European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria European States’ Obligations to Repatriate Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria together with their Primary Caregivers Children in the camps should be repatriated together with their primary caregivers in accordance with their best interests and the right to family life and family unity. Thus, the repatriation of children requires repatriation of some women in the camps, because of their role as primary caregivers. 472 As such, children’s rights experts 473 and European political bodies have also called for the repatriation of the children together with their primary caregivers. For example, the CoE Parliamentary Assembly urged European States to “repatriate children together with their mothers or primary care givers, unless it is not in the best interest of the child,”474 and the European Parliament urged EU Member States to “repatriate all European children, taking into account their specific family situations and the best interests of the child as a primary consideration.”475 While European States may have an obligation to repatriate all adults in the camps, this briefing paper employs a child’s rights perspective. Thus, according to the right to family life and family unity, children in the camps should be repatriated together with those adults who have been their primary caregivers, unless this is not in the children’s best interests. The principle of best interest of the child and the right to family life and family unity are interrelated and will be analyzed together, below. 472 This does not mean that States have no obligation to repatriate the adults detained in the camps, independently from the children. However, this issue is beyond the scope of this briefing paper and deserves separate analysis. 473 See, for example, Children’s Rights Ombudspersons (Belgium), “Recommendations From the Children’s Rights Ombudspersons of Belgium to Deal with the Children Returning in Belgium from Jihadist Zones,” no date, p. 2. 474 PACE, “Resolution 2321 (2020),” 30 January 2020, para. 8.1.2. 475 European Parliament, “Resolution of 26 November 2019 on Children’s Rights on the Occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,” para. 61. 80