European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria participate, directly or indirectly, in hostilities. By leaving them in the camps, European States are failing to take “feasible measures” 458 to prevent them from becoming committed, or further committed, to ISIS ideology and possible recruitment. ii. Children Should Have Access to Rehabilitation and Reintegration Policies International human rights law places an obligation on States to take all appropriate measures to promote the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of: any form of neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or armed conflict.459 States must treat children separated from armed groups as victims and provide them with access to specialized and quality rehabilitation and reintegration services,460 in accordance with their best interests. 461 International law stresses that children’s recovery and reintegration must take place in an environment that fosters the health, self-respect, and dignity of the child.462 Recovery and rehabilitation support is essential to ensure that children in the camps can enjoy their fundamental rights. 463 The UNSC has highlighted that States should pay particular attention to the treatment of children associated or allegedly associated with non-State armed groups, including those who commit acts of terrorism, by establishing standard operating procedures for the rapid handover of these children to relevant civilian child protection actors.464 In the same vein, the CoE Parliamentary Assembly stressed that European States have both a human rights obligation and a humanitarian 458 CRC Article 38 refers to persons under the age of 15, whereas Article 1 of the “Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict” refers to persons under the age of 18. 459 CRC, Article 39. See also: “Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict,” Article 6(3), which dictates that States must take “all feasible measures to ensure that persons within their jurisdiction recruited or used in hostilities contrary to [the] Protocol are demobilized or otherwise released from service. States Parties shall, when necessary, accord to these persons all appropriate assistance for their physical and psychological recovery and their social reintegration”. 460 UNSC, “Resolution 2427 (2018),” (2018), p. 2. 461 UNSG, “Key Principles For The Protection, Repatriation, Prosecution, Rehabilitation And Reintegration Of Women And Children With Links To United Nations Listed Terrorist Groups,” April 2019, pp. 5, 7. 462 CRC, Article 39; UNSC, “Resolution 2427 (2018),” p. 2. 463 UNCCT, “Handbook Children Affected by the Foreign-Fighter Phenomenon: Ensuring a Child RightsBased Approach,” 2019, p. 65. 464 UNSC, “Resolution 2427” (2018), para. 19 and 21. 78

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