European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria discrimination towards the Muslim minorities in Europe. European States’ failure to repatriate the children and women from the camps in northeast Syria, has its roots in structural discrimination against Muslims and, those perceived to be Muslim, who are often presented as a threat to security in Europe (see Sections II.D., II.E., and II.F.). 159 While recognizing the discriminatory roots of European States’ repatriation policies, it must be said that these policies, which generally result in a caseby-case approach based on unclear criteria regarding which children are “entitled to” repatriation, may also constitute a violation of the nondiscrimination principle. The right to equality and non-discrimination is recognized as part of international customary law and widely reflected in international and regional human rights treaties, and is therefore binding on all States. 160 International human rights norms and standards place obligations on States to ensure that their laws, policies, and practices are designed and implemented in a way that does not lead to discrimination on any grounds. Depending on the particular human rights protection instrument, the prohibition on discrimination may apply only to certain substantive rights (i.e. as an “accessory” to those rights) or regardless of whether another substantive right is engaged (i.e. as a “free standing” right).161 For instance, under the ECHR, non-discrimination is prohibited only when other substantive rights, such as the right to life or prohibition of torture, are engaged.162 159 See: Open Society Foundations (“OSF”) and Amnesty International (“AI”), “A Human Rights Guide for Researching Racial and Religious Discrimination in Counterterrorism in Europe,” 2021, p. 10; See also: UNGA, “Report of the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance,” A/HRC/38/52, 25 April 2018, para. 6. 160 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“UDHR”), Articles 2 and 7; ICCPR, Articles 2(1) and 26; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“ICESCR”), Article 2(2); CRC, Article 2; International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (“ICRMW”), Article 7; Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“CRPD”), Article 5; ECHR, Article 14; ECHR Protocol No. 12, Article 1; EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Articles 20 and 21; Treaty on European Union (“TEU”), Articles 2, 3(3), and 9; Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”), Article 10. Two UN human rights conventions focus explicitly on combatting discrimination: International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on the ground of race and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (“CEDAW”) on the ground of gender. 161 See: OSF and AI, “A Human Rights Guide for Researching Racial and Religious Discrimination in Counterterrorism in Europe,” 2021, pp. 23-24. 162 Article 14, ECtHR. Protocol No. 12 to the ECHR sets out a free-standing prohibition on discrimination, but to this date it has only been ratified by 20 out of the 47 States that are parties to the ECHR. 30