty and security, and the right of child victims of armed conflict to reintegration and recovery. In practice, respecting and fulfilling these rights may require States’ positive actions in enabling the expeditious return of children. If it is strictly necessary and done with appropriate safeguards, this can mean establishing nationality by facilitating DNA tests to determine paternity or maternity; obtaining regular assurances of the children’s physical and psychological health, as well as providing appropriate medical care; issuing administrative documents, including identity and travel documents, to enable children’s assisted travel to their country of nationality; and contacting camp authorities, consular representatives located nearby, and NGOs active on the ground to effectively carry out repatriation. The need to protect the rights of children detained in camps in northeast Syria, the briefing paper asserts, creates an obligation on European States to proactively repatriate all their child nationals together with their primary caregivers. 5