European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria breeding grounds for violent extremism thus calling for their repatriation before (see Section I.C. below).53 The women in the camps are not a homogenous group either. 54 A significant proportion of women who originally travelled to the region knew that they were joining ISIS, yet many had limited knowledge about the consequences and the true nature of the ISIS regime.55 A considerable number of them were trafficked56 or coerced into travelling to ISIS territory.57 Some were recruited as minors,58 while others were compelled to follow their male family members, including for economic reasons.59 While not all women in the camps were operationally involved in ISIS activities, some of them played significant roles in the group,60 including by: engaging in online and offline recruitment and propaganda, 61 serving in the ISIS intelligence apparatus, 62 being members of the female religious police brigades and meting out punishments when ISIS behavioral codes were 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 14 Open Letter from National Security Professionals to Western Governments, “Unless We Act Now, the Islamic State Will Rise Again”, 11 September 2019. Women in the camps are at risk of being transferred to jurisdictions where they may be at risk of torture or death penalty, see: Reprieve, “Trafficked to Syria: British Families Detained in Syria after Being Trafficked to Islamic State,” April 2021, pp. 11-12. RSI, “Europe’s Guantanamo: The Indefinite Detention of European Women and Children in North East Syria,” 2020, para. 92. Reprieve’s investigations reveal that the majority of British women detained in North East Syria (at least 63%) are victims of trafficking, see: Reprieve, “Trafficked to Syria: British Families Detained in Syria after Being Trafficked to Islamic State,” April 2021, pp. 11-12. Center for Global Policy “The Children of ISIS Detainees: Europe’s Dilemma”, 2020, p. 11; Azadeh Moaveni, “ISIS Women and Enforcers in Syria Recount Collaboration, Anguish and Escape”, The New York Times, 21 November 2015. Some of these women were as young as 12 when they were taken to Syria, see: Reprieve, “Trafficked to Syria: British Families Detained in Syria after Being Trafficked to Islamic State,” April 2021, pp. 11-12. RSI, “Europe’s Guantanamo: The Indefinite Detention of European Women and Children in North East Syria,” 2020, para. 93. Asaad H. Almohammad and Anne Speckhard, “The Operational Ranks and Roles of Female ISIS Operatives: From Assassins and Morality Police to Spies and Suicide Bombers,” International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism, 2017, p. 2; Gina Vale, “Women in Islamic State: From Caliphate to Camps”, 2019, p. 4; RSI, “Europe’s Guantanamo: The Indefinite Detention of European Women and Children in North East Syria,” 2020, para. 95. Alexandra Sims, “Sally Jones: Isis Recruiter ‘Issues Series of Terror Threats against UK Cities’ over Twitter,” The Independent, 25 May 2016. Vera Mironova, Ekaterina Sergatskova, and Karam Alhamad,”ISIS’ Intelligence Service Refuses to Die,” Foreign Affairs, 22 November 2017; Jessica Davis, “The Future of The Islamic State’s Women: Assessing their Potential Threat,” p. 3.