European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria fundamental freedoms, which can result in the “exporting” of a problem for other States to deal with. 283 European children detained in the camps are affected by these measures in different ways. In some jurisdictions, the effect is direct, as when children are themselves targeted for revocation of nationality on the grounds that they are believed to be affiliated with ISIS. Sometimes, children are affected indirectly, as when their parents or other family members are stripped of their nationality. a) Revocation of Children’s Nationality While much of the European legislation extending nationality revocation to cases of terrorism-related activities targets adults, some States have also extended their legislation to include the revocation of nationality from children believed to be affiliated with a terrorist organization. 284 Legislation aimed at revoking the nationality of children allegedly affiliated with ISIS clearly violates international law.285 The revocation of nationality is never in the best interests of a child 286 and is particularly harmful when it results in statelessness, which is “an antithesis to the best interests of children.”287 But even when it does not result in statelessness, revocation of nationality can cause economic, emotional, social, and immigration consequences and can have a profound impact on children’s future and the protection of their rights.288 Further, automatically depriving children of nationality due to their alleged affiliation with a terrorist group—instead of 283 OSJI/ISI, “Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a Security Measure,” 2020, Introduction, p. 2. For example, The Netherlands extended its law in 2015 to denationalize “individuals above the age of 16 whose conduct indicates that they have joined a terrorist organization while residing outside the Netherlands”. See: Tom L. Boekestein and Gerard-René de Groot, “Discussing the Human Rights Limits on Loss of Citizenship: a Normative-Legal Perspective on Egalitarian Arguments Regarding Dutch Nationality Laws Targeting Dutch-Moroccans,” Citizenship Studies, 23(4), 2019, p. 323; Jules Lepoutre, “Citizenship Loss and Deprivation in the European Union (27 + 1)”, EUI Working Paper RSCAS2020/29, May 2020, p. 9. Some European States have also sought to strip the nationality of individuals who were themselves children when they joined ISIS. See for the example of Shamina Begum in the UK: Meghan Benton and Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, “Foreign Fighters: Will Revoking Citizenship Mitigate the Threat?”, Migration Policy Institute, 3 April 2019. 285 The CoE Parliamentary Assembly also called on the member States of the Council of Europe to refrain from depriving minors of their nationality, see: PACE, “Withdrawing Nationality as a Measure to Combat Terrorism: A Human-Rights Compatible Approach?”, Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 2263 (2019), para. 9(8). 286 OSJI/ISI, Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a Security Measure, 2020, Principle 9.7.4. 287 African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, “General Comment No. 2 on Article 6 of the ACRWC: The Right to a Name, Registration at Birth, and to Acquire a Nationality”, ACERWC/GC/02, 16 April 2014, para. 86. 288 See: OSCE/ODIHR, “Guidelines for Addressing the Threats and Challenges of ‘Foreign Terrorist Fighters’ within a Human Rights Framework”, 2018, pp. 70-71; Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, “Report on Children and Counter-Terrorism”, 2016, p. 42. 284 51