European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria engaging in a case-by-case analysis—runs contrary to the necessity and proportionality requirement.289 Besides the fact that this strategy is ineffective, revocation may also have additional security implications, because children without a nationality are more at risk of being exploited by or recruited by terrorist groups.290 In the necessity and proportionality analysis, special attention should be also paid to the fact that children who have been recruited or used by armed groups, such as ISIS, must be considered primarily as victims (see section The Right of Child Victims of Armed Conflict to Reintegration and Recovery). Therefore, simply being suspected of being affiliated with ISIS cannot be grounds for the revocation of children’s nationality.291 b) Extension of Parent’s Revocation of Nationality to their Children Extending the revocation of nationality of a parent who is believed to be affiliated with a terrorist organization to their children is also not in the best interest of the child and is therefore prohibited.292 International law recognizes the independent nationality rights of children,293 and requires that children must be protected from “all forms of discrimination or punishment” based on the occupation, activities, views or beliefs of their parents, and the conduct of parents should have no adverse consequences on children. 294 Therefore, States must refrain from extending the loss or deprivation of nationality to a person’s children, 295 even when the ground for the parent’s revocation is “conduct seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the State.”296 UNCCT, “Handbook Children Affected by the Foreign-Fighter Phenomenon: Ensuring A Child RightsBased Approach”, 2019, para. 94. 290 Ibid., para. 84. 291 Note that this element is also relevant regarding the stripping of nationality of individuals who were children when they joined ISIS. 292 OSJI/ISI, “Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a Security Measure,” 2020, para. 9.7.3. 293 CRC, Article 8. 294 CRC, Article 2(2). See also: OSJI/ISI, “Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a Security Measure,” 2020, Principle 9.7.5. 295 Human Rights Council, “Resolution on Human Rights and Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality”, A/HRC/RES/32/5, 15 July 2016, para.17; ILEC, “Guidelines Involuntary Loss of European Citizenship”, 2015, Article 6(e). 296 The ECN actually allows the extension of revocation of nationality to children in cases when the ground for the deprivation is a ‘conduct seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the State’ or ‘voluntary service in a foreign military force’, unless one of their parents retains the nationality. Yet, the Explanatory Report to the Convention stresses that these are not possible grounds to extend the deprivation to the children, especially because ‘the impugned conduct of parents should have no adverse consequences on children’ and best interest of the children should be a primary consideration. See CoE, “Explanatory Report to the European Convention on Nationality,” European Treaty Series - No. 166, 6.XI.1997, p. 75. 289 52