European States’ Obligations to Repatriate the Children Detained in Camps in Northeast Syria including right to life, right to be free from torture and ill-treatment, and right to personal liberty and security, is clearly established in international law (see Sections II.G, H and I on the Right to Life, Right to be Free from Torture and Ill-treatment and Rights to Liberty and Security). 338 States also have a specific obligation to ensure that effective and appropriate remedies are available to all persons, in particular children whose right to a nationality has been violated, including restoration of nationality and expedient provision of documentary proof of nationality. 339 Notably, in some cases and jurisdictions, consular assistance may be the only avenue for protection against or redress for these human rights violations, particularly in places where there is no adequate legal system to protect people from statelessness, arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, or prolonged detention by nonstate actors.340 In these cases, the refusal to provide consular assistance may be impossible to reconcile with human rights obligations under various international treaties.341 In light of the abovementioned facts and legal standards, European States are able to, and arguably have an obligation to, provide consular assistance to their nationals detained in northern Syria, and particularly to children, either under customary international law, under EU law, or under domestic law in some cases,342 which may also produce consequential obligations under international human rights law. The lack of access to consular services is a primary obstacle to children who wish to return to their countries of nationality. Consular assistance is the only way for children to avoid being subject to further human rights abuses and for European States 338 See: UDHR, Article 8; CAT, Article 14; ICCPR, Articles 2(3)(a), 9(5) and 14(6); CRC, Article 39; ECHR, Article 13. 339 CRC, Article 8 (2). See also: CommRC, “General Comment No. 11 (2009): Indigenous Children and their Rights Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child],” CRC/C/GC/11, 12 February 2009, para. 45; Human Rights Council, “Resolution on the Right to a Nationality: Women and Children”, A/HRC/RES/20/4, 16 July 2012, para. 10. For detailed information on the role of consulates in the context of statelessness see: UNHCR, “Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons”, 30 June 2014, paras. 39-40. 340 International Bar Association Human Rights Institute “A Pressing Concern: Protecting and Promoting Press Freedom by Strengthening Consular Support to Journalists at Risk”, 2020, p. 65. 341 See, OHCHR, “Canada Urged to Repatriate Orphaned Five-Year Old Girl Held in Syrian Camp”, 20 May 2020. 342 Some States have modified their laws concerning the consular assistance with an aim to prevent claims to be made by their nationals detained in the camps. For example, Belgium’s Consular Code provides a subjective right to consular assistance for Belgian nationals when they find themselves in extreme circumstances. Yet the Consular Code has been modified recently resulting in the loss of the right to claim consular assistance for persons who have travelled to an area of armed conflict or to a region for which authorities have issued a notice discouraging travel, or are deemed to take “disproportionate risks” without adequate insurance arrangements. See: UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, “Visit to Belgium”, A/HRC/40/52/Add.5, 8 May 2019, para. 80. 60