European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria future outside of the camps. 72 Many women, however, have resorted to paying smugglers to take them and their children out of the camps.73 European States’ Repatriation Policies After the military defeat of ISIS in 2019, SDF—the de facto administrators of the camps—announced that they will not prosecute “foreign fighters.”74 Both SDF and AANES have repeatedly requested States to repatriate their nationals,75 insisting on repatriation of children together “with mothers.”76 SDF and AANES have also indicated multiple times their willingness to cooperate with the appropriate States in regard to the repatriation process.77 European States’ policies regarding the repatriation of their nationals from the camps vary. In general, however, they assert that there is no obligation on them to actively repatriate children from the camps, nor to provide consular assistance to their nationals in Syria, 78 unless their nationals manage to reach a diplomatic representation, where they can receive travel documents to enable their return 79—an impossible task for women and children detained in the camps.80 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 16 Azeem Ibrahim and Myriam François, “Foreign ISIS Children Deserve a Home,” International Observatory Human Rights, 8 September 2020. Center for Global Policy, “The Children of ISIS Detainees: Europe’s Dilemma”, 2020, p. 8. Al Jazeera, “SDF Calls for International Tribunal for ISIL Detainees,” 25 March 2019. RSI, “Europe’s Guantanamo: The Indefinite Detention of European Women and Children in North East Syria,” 2020, para. 86. AANES, 18 March 2021, “Press Release”; Library of Congress, “Germany: Court Obligates Government to Repatriate ISIS Member and Children to Germany”, Global Legal Monitor, 17 December 2019; Kurdistan 24, “Belgium strikes deal with KRG to repatriate children of ISIS members: Minister,” 13 June 2018; Rights Watch UK, “European Women and Children in Syria – Factual and Legal Briefing”, 7 November 2019, para. 17; Emma Broches, “What Is Happening With the Foreign Women and Children in SDF Custody in Syria?,” Lawfare, 24 March 2020. Ibid. For illustrative purposes see: Norway and the Netherlands, indicated explicitly that while there is a principle of a right to return for these citizens, it does not translate into a duty to proactively repatriate the children or to provide consular assistance, see: NRK, “Solberg: – Norske IS-krigere har rett til å komme hjem“, 16 February 2019, Tweede Kamer, “Reactie op het verzoek van het lid Buitenweg, gedaan tijdens de Regeling van Werkzaamheden van 5 februari 2019, over het bericht ‘Nederland onderzoekt terughalen vrouwelijke Syriëgangers en kinderen’”, 21 February 2019, p. 1. For detailed information regarding the European States’ repatriation policies see: Rights Watch UK, “European Women and Children in Syria – Factual and Legal Briefing”, 7 November 2019 para. 5; RSI, “Europe’s Guantanamo: The Indefinite Detention of European Women and Children in North East Syria,” 2020, para. 58-62. Tanya Mehra, “European Countries Are Being Challenged in Court to Repatriate their Foreign Fighters and Families”, 7 November 2019; Rights Watch UK, “European Women and Children in Syria – Factual and Legal Briefing”, 7 November 2019, para 5. See: NL Times, “Two Dutch ISIS women, three children escaped Syrian camp, fled to Turkey”, 1 November 2019; Rights Watch UK, “European Women and Children in Syria – Factual and Legal Briefing”, 7 November 2019, footnote 12.